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The Still Human Podcast is for teachers, leaders and school staff navigating the realities of working in education today.
Hosted by Julie Liddell and part of Edwin People's wellbeing and culture offering, this podcast features thoughtful conversations with teachers, principals, psychologists, authors and education leaders exploring what matters most: leadership in schools, staff culture, workload, burnout and sustainability.
Each episode focuses on supporting the people behind the roles, because thriving educational communities start with looking after the humans within them.
Still Human delivers training, workshops and strategic support for staff wellbeing and thriving cultures. Edwin People provide strategic leadership and HR services that help schools and multi-academy trusts grow confidently with people-centred solutions. Both part of the Edwin group, we work together to positively impact the lives of young people.
Learn more at www.stillhuman.co.uk and www.edwinpeople.co.uk
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Still Human Podcast, where we dive deep into the heart of staff wellbeing within the education sector. In each episode, we bring to the table a diverse array of guests, including experienced teachers and leaders, experts in psychology, health and wellbeing, as well as thought leaders in the sector.
[00:00:18] Whether you are looking for practical tips, inspirational stories, or innovative approaches to wellbeing, our [00:00:25] podcast, aim to support, inspire, and empower those dedicated to nurturing the next gen. I am your host, Julie Liddell, and today I'm chatting to Christina Lord. Christina is founder of Authentic Action Coaching, an energy leadership coach and resilience expert on a mission to help professionals and entrepreneurs shine in their zone of brilliance without burning out.
[00:00:48] She believes that success [00:00:50] should never come at the cost of your health or wellbeing. Christina's unique approach combines mindset coaching, energy leadership principles, and powerful self-regulation. Tools like breathwork to help you master stress rather than letting it master you by learning to harness your energy and build resourceful resilience.
[00:01:09] Christina empowers people to bounce back from challenges, regain focus, and cultivate a deep [00:01:15] sense of self-trust and inner confidence. It was great to chat with Christina. She has a wealth of experience in coaching people, and her enthusiasm for the subject is infectious. In this episode, we discuss the power of the breath, the importance.
[00:01:30] Of leading your energy as well as how important it's to become your own observer. We also talk about playful curiosity shelf help books, and even engage [00:01:40] in some rounds of circular breathing. Enjoy.
[00:01:47] Welcome, Christina. It's great to have you today. Thank you Julie. Yeah, really, really happy to be talking to you today. So I'm absolutely delighted that you joined us, and I know that you're incredibly passionate about the power of breath and energy leadership and [00:02:05] so much more, and we'll get onto that in a moment, but.
[00:02:08] I wonder whether Christina, if we could begin with you sharing a little bit of your story and you know how you got to be where you are today? Mm-hmm. Yes. Thank you Julie. I know it's funny, in preparation for our conversation over the weekend, I was reflecting, which is always a powerful thing to do, isn't it?
[00:02:27] And I'm gonna be honest, I had a bit of a full circle [00:02:30] moment where I had this realization, so when I was 17, we're gonna go that back that far. I studied for my A Levels art and design, photography, psychology and business studies. And I kind of thought, really, yes, my career, which we'll talk about, kind of went in that direction.
[00:02:49] But I think it's much more attuned to what I do now as a coach and breathwork [00:02:55] facilitator and speaker. So it's just that reminder of, you know, the hero's journey, that sometimes you've gotta go on some adventures that you didn't think you would go on, and sometimes it's. It's as much as about learning as it is about unlearning actually, and coming back to what lights you up.
[00:03:12] So that's definitely something that we're gonna talk about energy leadership wise. So I had that. So yeah, I'm from Sunderland originally up here in the [00:03:20] Northeast. I went to university in Huddersfield, so I lived in Yorkshire for a long time. So every so often a Yorkshire accent might creep in. Um, and then, um.
[00:03:31] I was, you know, in very much the creative industry. So advertising agency, land, uh, very much in the fast paced world of FMCG. So fast moving consumer goods, [00:03:45] acronyms, they're all around, aren't they? But, uh, yeah, working for branding agencies, very much client side project management, uh, but in the branding space, be that actual advertising or brand packaging design.
[00:03:58] Uh, loved it. Loved people who I've worked with, very fast paced. In fact, I used to tell myself I needed pressure to function. And then, you know, you get to a point, and for me, this [00:04:10] happened in my thirties, that you start kind of, you know, you've, you've climbed the ladder a bit and then you get to the higher rungs and you think, is this it?
[00:04:20] Is this why I am like killing myself? What for? And so that's where I started to ask questions and started some reflection. Um, and some, I suppose, inner questions. And that kind of led to, I guess, my life [00:04:35] deciding to send me some changes, which I evidently in hindsight had been. Avoiding ignoring. So long story short, about 35 actually took a career break, so a bit of a walking cliche.
[00:04:47] Basically, my marriage ended, I was with somebody for 16 years and that kinda ended, imploded and it just made me question everything. It was a real catalyst for change. And so yeah, [00:05:00] 35, I, uh, took a career break, uh, bought a backpack and went traveling for a year, breathed new life. Into myself because I think I'd just become very jaded if I'm honest.
[00:05:10] And so, yeah, off I went. Scared the living hell out of myself, uh, successfully learned a lot about myself. Um, and I think I just really needed that breakaway. But upon returning, having successfully spent all of my savings, at that [00:05:25] point, I had to kind of retune into, you know, the day-to-day living, had to get a job place to live.
