Chakras, HRV and Leadership? Yep, I Bring Them All Into the Board Room.

I was standing in front of a room of about 60 leaders explaining the seven primary energy centers, or chakras, and how they can offer another lens for looking at ourselves.

Everyone in the room had already had a Bio-Well™ scan. They had their own reports in front of them, so as I introduced each energy center, they could look at their own scan.

We got to the throat chakra, the energy center traditionally associated with communication and self-expression.

I explained that when we see a lot of energy showing up there, one thing we might get curious about is communication. Are we expressing ourselves? Are we listening? Are we taking up a lot of space in conversations? Maybe even occasionally bulldozing our way through one?

Suddenly, several people at one table turned and looked at the same guy.

“You must have a really big throat chakra.”

And yep.

He did.

We all laughed.

Nobody was diagnosing him. Nobody was telling him he needed to “fix” his throat chakra. His coworkers simply recognized something they already knew about him, reflected back through a completely different lens.

And he could laugh about it, too.

That is exactly why I love doing this work.

Another Way to Notice Ourselves

I teach a program called Leadership Through the Energy Centers, and yes, it's a little outside the usual corporate leadership box.

That's intentional.

We spend a lot of time in leadership development thinking, analyzing, strategizing, and assessing. Those things matter.

But what happens when we also become curious about how we're showing up?

• How grounded do I feel?

• Where am I putting my energy?

• How am I communicating?

• Am I listening as much as I'm speaking?

• Do I trust myself?

• Can I access my intuition when I don't have all the answers?

• How connected am I to the people around me and to the larger purpose of the work we're doing?

The chakra system gives us an interesting framework for having some of those conversations.

You don't have to believe anything.

Really.

I’m not interested in convincing anyone that they should see themselves or the world the way I do.

I'm interested in giving people another lens and asking:

What do you notice?

Making the Invisible a Little More Visible

One of the tools I use in these programs is Bio-Well™ technology.

A Bio-Well scan captures the light emitted from a gas discharge around the fingertips after a very brief electrical stimulus. Its software then processes that information and creates several visual representations, including an energy-field image and chakra analysis.

Within the Bio-Well system, each chakra is represented by both an energy value and an alignment percentage.

That's where things can get interesting.

Someone might have one energy center showing considerably less energy than another.

Another center may be showing much more. The centers may appear relatively aligned, or there may be differences from one to another.

I don't look at those differences as good or bad.

There's no gold star for having the "most aligned" chakras in the room.

And we're certainly not comparing one person's scan with someone else's to decide who's the most enlightened executive at the table.

We're noticing.

That's it.

Bio-Well™ is a wellness technology, not a medical diagnostic device, and I use the information as part of an exploratory and reflective process.

Then We Do Something Else

Here's another part that I find fascinating.

Sometimes we'll scan before an experience and then scan again afterward.

That experience might include meditation, intentional breathing, aroma inhalation or another practice we're exploring together.

Then we look again.

Did anything shift?

Sometimes the second Bio-Well image looks quite different!

When I'm incorporating HeartMath® technology, we can also observe heart rate variability, or HRV, and coherence information using a HeartMath sensor.

HRV is the naturally occurring variation in the time between heartbeats. HeartMath technology allows us to see changing heart-rhythm patterns and coherence information in real time.

So now we have another window.

• What was happening before?

• What happened during the experience?

• What are we seeing afterward?

And perhaps most importantly:

What are you noticing in yourself?

I'm not intending to use one measurement to prove that another caused something to happen.

That's really not the point.

I'm much more interested in the experience of becoming aware.

Leadership Isn't Just Something We Do From the Neck Up

This may be one of the main reasons I keep being invited back to work with this particular heart-centered group.

We've co-created workshops and experiences for several years now, and they get it!

They understand that the exercise isn't about judgment, comparison, or criticism.

It's about awareness.

And awareness gives us choices.

• If I recognize that I tend to dominate conversations, maybe I'll experiment with listening more.

• If I'm having difficulty speaking up, maybe I become curious about what's holding me back.

• If I'm constantly pushing, doing, and producing, maybe I'll notice what happens when I become still for a few minutes.

• If I've learned to rely almost entirely on analysis, maybe I'll make a little room for intuition, too.

None of those observations require me to decide that something about me is wrong.

They simply give me information.

And perhaps that's one of the most useful things we can bring into leadership.

Not another label.

Not another judgment.

Just another opportunity to notice how we're showing up.

Sometimes that awareness comes through a conversation.

Sometimes through the heart.

Sometimes through scent.

And sometimes it comes from looking at a picture of your throat chakra while your entire table is laughing because apparently they already knew.

I love when that happens.

Because curiosity can open a door that criticism never could.

And once we notice something, we get to decide what we want to do with it.

Curious What This Could Look Like for Your Team?

Leadership retreats don't have to look like everyone else's.

If you're planning a leadership retreat, team experience or organizational gathering and you're curious about bringing in a different lens, I'd love to explore what's possible with you. Experiences can be thoughtfully shaped around your group and may include Leadership Through the Energy Centers, Bio-Well™ scans, HeartMath® technology, aromatherapy and other experiential practices.

Let's connect and explore what might be a good fit for your organization.

Connect With Me

Resources & Notes

• Bio-Well™ Bio-Well technology uses Electro-Photonic Imaging (EPI/GDV) to capture and analyze fingertip gas-discharge images and provide visual representations of energy and stress parameters. Bio-Well is a wellness technology and is not intended for medical diagnosis. Learn more: Bio-Well official website

• HeartMath® HeartMath technology provides real-time feedback related to heart rate variability (HRV) and coherence. I incorporate HeartMath tools into my work as a HeartMath® Certified Coach and Senior Trainer. Learn more: HeartMath official website

HeartMath® is a registered trademark of HeartMath, Inc. Heartful Integrations is independently owned and operated and is not affiliated with or endorsed by HeartMath, Inc.