Last week I attended the Iowa Women Lead Change Conference in Cedar Rapids, IA. It was a really amazing conference, with a lot of thought-provoking speakers. But what really blew my mind, was that when I went to the Dubuque Yoga and Oneness Festival two days later, a lot of the same concepts were presented. The scientific research community is finally starting to prove to the the corporate world that what yogis have been saying for thousands of years is actually true.
Here is a brief overview of the cross-pollination – it centers mostly around how 1) we are all connected and 2) the words we use with others and ourselves have a powerful impact on bodies. I’m presenting this in list form because lists make my brain feel good. 🙂
- Action conquers fear.
- Progress not perfection.
- We underestimate our ability to recover from failure.
- Most people talk themselves out of their dreams.
- Stop telling yourself what you are not good at – Growth mindset vs. Fixed mindset.
- Women are critical to business success because we have a drive for meaning and purpose. We have strong communication skills and are relationship-focused.
- MRI – Most Respectful Interpretation
- Interrogate reality – consider your filters: attitudes, beliefs, truths, opinions.
- Act from a place of values and vision. Be authentic!
- Pause boldly – don’t let the amygdala (your ancient brain) boss you!
- BREATHE to bring the heart into a coherent rhythm and by doing so increase brain performance.
- Relaxed brains have more Aha! moments.
- We need Periods of Silence in our lives.
- Screen time dulls your capacity to think. After 90 minutes of screen time, take a 20 minute break.
- Choose your words wisely. An employee’s brain lights up when they hear positive words from her manager. When she hears negative words, 11 regions shut down, and the effect lasts for hours.
- Emotions are contagious.
- Saying Thank You to an employee releases oxytocin (feel good hormone) in his brain.
- Yoga helps get your body into a coherent state.
- True failure comes from not trying.
- Mindfulness practices are a good way to deal with overwhelm
- Our brain does best when we are around others who care about us.
- Exclusion lights up the same parts of the brain that are lit up when physical pain is felt.
- The brain is hard-wired to belong.
- The ancient brain is kind of a jerk. It’s an efficient jerk though. It quickly grabs on to patterns and integrates them to make decisions. That is where stereotypes begin. But we can PAUSE and consciously react differently.
- We cannot multi-task!! The brain just toggles really quickly between tasks and loses 20-30% productivity in the process.
- Busy-ness does NOT equal productivity.
- We need Rest, Stillness, Mindfulness.
- Be mindful of outsiders and pull them in.
Based on that list, where do you think I learned that information? At the Yoga Festival? NOPE! That is what all these smarties and PHds and authors at the conference shared with us!!
But that is basically what I learned at my day at the conference too. Our thoughts, our heartbeats, our cellular material are all intermingled and shared with the people around us. Where do “I” leave off exactly, and where does “Other” begin?
I think this article is already long enough, so I will hold off on sharing more from the conference for now. I hope you found this information as interesting as I did! If you want to learn more, you can check out the following people:
- Carey Lohrenz : http://careylohrenz.com
- Sallie Krawcheck: https://www.ellevatenetwork.com/team/sallie-krawcheck
- Jenn Bleil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-bleil-28a5765/
- Jill Saunders: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillsaundersprofile/
- Dr. Steve L. Robbins: http://slrobbins.com
- Jeff Masters: http://www.jeffmasters.net