[00:05:31] So I actually moved back to Leeds at the time. I got a marketing job and yeah, again, I guess because I'd listened to my gut before, I'm a firm believer that once you start tuning into it, it doesn't let you go. It doesn't let you forget that if you're living inauthentically like out of alignment, [00:05:50] then the more away you are of signals.
[00:05:52] And so from then I ended up, uh, taking a job in the US which then led me. To find, uh, energy leadership coaching. And it's funny, I tell the story that I didn't, it wasn't so much a logical decision as an instinctual one. It felt like my gut had just gone. That I need that now. Uh, so I started my training whilst working [00:06:15] out in the US and I'd had full plans to stay in the us.
[00:06:17] I had such a good time. I was working in Arkansas, I was traveling a lot with my work. Um, for anyone who's been in the US is a British person. You get trapped like royalty 'cause they love your accent, which is lovely. But as ever, you know, you make plans and the universe or God or life laughs at you. And yeah, the, the end of my visa, my working visa [00:06:40] coincided with my dad back in Sunland getting prostate cancer.
[00:06:43] So the umbilical cord snapped me back, if you will, to Sunland. And yeah, I returned but I was still finishing my coaching qualification, so as would luck have it. I was there to take my dad through his radiotherapy treatment, driving him to the Freeman for a month for his treatment and coaching him. They said, don't coach.
[00:07:04] Uh, [00:07:05] parents I did. Uh, 'cause he was scared and understandably so. Um, so yeah, that really bo the, uh, the beginnings of Authentic Action Coaching, which was all about the realization of my own core values. That when I realized, when I identified what they were and then started aligning my actions to them, that I just felt more free, just more aligned, and I just [00:07:30] began to enjoy my life again.
[00:07:31] So. That's background. Love that. Christina, thank you for sharing that with us. That's, uh, it's really great to just have a bit of context around how you came to these practices. I think that kind of personal story, really, really important. Um, before we move on a little bit, can I just go back to something that you said there?
[00:07:51] You talked about being able to tune into the [00:07:55] signals. Of not being aligned with your authenticity, that you almost have blocked those out. Are, are you able to share what maybe some of. What were you missing? What kinds of signals were were being presented to you, you feel like, to kind of say that you were, you were not aligned with your authentic call being?
[00:08:14] I mean, it's funny, isn't it? You only really find this in retrospect, seldom do you. [00:08:20] No. Moving forward, right? If only. I think for me, it started off, I guess just with something not feeling right and I guess frustration and just a lack of. It's almost like the beginning of burnout signals in a way. This kind of disconnection feeling from self where you are questioning more than you are living in the moment.
[00:08:40] So I think those were the things that were early signs and that the way I describe it, [00:08:45] looking back, it was almost like. I was abandoning myself somehow because I was living by other people's values that those around me, it's like, oh, well you should go for that next promotion 'cause that's what's expected.
[00:08:55] And well, you should be buying a new car now because that's also what's expected. And you know, these are the, I'll be happy when steps of your blueprint to happiness. Those, those things are just things not working. So it's kind of those little tap, tap [00:09:10] on the window that at the time, and I think we all do this, we're too busy to really sit with it and lean in and go, okay, discomfort, what are you trying to tell me?
[00:09:20] In fact, I'll add, I have a little acronym that I've now developed and I would've loved someone to give me it back then, but I, I basically talk about pain than the pay attention inside Now. Yeah, and I think those [00:09:35] whispers or signals or whatever, it can be hard to hear them because you are either living in your head or you're too busy, or stress is too high or.
[00:09:48] You know, you've, you've just stopped even noticing that you, those feelings become so normal. I think Yeah. As well, that people don't recognize them as those signs. And, and I think those [00:10:00] signs can be around everything that you say. And also physical signs as well, you know, and as you said, very much in alignment with early signs of burnout.
[00:10:09] But I love that. Yeah. Tell me it again. Paying attention. Pay attention inside now. Pay attention inside now. So if we move on a little bit, I think this might be a good place to bring [00:10:25] in the breath. Is it a good place to bring in the breath? Yeah. Well it's actually because you're breathing space into. This area of pain, and I think we don't, it's funny when I came, I mean, so I've only really been, it's been the last five years that I've really kind of got more and more into the breath.
[00:10:43] Um, I did my certification three years ago, but I think we live in our heads, like you just said, we live [00:10:50] in, we're seldom present and we're either regretting something that we've done in the past or like, you know, rose tinted. We want things not to change or we're zooming out, catastrophizing into the future.
[00:11:03] Or what's, I hear somebody say, listen to a podcast this morning. And he talked about awfulizing. It's like a word. And I was like, Ooh, awfulizing. Yeah, we do that. Um, so it's that thing, [00:11:15] isn't it, of kind of. We crystal ball and we worst case scenario things. And so that induces a lot of stress, but a lot of our suffering is self-induced because of that state.
[00:11:26] So I realized through all of the hundreds and thousands of people that I've worked with within workshops one-to-one that the breath was the missing piece. And I say that because your breath, if you think about it, is the remote [00:11:40] control to your central nervous system. So, um, I've done a lot of research around polyvagal theory, which obviously talks about your window of tolerance and, you know, I mean, thank God we're, we're talking about it more and more about fight or flight, freeze phone, but also I think sometimes we demonize this fight or flight, like it's a wrong thing to be that.
[00:11:59] Whereas actually no, it has its place. They all have that place in how we function as humans. But I [00:12:05] guess where I come in is, well, why not use the breath? To actually precede or direct your energy and your mood because we know that how you think definitely influences how you feel. And then that really hugely impacts then your behavior, how you act or, or choose not to act.
