The Four Energies: Turn Your Energy Into Things That Matter

This Integral Life Practice module was lovingly produced for Integral Life members.

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“I’m a physicist by training, and I worked for many years in looking at how energy turns into matter in high energy physics. And then I studied energy and the human nervous system, and then I studied martial arts. And from all three angles it becomes incredibly clear that you and I are swimming in a pool of energy. And I’ve actually come to think of leadership as a job of turning energy into matter — the energy of ideas, of imagination, of purpose, of vision, into things that matter in people’s lives.”Ginny Whitelaw

Watch as Ginny Whitelaw helps you experience the four energy patterns that show up in the human nervous system. All of us possess these four patterns, and though most of us have our favorites, all four are available to us at all times. Each is good at different things, and here you will learn what each one is good for, which ones you might use or overuse, and how you can tap into any of them at the right time in order to lead with your fullest and most authentic purpose.

This practice is excerpted from Ginny’s astonishing new online embodiment training, Lead With Purpose, produced specially for the Integral Life community to help you learn:

How you can thrive in disruptive times by developing your personal power to reframe challenges into opportunities.
The difference between the two states of tension and extension. You will feel the difference as you move from constricting to extending your energy towards the purpose you have chosen
The shift from control to connection. Which of the energy patterns are better for visceral listening in any moment?
How to flip your relationship to time, so you can bring your future purpose to you in the present, rather than trying to will your present into the future.
How you can thrive in disruptive times by developing your personal power to reframe challenges into opportunities.

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All Integral Life members receive a 20% discount off this training

About the Author

Ginny Whitelaw

Dr. Ginny Whitelaw is both a leadership expert and roshi (Zen master) in the Chozen-ji line of Rinzai Zen. She is the author of The Zen Leader, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. She is also the President of Focus Leadership, and has taught and coached in global leadership programs for nearly 20 years. Formerly deputy manager for integrating NASA’s Space Station Program, she has a PhD in biophysics as well as a fifth degree black belt in Aikido.

Dr. Ginny Whitelaw didn’t dream she’d become an innovator in leadership development. She dreamt of being an astronaut, and wrote NASA at the age of 13 to ask about the courses she should take in junior high school to best prepare. Treasuring the letter they sent back, she followed its advice to study science, which led to 3 years in a high energy physics lab, a doctorate in biophysics, and a lifelong interest in energy and the human body.

From the age of 19, she also started intense physical training, first in martial arts, then in Zen, which led to a 5th degree black belt in Aikido and her becoming a roshi (Zen master) in the Chozen-ji line of Rinzai Zen. She has led dojo (training centers) in Houston and Atlanta, and currently trains and teaches at Chozen-ji Wisconsin Betsuin.

Along the way, she also made it to NASA. There, she went into management, not space, eventually becoming the Deputy Manager for integrating the Space Station program, and receiving NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal for her efforts. It was while attending her first NASA leadership development program that she discovered, to her own surprise, this was her work. She continued to learn everything she could about leadership and combine it with everything she knew about Zen, biophysics, and the human body.

For more than 15 years, Dr. Whitelaw has brought this rich background to the service of leaders all over the world. She co-founded Focus Leadership with an integrated, energy-based approach to developing transformational leaders and their teams. She has worked with numerous Global1000 leaders and businesses, including Dell, Novartis, JNJ, Bank of America, Precor, Sprint, EMC, XL Capital, and Prudential. She is a seasoned keynote speaker, having presented to such groups as the International Coaching Federation, Professional Coaches and Mentors Association, and European Professional Womens Network. The co-author of Move to Greatness (with Betsy Wetzig, 2008), she continues to teach Zen applications to leadership, in which the ideas of The Zen Leader have met with such enthusiasm, they needed to be written down.

WEB COURSE

Lead With Purpose

October 20, 2018

Lead With Purpose

“How do I cultivate my purpose and lead the next stage of my life from an embodied sense of that vision?”

We all struggle with this. Many of us are feeling an urgent calling to make an impact with our lives.

And that’s why we are proud to announce that Zen Master and renown leadership expert Ginny Whitelaw has just released Lead With Purpose, an online embodiment training produced specially for the Integral Life community.

If you’re not already familiar with Ginny Whitelaw, many of us think she’s one of the most important teachers in the Integral Life community. We’ve been asking Ginny to produce a leadership offering with us for years (the start of a new leadership series, about which, more soon), and we’re pleased to say she finally agreed to do so this year.

You can learn more about the Lead With Purpose training here.