Turning Leaders into Conscious Luminaries

By Lisa Brazelton 

The changes being forced upon us from the COVID-19 virus have altered the very landscape from which we view life. The way we see, think and feel has been tinted with new colors from the Divine Artist’s palette, where light shines on the darkness of dysfunction and illuminates the connective web we all embody.

Although some may not like the sound of our world experiencing “Oneness,” the virus affects us all because we are all connected together in this human matrix. What happens in one town, city or country impacts the collective. Likewise, what happens to one business, industry or trade is even more impactful. 

Devastating losses in revenue due to the halt of business productivity has affected lifestyles and for many the very fabric of existence. The change in our current landscape also changes the way we do business, the way we see commerce, and the way we lead our organizations. 

Leaders have been given an incredible opportunity to be a living example of how to lead teams and organizations through being in concert with, rather in conflict with each other. Because most leaders are positioned to influence others, it is critical to envelop change and be greater than current circumstances. It is a time to step up to the plate and become a beacon of light, a conscious leader, and even more, a Conscious Luminary. 

What is a Conscious Luminary?

Whether you are a leader of a company, a team or a family, being a Conscious Luminary requires mastering yourself. In a time when we are adjusting to the drastic changes in life, the journey into self-mastery is needed now more than ever to lead with empathy, balance, creativity and purpose.

Self-mastery is the intricate weave of emotional intelligence, deep intuition and surrender. It requires absolute presence through detached observation, and it can only be achieved through the continual discernment between destiny and programmed beliefs, between right soul action and judgment, between outside influence and intuition, and between the chaotic mind chatter and the whispers of truth. To understand self-mastery, Conscious Luminaries must allow an almost alchemical process to occur where the old self dies and the new self transforms through deep introspection, contemplation and concentration. 

Stepping into the role of becoming a Conscious Luminary requires the gift of pause—to reflect and yet continually pivot during life’s extremities. It requires the test to discern the truth from the illusion of who we think we are at the surface. Above all, to be a Conscious Luminary, one must spend a lifetime closing the gap between how they appear in the world and who they truly are.

The Science Behind how we Change Our Mind

Every time we have a thought, different areas of our brain surge with electrical current and release hundreds of neurochemicals. Through advanced brain-scanning technology, we can now see that every thought and experience we have causes neurons to connect and disconnect—like a superhighway—in ever-changing patterns and sequences. Neuroplasticity, which is our natural ability to learn new knowledge and have new experiences, develops new networks or circuits of neurons that literally change our mind. 

Conscious Luminaries do not indulge in recycling experiences that don’t feel good and succumb to old programming. Instead, they get comfortable in the discomfort and overcome their limitations to challenge themselves to reach new potentials. 

Change is normally challenging because we are trying to do something different within the same environment. We tend to think the same thoughts, feel the same feelings and react the same way in the same routine. This causes us to keep using the same patterns and combinations of neural circuits in our brain, which tend to become hardwired. Hardwiring is not a bad thing, for it helps us become automatic with skills such as driving a car. 

However, to change something in our lives, we have to cause the brain to no longer fire in the same old sequences and combinations. We have to create a new superhighway by disconnecting the old neural circuits and rewiring our brain in new patterns of nerve cell connections.

Every thought produces a biochemical reaction in the brain. Quicker than the speed of light, the brain releases chemical signals that are transmitted to the body, where they act as messengers of the thought. The extraordinary new field of psychoneuroimmunology is demonstrating the connection between the mind and the body (how we think and feel), and map out that when we feel positive, inspired and happy, our brain manufactures chemicals, such as dopamine, that make us feel joyful. 

Conversely, our brain makes another chemical called ACTH, which signals the body to produce secretions from the adrenal glands, when we feel threatened or aggressive. The thoughts that produce these chemicals in the brain allow our bodies to feel exactly the way we were just thinking.

How to overcome obstacles during COVID-19?

One of the greatest tragedies plaguing the world is our inability to reach an awakened state of consciousness. However, this current crisis has given us an opportunity to wake up and move into sovereignty with our own health, mind and well-being.

When we become Conscious Luminaries, we are creating a blueprint, structure and foundation for those whom we influence. By discerning our struggles, disappointments and fears through integrating different mindfulness practices, such as meditation, we transform old patterns. Transformation awakens consciousness and choosing to either engage or not engage in negative thoughts becomes an option, not simply a default setting. Discernment is the opposite of denial. 

We are not the victims of our minds. When we have made a commitment to feel good, a lot of decisions become easier to make. Asking questions that deepen the journey within expands our consciousness and the outcome of that expansion recognizes our humanness while living in higher vibration with those around us.

We have the ability to rise above the current environment, to discern and acknowledge that the environment is eliciting certain behavior from us and to choose either to leave that state of mind or to transform ourselves to the greatest potential. The leaders that will prevail during this time are the ones who embrace the mindfulness movement and provide opportunities for their teams to grow from the inside out. This is becoming a Conscious Luminary—a conscious leader.

Conscious Leaders can give the gift of pause to each and every employee because they know the supernatural effects of their own mindfulness practices. Once more, being a beacon of light through supporting customers is another byproduct of mindfulness. Being a lighthouse means all can see your illumination and have a sense of comfort in this difficult and uncertain time. 

Change from the inside out

The dramatic changes being forced upon us create isolation, worry and despair. We may be deeply uncomfortable, but this forced control to stay home can provide an opening for inner self-work and movement. The process of going within to reflect and reset into a new, more awakened person is the blessing being bestowed on us. 

Ask people in your organization what’s important to them. For many, it is a time of great reflection and an opportunity to exercise or reevaluate core values, such as honesty and integrity. What new values can be explored and what old patterns diminished? 

By supporting employees to fully explore their life’s purpose and tap their gifts, leaders play an important role in creating a healthy work culture. Organizations that embrace this philosophy empower employees to nourish their inner-selves and work towards goals that are personally, as well as professionally, meaningful to them.

Lisa Brazelton is a managing partner with Vacation of the Mind. With 25 years of executive leadership and entrepreneurial experience, Lisa believes in the field of human potential and is a facilitator of personal and organizational change. A seven-time global business executive in Facility Management, Strategic Advising and Mindfulness Training, Ms. Brazelton is dedicated to helping leaders understand their deeper purpose while helping unlock the gifts hidden in the human heart. Visit www.vacationofthemind.com.