[00:12:24] So for me, the breath, by changing the way that you breathe. You can, [00:12:30] uh, upregulate, so you can activate your central nervous system. So if you're feeling sluggish and you know always me and not really feeling it, then you can do practices and not just for the breath. I mean, do that with. Thinking a thought and maybe movement, body movement.
[00:12:48] I mean, that can be so powerful. But then also practices where maybe we get a bit too amped up, [00:12:55] we get a bit too excited, and so sometimes we need a breath practice to just come home to ourselves. Back to homeostasis. Back to right. Let's just bring it down. And then the third thing is most of us can find it difficult to switch off.
[00:13:11] I think if you're living a busy life, which most of us are, if you're spinning lots of plates, you've got multiple roles and responsibilities, people [00:13:20] you know are relying upon you that you can start to feel that weight. Then I speak to so many of my clients and other people that find it really difficult to switch off, and so the breath is like the go-to place just to alter the way that you breathe and to change the pace and the quality of your breath, and that signals through your remote control to your central nervous system.[00:13:45]
[00:13:45] You're safe, you're loved. You can, you can relax and just tell your body, you know, at a muscular kind of level to be able to relax and then that will induce a relaxation state in your mind as well, which will then facilitate, um, getting off to sleep, which we need. And I know you've interviewed somebody previously about how important sleep is.
[00:14:07] Absolutely. And I think, you know, [00:14:10] obviously we're talking about this in context of working in education and I think that as a tool and as using the breath as a support system can just be super valuable for people who are often in roles. And I think it might be Dr. Arena, Ram used this phrase where, where you, you're literally lending your nervous system to the groups of people [00:14:35] that you are with.
[00:14:36] So you are. You are having to emotionally regulate in order to co-regulate other people's emotions, whether that be staff that you lead or, or students that you kind of faced with. And I just thought that was a really a lovely kind of connection, really, that yeah, actually what can you do for your nervous system because you are so busy lending that to [00:15:00] everybody else.
[00:15:01] Yeah, just thought that that was lovely. Um, so you've obviously found breathwork transformative for yourself and seen it used successfully by many others in your kind of workshops and your coaching. So I wonder whether for, for somebody who was new to all of this, can you just tell us a little about, about what are we talking here?
[00:15:22] Are we talking about using the breath? [00:15:25] Only in times when we really need it. Do we use it as a tool or is this something that we should be practicing regularly? Can you just tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah, so I think fundamentally. You think about everyday breathing and um, and if anybody's curious to dive into this, then James Nestor Breathe is an amazing book, which I would highly recommend.
[00:15:48] There's some others as well, which I can kind of [00:15:50] share with you, and then you can share them as resources. When you think about functional breathing, a lot of the time we breathe up into our chest, which then does evoke more kind of the fight or flight response. Seldom do we breathe with our diaphragm. So our diaphragm and the intercostal muscles in our, uh, abdomen, that is a key muscle that regulates your energetic [00:16:15] system, your central nervous system.
[00:16:16] And so the other thing that I will add is. Nose breathing. There are a ton of people that mouth breathe day to day, and that hugely impacts well so many things. And James Nesta, uh, in breathe talks about this quite a lot. So there are, at the very base level some functional things that you can do for day-to-day breathing.
[00:16:39] And [00:16:40] again, I mean, I've got a little PDF that I have on my website that just walks you through being able to breathe through your nose, engaging the diaphragm. And not only that, if. It sounds a bit crazy, but to just become aware of your breath, because I think most of the time we're just. Unaware of how we're breathing.
[00:16:56] And I think the moment that we do that is a beautiful anchor to come back to the present moment. I had a, a teacher when I was [00:17:05] doing my certification and he used to say, reminder to you, reminder to me to breathe. Because a lot of the time we don't, and you look at infants, you look at a baby and they are great breathers, most of them.
[00:17:17] And you see that their bellies rise and fall. So on an inhale, your belly rises on the exhale, your belly falls. That's the most natural way that we breathe. And nasal breathing specifically is [00:17:30] very good for us because it's actually, uh, filtering the air. For us, so when we mouth breathe, we're not getting that filtered air and we're actually getting a dry mouth.
[00:17:40] We're not getting as much oxygen as we need. There's, there's some fundamental things about nasal breathing day to day. So that's the functional end of breath. So that's, you know, that has a huge impact on your physical and mental health and emotional [00:17:55] regulation for sure. So the more we can practice mindful breathing, and it's funny, he talks about kind of low, slow and almost getting to the point where you can barely heat yourself breathing so soft that actually being able to be in that state.
[00:18:13] Allows that kind of lovely regulation that allows us to be more responsive, overreacting. 'cause [00:18:20] if you can imagine if we're breathing and priming our breath a lot, all the time, then we're gonna more be in that fight or flight state and less responsive, more reactive. So that's the functional side.
[00:18:31] There's some therapeutic parts of the breath as well though. So I would say the direct of the side, let's go to that. Mouth breathing does have a place. And so part of my study was in something called holotropic breathing, and [00:18:45] this is more therapeutic. It was by a guy called Stan Gr, who was a psychotherapist back in the sixties.
[00:18:51] And it was when he was experimenting with, uh, psilocybin and some other state altering, uh, drugs and obvious. Then in America, everything got put down with Nixon, like, you know, with it was a no. So everything went underground and so Stan gr actually started doing some, uh, [00:19:10] experimentation with the breath, and it turns out that you can't actually get high on your own supply.
[00:19:16] Um, so by, by doing circular breathing, and by that I mean in and out without any pauses at the top or the bottom of your breath, you can actually, um, oxygenate your whole system to activate a different set of consciousness so you can [00:19:35] actually go through different brainwaves. And what he found was by priming.
[00:19:40] Allowing your body to take over and get your monkey mind, which is obviously going. What are you doing? This feels odd. Uh, you know, what am I having for a tea? Uh, all of those questions that your monkey mind asks, it allows part of you, the, the body, the wisdom that is in your energetic system to take over [00:20:00] and it can.
[00:20:01] Get you to a place of theta brainwave, which is the deep sleep. So theta delta are areas where you are conscious, but you are in this dream state, and that's where healing happens. So I use that modality more as a bit of a energy release. Because for me, a lot of us have been taught to suppress [00:20:25] emotions, especially the uncomfortable ones.
[00:20:27] So this is designed, this type of breath is just to allow whatever comes out, to come out with compassion for yourself and anyone else around you. So it's a safe space. But yeah, those are the two extremes. But. Oh my God, there's so many in between that and you know, with regards to that circular breathing.
[00:20:45] So with regards to that, obviously you said that's kind of more like down your [00:20:50] therapeutic route. Is that something that people would practice by themselves or is that better to do it? A kind of therapeutic situation with somebody else there. I'm just thinking that, you know, potentially there's that danger for it to be a little bit overwhelming as well as all the benefits to it.
[00:21:08] Yeah, absolutely. Great question. Um, so there are ways in which you can practice on your own. Um, and if you're doing it, [00:21:15] you know, for example, so if you're going down the full therapeutic route, then the workshops I do, I have people lie down, I have people wear eye masks. Covers over them so they stay warm.
[00:21:27] Um, and that's kind of almost sensory deprivation that you're just allowing yourself to focus on your breath and your body so that, I mean, there is something very, very special about doing it in a group, in a safe space that has somebody hold the space for you. There's [00:21:40] something very, very powerful in that, in my experience, both as an attendee as well as a facilitator.
[00:21:46] But there are smaller ways that you can integrate circular breathing if you did just need a, like a shot of energy. So instead of like a, an espresso, you could give yourself a shot of circular breathing and it would have a similar effect. Okay. And can you just talk us through, talk us through really quickly what would that look like or [00:22:05] feel like?
[00:22:06] I, I often, uh, get people to put, um, the think of, uh, Lego hands. 'cause I know this is just audio Lego hands. Uh, so your front fingers are gonna go to the front of your ribs and your thumbs are gonna go to the back of your ribs and just to take a few breaths in and feel your ribs come apart. So,
[00:22:29] so you're [00:22:30] having that expense. Retract, expand, retract. And it's just the, obviously the great thing is about putting it on your ribs is you can really feel your diaphragm. You know, it's, it's, it's exercise for your intercourses muscles. It really is. 'cause you do a lot of it, you feel it. So if you are to do that, but then just allow yourself to breathe.
[00:22:50] But still with that to then inhale. And then immediately [00:22:55] exhale and just don't put any gaps. So it does, it does sound a bit, how can I put it? Sensual, let's say. Um, but it is priming your breath, so it is very much. So it does feel like heavy breathing. And even I get people to even put a sigh in like, again, 'cause we're all muted.
[00:23:17] We're my children. We make all sorts of [00:23:20] noises, don't we? But as adults, it's almost like, oh, well I, I'll be very embarrassed to make a noise like that. I, I, you know, welcome people to express, you know, noises that come up naturally. But yeah, that's the, the circular breathing. And it may well be that you're sat.
[00:23:35] You know, a way, you know, you might take yourself off to the toilet and just do a few rounds of circular breathing. There's ways in which as well, you can certainly like move your body if you wanted to [00:23:45] give yourself a shot of confidence, like for example, before you go on stage to speak or in for a job interview or into a class of teenage children that you're teaching.
[00:23:55] You know, it's to get yourself regulated, but, but kind of amped up and activated, if that makes sense. Yeah, it's, it's really interesting, isn't it, because I think some of the more common breathing techniques that maybe people have heard of and more about the, [00:24:10] the ones where you kind of are holding your breath and then you're in exhaling for a long periods of time, which are also really big, you know, beneficial.
[00:24:17] Um, but that, that's possibly one that people haven't heard of. Well, actually there isn't that pause is there. It's that full break. Yeah. Continuous, yeah. Yeah. Continuous breathing. Yeah. So I, I'll add. 'cause it might help people. So I try and I suppose introduce, and those that you know, are maybe very new to breath work.
[00:24:34] And so [00:24:35] maybe think, well I'm, I'm breathing. What's the problem? Like, look at me. I'm, I'm doing it well, I'm alive, aren't I? You don't even have to think about it. Yeah, exactly. But I, I introduce it as the concept of the a, b, C of breath. So the A in the circle, the A is for activate. So that's the circular breathing.
[00:24:52] That is continuous breathing, conscious connected breath. And then the B is for balance. So that's a square. So that's box breathing. [00:25:00] So that's in for four. Hold for four out for four, hold to the bottom for four. So that, again is coming back to center, back to home. For yourself. And then the C is the calm, and that's triangle.
[00:25:13] And then that's in for four, out for seven, hold for eight. So again, you can play with these different camps because I think when you first start holding your breath feels very odd. So [00:25:25] again, I encourage people to listen to their bodies and just play with it. Just, just be playful. Do what feels right. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:25:32] And I think that's, that is definitely the case, isn't it? And certainly when I started out doing sort of the breathing, I found the, the holding and the exhale for, for the counts of seven and eight. It actually can make you feel a bit panicky, can't it? And it, it's. Yeah. So I think playing around and maybe it's going for a different, maybe it's [00:25:50] like a 3, 4, 5 to start with and yeah, just playing around with them.
[00:25:54] I love that. And then of course there's the nose breathing that you also mentioned there. Alright. Thinking James spoke about, um, the little bit of tape over your mouth. Yes. When you're asleep to encourage that nose breathing. It's not something I've ever tried nor would want to, I don't think. Um, but perhaps some people listening might be interested.[00:26:15]
[00:26:15] Well, a few people, because I've mentioned it to a few people and they have tried it and it's meant it's made a world of difference because they've slept better, uh, or they're not wigging up. You know, and, and the tip can be, you know, removed. It's not like clump shut. I know. It's like often people kind of think, oh, restrictive.
[00:26:31] Yeah. We better put a health and safety. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Management in this. But I think, you know, often if you are waking [00:26:40] up and, and you know, obviously snoring is a thing. Um, woke waking up with a very dry. But it can actually alter the shape of your face if you nose breathe. So, um, James Naster talks about this over millennia, how it's changed the way that we breathe and our dentistry even, so the shape of our mouth just through excessive, uh, mouth breathing.
[00:26:59] I was a mouth breather for years because I was asthmatic, so I was often gasping for breath. And so [00:27:05] over time, yeah, it's been very much, again, a mindful practice to breathe through the nose. Some really great ideas there. Thank you. Um, so if we move on a little bit, I know the, the other kind of area of interest to you and of the focus of your work is around energy leadership and sort of intentional use of energy and I would say that the, the kind of ed [00:27:30] education sector, you know.
[00:27:31] Energy and sustained energy is really super important, particularly if you, you're student facing, uh, there's a lot of energy being used every single day. So could you tell us a little bit more about that? Absolutely. Uh, I'll also add Julia. Both of my parents were teachers. So growing up I was very aware.
[00:27:51] Uh, so my mom was a primary school teacher and my, my dad was actually a, a [00:27:55] college lecturer. Um, so like either end of the spectrum, but still I know. That just how much, and I have friends also who are secondary school teachers, and I can see firsthand that's a huge kudos to all teachers out there. I think they do an amazing job.
[00:28:10] So that's and definitely worth saying. Yeah. So energy leadership, basically it's, it's based upon the principle that we are energy, right? We're made of energy, we are made [00:28:20] up of trillions of tiny cells and they're all vibrating at different frequencies, you know? Uh. Thoughts or electrical impulses in our brains, neuros, firing and wiring together, which then.
[00:28:31] Creates and, and impact our emotional wellbeing, which you could argue and certainly energy leadership, uh, approach talks about emotions just being energy in motion. So it's a wave, it's an energetic wave that moves through us. And then that, [00:28:45] that obviously, uh, hugely impacts our, the action We, we then take outside of the, you know, the process.
[00:28:51] So it's a chain reaction. And the main thing about energy leadership is bringing awareness. To these patterns because majority, and correct me if I'm wrong, Jill, you know this sta uh, 95% of our behavior is unconscious, so it's happening under the hood. So [00:29:10] it makes total sense to me why often people are self-sabotaging and not even being aware of it as something I will add as well.
[00:29:16] You know, when we're sat inside the jar, you can't read the label. If you're in the experience, it's very, very difficult to have that objective awareness. It can be strengthened and practiced, and that is something that I am ongoing practicing for myself. I don't think I'll ever arrive. [00:29:35] I have still have very unconscious moments in autopilot as we all do, and that's fine.
[00:29:39] So. Energy leadership talks about EV energy drives everything, and the leadership element is that we're all leaders in our own lives. So it's not about a title or identity or an authority. It's about how much intentionality can I bring? What energy am I bringing to this conversation, to the classroom, [00:30:00] to quite a difficult conversation that might end up in conflict.
[00:30:03] What, what am I doing? Because I'm in control of me. I'm not in control of anybody else. I'm in control of how I think fail and act. So it talks about this conscious awareness. So it's, it's based on a seven levels of energy framework. So, uh, as a energy leadership coach, I'm also a master practitioner in this framework.
[00:30:23] And basically what that [00:30:25] means is we take an assessment. And numerical values are given out of your energetic profile. So it gives your average resonating level of energy, and all it means is on an average day, where are you resonating? What's your go-to level of consciousness in terms of, are you mostly in like a coping zone?
[00:30:44] Are you very much focused on pleasing others and being there for others? So I see a lot of [00:30:50] empathetic women, for example, being in that level four energy, which is all about giving. Or are you in the higher levels of energy where you're more about possibility and potential and the ideas and, you know, the, the higher levels, the lower levels are.
[00:31:06] The uncomfortable failings, things like anger and resentment, things like fear and the, you know, the many complicated [00:31:15] emotions that come with grief, for example. Often we, uh, as I mentioned, suppress those failings, but the whole model of energy leadership framework is that all are necessary and welcome.
[00:31:26] There is no right or wrong level to the app. What we wanna do is create more awareness of where we are. So without. Consciously seeing where I'm at, we can't change it. If you are running an [00:31:40] autopilot, you can't change a thing. So you've gotta first notice where you are and then have the tools to be able to go, ah, I can shift out of this so I can become more agile with the way that I lead my energy.
[00:31:52] So yeah, that gives you a, a bit of a feel for the main parts of what, what energy leadership encompasses. Yeah, absolutely. And I, and I think it, it does. All hinge on that awareness, doesn't [00:32:05] it? Of that kind of ability that once you've got that self-awareness and self-knowledge, then that can lead to the self-leadership and making those decisions, which obviously is really important.
[00:32:18] But I suppose, you know, people could be listening and thinking, okay, so yeah, let's say I'm stuck in those lower levels of, you know, stress or fear, or even in those. [00:32:30] Pleasing, people pleasing, kind of possibly perfectionism. If I'm stuck there, how on earth do I move forward? What, what does that look like?
[00:32:41] Yeah, no, great question. This is where I take an integrated approach. Um, and, and as I've alluded to with talking about breath work, it's. Top down. So obviously looking at your thoughts. So very much a [00:32:55] CBT kind of angle of looking at your cognitive behavioral therapy, um, and being able to kind of spot, okay, what am I telling myself?
[00:33:04] 'cause often we don't speak very kindly to ourselves, do we? So often it is our, what I like to call our city committee, uh, likes to, uh, start, uh, shouting down the microphone. You in a microphone of what everything that you're doing wrong. But that's a part of you that's only trying to [00:33:20] keep you safe, right?
[00:33:20] So I love the fact that yes, we can do that. And, and often that is a, a verified way of working, of actually just becoming your own observer and changing the way that you think. The other side of it, depending on what you are experiencing and how your makeup is a bottom-up approach might be better first.
[00:33:40] And this is why it's playful, to kind of go, oh, I'll try it this way, then I'll try it the other way. So then it might [00:33:45] be, oh, I'm stuck in, you know, failing those lower levels of energy, feeling a bit more sluggish, a bit more maybe self-doubt, fearing a situation. Then by using the breath, we can actually.
[00:33:58] Literally tell the central nervous system that you're safe. And so by using the breath, you are actually creating more expansion. Because often, you know, when we're talking about energy leadership at the [00:34:10] bottom, when we're contracted, it's like wearing blinkers. You know, the horses that wear blinkers, you can't see either side of you.
[00:34:17] You can only see what's straight ahead of you. And normally when we're focused on these lower levels, we're focused on what's going wrong. Everything that we're not, and we know from a neurological perspective that what we focus on expands and that it just takes us over. So what we wanna do with the breath is to zoom out, [00:34:35] to zoom out.
[00:34:36] And imagine you're priming your system and your breathing grace and space into your system. And I often say to people, visualize if you can, rising above yourself and observing. Yourself from above. I often say to myself, I'll be looking down at myself going, look at what Christine is doing now. Bless her.
[00:34:57] She's in a bit of a tease, and it just [00:35:00] adds a bit more humor, a bit more flexibility into something that, let's face it, we can all get a bit too hard and serious than ourselves, so it breeds some space into it. So I often talk about bringing compassionate curiosity. To your experience as an observer, so you are less kind of, well, this is woo is me.
[00:35:19] This is happening to me. It's not fair, they're wrong. I'm right. You know, [00:35:25] all of those stories. It's being able to be playful with this state of possibility of, do I want to feel this way? Is it serving me to feel this way? What might I do to come out of this? And this is why it's a practice and it doesn't always work a hundred percent of the time.
[00:35:44] Uh, I'm the first to admit that. But like any muscle, you got the gym for [00:35:50] strong quads and hamstrings and all the rest of it. You, you, you, you do your squats, you do your reps. The exact same thing is to do with your central nervous system and the way in which you speak to yourself. That's as much mental fitness and central nervous system fitness as anything else.
[00:36:08] Absolutely. And mindful practice fits into all of this. Definitely. Because especially in [00:36:15] embodied, you are here right now. I mean, that's what I love. So I, I also coach a lot of, um, A DHD entrepreneurs, uh, business owners to access to work where they get funding for some coaching hours. So if anybody, and I believe actually employed people can grab hold of that funding as well.
[00:36:32] But certainly I have a lot of, uh, people with A DHD say, oh, well I can't meditate. My brain's just too busy. And for me, [00:36:40] that's why I love the breath, because you use the breath as an anchor. And so you're focusing on your breath, and yeah, your brain might be doing 10 of the dozen. Your monkey mind might be swinging through all of the rest of the, you know, vines in your mind.
[00:36:54] But that's okay because every time you notice, you've lost your focus. You just return. That's one rep. You do a hundred reps. That strengthening your [00:37:05] ability to come back to presence, which when you need it the most, when you are triggered by something that is unexpected, that's where it's gonna serve you.
[00:37:14] Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that kind of practice of present awareness, it kind of feeds in, doesn't it? Exactly. You were saying there to, to the Breathworks, but also what you were describing there about being able to [00:37:30] separate yourself. From your voices a little bit and to separate yourself from, um, you know, you are in a critic there and once you've kind of honed and practiced, 'cause as you say, it's a practice, it's never, ever gonna be perfect.
[00:37:44] Um, but once you've got that. Practice and you are able to recognize that there's possibly certain voices that are draining your energy because of the shunts and the muffs [00:37:55] and the expectations, then that's the point when you can actually kind of say, well, actually that's just one angle. That's just one of you.
[00:38:04] What can I. Kind of what can I think that's going to, you know, ultimately serve me better? Is that, that kind of the logic there? It is. Exactly. No, uh, really well described. Um, I think, I, I love the term, a framework within which to play because I think a [00:38:20] lot when we are in these lower levels, we're very much in the standing point of right, wrong, good, bad, should, shouldn't, as opposed to, well, if we can get more playful, more open, more experimental.
[00:38:32] Then, you know, things like perfectionism thing, other things like self-sabotage. You know, you think of when you try to control something, you have tight hold of something. So that's why I like the whole thing of like, well, if you open [00:38:45] your palms and know that you can't control the uncontrollable, so stop trying.
[00:38:51] That's where the energy, and let's face it, even within communication, and I'm sure between teachers and students, for example. Sometimes actually rather than resisting somebody or coming at loggerheads with somebody, if we seek first to understand and create some safe spaces and approach [00:39:10] ourselves and the other person with compassionate curiosity, most of the time humans just wanna be heard, seen, and understood.
[00:39:18] Absolutely, and I love that idea and playful curiosity, and I think that does apply, doesn't it to when we're talking about tools to support wellbeing and, and, and methods is to experiment and to find those things that. You know, do help have a shift [00:39:35] in the way that you're feeling and, you know, to, to practice them.
[00:39:38] And, and that, that definitely would be the case for, for all the things that you are talking about. So I wanna just touch, um, a little bit then on growth mindset. 'cause I know that's kind of part of your. Offer if you like, it's part of what you, you know, advocate and growth mindset is a term I'm sure many educators are familiar with.
[00:39:58] Okay. It's, it's a term that's [00:40:00] been round for, uh, Carol Dweck in terms of the education space. So can you tell me a little bit more about this in the context of wellbeing? Yeah, exactly. I, I think it, it's a beautiful segue from what we just talked about. It's about being playfully curious. And being open to possibility.
[00:40:17] You know, I, I think about that. The more I learn, the less I know. It's like it's that whole thing of like the moment you think you're right, [00:40:25] then you've stopped learning. And I think it's that openness to know that we're constantly evolving. We're either revolving or evolving. And I think if we're revolving, then I love, we are repeat.
[00:40:36] Yeah. We're repeating the same patterns, you know, it's kind of like, oh, hello old friend, here we are again, you know, in the same boat. Um, and it can be extremely frustrating. Uh, and I think especially if anyone's listening to this and is in on a [00:40:50] personal development journey or maybe even the spiritual journey, you can get, almost get this promise of like, oh, if you set out on this journey, then you'll magically become very aware and like zen.
[00:40:59] And the reality is not, not so much. You've got the tools and you can, I think I, I explain it as being just more agile and more aware. So you are, you're gonna get stuck for less amount of time and you've got the, the go-to and the [00:41:15] tools to be able to shift out more effectively. But I think after all, we're still all human and there is a lot of unconscious layering down there that needs to come up sometimes.
[00:41:24] So depending on if you wanna do that, then yeah. But I think within the growth mindset, within the context of wellbeing. I think it's that openness just to experience life and not have any of it be wrong. I think the moment we label something [00:41:40] as being wrong or even right the other way. Right. We're judging it.
[00:41:44] And that's why I love parables like the Chinese farmer that I think we spoke about, uh, last time we spoke, which is maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Like whatever happens we're both winning and losing. Along the way, there's no kind of arrival point and I think we've just gotta be aware of. Right. Well. Help me [00:42:05] understand, seek to understand myself and others.
[00:42:09] And then rather than judge, you can discern, you can kind of know when to lean in and be curious and when to maybe protect your energy. That's another huge part of energy leadership, which is knowing when to take your foot off the gas of the accelerator pedal. Blow yourself down. Give yourself permission.
[00:42:28] A handout. This is another [00:42:30] joke that I have. I hand out permission slips to everybody and I often look for permission slips from my coach. Right? We need permission for some reason to be able to kind of, have I done enough to be able to rest and stop now? And I think that's something that so many people struggle with and, and it comes back to what you were talking about, that compassion.
[00:42:49] Um, and compassion for self and, and the, the recognizing your, your inner [00:42:55] critic, because I talk to so many people, as I'm sure you do, who feel guilty. All the time who feel guilty that their energy's depleted, but there's still so much more that could be done, so they can't possibly sit down yet because there's still X, Y, and Z that needs doing.
[00:43:13] And yeah, I just think that's really important. Is that permission, isn't it? And and sometimes that permission. [00:43:20] Getting it from somebody else, you know, that, you know, safe, accountable, other who kind of says, actually, yeah, yeah, no, you can, I'm gonna give you that permission. It's absolutely needed. But we need to get better at giving ourselves that permission, don't we?
[00:43:33] We definitely do. I, I mean, I think, well, I wanna say that things are improving in pockets because I think. The fact that we are, that meditation's more common, the breath work's more common that all of these practices, you [00:43:45] know, more and more people are practicing things like yoga, tai chi, like other things like that, that actually, you know, I'd said before that emotions are a wave.
[00:43:53] I think that the way, and you look at the per the stress performance curve. Of like where we are when we're most engaged, you know, this is where the stress response can actually work for us, right? Like, or optimally. But in order for us to complete that wave, then we need to take our foot off that [00:44:10] accelerator pedal so that we can down regulate, so that we can upregulate again, if we're constantly stuck.
[00:44:16] You know, if our rev counter, if you drove around your city at 90 miles an hour. How much fuel are you gonna burn through? And most people aren't mindful of the fuel that they have. We need to constantly be refueling our, the foundations of our energy. And if we're [00:44:35] not doing that, then there's only one way we're headed and that's the burnout.
[00:44:39] Yeah. And I think when we join the call today, you, you. Had a turn of phrase, didn't you? And, and you said you're busy and you said, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think you said your energy fuels so although you are busy, you're ready to kind of take it on rather than kind of running on fumes. Is that, would that be like Yeah, it's, and this is.
[00:44:59] You know, I suppose what [00:45:00] I'm developing now to help people, 'cause I'm on a bit of a mission to kind of rewrite the resilience rule book because I think gone are the days where the hustle of just keep going no matter what. We know that that's not sustainable. And I think especially in professions of teaching and education, when it is so demanding mentally, emotionally and physically that we need to be refueling.
[00:45:20] Um, and so I've actually come up with a fuel model. So the after stands for foundation. And so tho [00:45:25] those are about the fundamental building blocks of your energy, which is things like your hydration, your sleep, your nutrition, your social connection and movement. If any of those aren't getting fulfilled and refilled, then you're gonna come a crop her, because any.
[00:45:44] House, you know, if your vehicle is built on quicksand or you know, uneven [00:45:50] foundation, then, then, yeah, when it's called upon, when life calls you to an adventure of any kind or a challenge that you must meet, if you are sub optimally fueled, then the chances are you're not gonna last very long. Come on, then.
[00:46:06] I need to know what the U, the E and the L are. Do we have to wait for that installment? Actually, no, it's something I'm working on, so I'd love to tell [00:46:15] you. So, yeah, so the F is B uh, and so in under that pillar is the building blocks, but it also talks about your awareness, what stresses are, and how your emotions kind of develop.
[00:46:25] So it's kind of understanding that at a deeper level, uh, the U is for uncover. So this is the uncovering of the four Ds. So what drives you? What defines you? What are you, what are you saying Defines who you [00:46:40] are, what distracts or disrupts you and what drains you? So without the awareness of that, and that's why we do the assessments.
[00:46:47] So you get a metric and you get the education piece on how the framework works, so that when you understand the framework, you can start to apply to yourself and start running the framework through your own experience to kind of go, right, what level of energy am I at? Where, where am I? Where do I [00:47:05] wanna be?
[00:47:05] What's gonna serve me? What do I need to let go of? How can I breathe some more life into where I am? But it's that reflection point that's really, really important to uncover what's really going on. So uncover is the U. The E for fuel is equip, which is tools, and it's not a one size fits all. I do have a framework that then talks through how you emotionally regulate.
[00:47:27] So one of my models [00:47:30] that sits under the equip is the Agile. Stress method, which again is about emotional regulation. So being with your emotions and being able to harness that energy that's in you, you can't ever destroy energy. You can only transform it. And so we can do that with the power of the breath and the mind, but it takes the practice.
[00:47:51] So that's why we've got the agile method. And then the final [00:47:55] thing is the L, and that's for leverage so that the 80 20 of really kind of making this a practice. That you are habitually doing. So, you know, knowledge is power. Yes. But the real power is in the practice of these things. Um, it's only by doing those reps that we get stronger so that we then, when we're called to.
[00:48:18] We've got that [00:48:20] base foundation and strength level there ready to lean back on, I know tons of people that I, myself included, like, I'm not saying that I'm, you know, a perfect being by any measure, but I think self-help books can become self-help books because we read them and then we go, oh yeah. I started practicing what it said in the book, but then I kind of just got [00:48:45] distracted and now I've forgotten about it.
[00:48:47] I don't have time to meditate. That's another one I'm going have time. Is any the master of a good turn of phrase, aren't you shelf help? I love that. The other one was revolving or evolving. Christina, there's so much there that you said, and it would be really great if we could just, um, in the show notes, we'll put some links to your website to some of those resources that you've talked about and some of those books.
[00:49:09] [00:49:10] Um, and I'm sure if people want to find out more about the work that you do, there's loads that you've given us already. So thank you so much for sharing and I think just lots that people might be inspired to go and find out a little bit more about and learn a little bit more. So we'll absolutely do that and provide those links.
[00:49:26] We always end our podcast in the same way, Christina, by asking the same question of all of our guests. So in the spirit of compassion, [00:49:35] if you were to offer our listeners a suggestion of one kind thing that they could do for themselves today, what would it be? Oh, that's a good question. Well, I'm gonna go with, with Breathe.
[00:49:51] I'm gonna go with you. You know, if you think about it. It's the first thing we do when we're born, and it's the last thing we [00:50:00] do when we die. So if you think about it from that perspective, actually just give yourself the gift. And it is a gift of consciously connecting with your breath, and that's really feeling your breath, that it actually gives you life, and just to be really, really grateful for it.
[00:50:18] Because as we know, the gratitude practice has. A wonderful effect on us mentally and [00:50:25] emotionally. So just to kind of breathe in gratitude and then let out whatever doesn't serve is something that I'm a massive advocate for. So, yeah. Breathe. Beautiful. Way to finish. Christina, thank you so much for your time this afternoon.
[00:50:39] I think we'll get you back on again, Christina. Um, 'cause we've got absolutely, probably after this I think we'll kind of think about a lot of questions that we can, uh, can ask you. So thank you so much for your [00:50:50] time today. You're so welcome. I enjoyed it. Thank you, Julie.