The School Of Unlearning With Elisa Haggarty

EP 63: Centering for Embodied Leadership

Hi friends, this is a special episode dedicated to sharing a powerful somatic tool and practice with you: centering. 

Centering was created by the founder of The Strozzi Institute, Richard Strozzi-Heckler Phd who brings together 5 decades of studies in eastern and western medicine and healing to his work. Centering is a somatic practice to be present, open, connected to what matters most - it begs us to awaken from the trance of life and access our embodied imagination and build capacity and welcome whatever arises. 

Timestamps: 

Introduction, attribution and lineage: 0:00:-5:46:

Centering practice: 5:46-16:36

16:37: debriefing and application of this practice

Length: our length, from toes to head and up the spine, represents our dignity. Our dignity is not something we have to earn or effort for, it's something we are born with. 

Width: our width from the edges of our bodies, from left food to right foot, represents our belonging. Centering in our width also invites us to consider our collective belonging. 

Depth: The third dimension we center in is our depth, or our safety. Our depth is found in the belly, the pelvic region and sacrum. Feel into and even visualize all the systems in place within your body that keep you safe.

Back body: your back body, found in your shoulder blades, sacrum, heels represents your history, and all of those who have shaped, loved, informed your journey. Your back body also holds the former versions of yourself and you can presence everyone you love behind you. 

Front body: your front body represents your present and all that you long to move towards. 

Throughout this centering practice, notice the sensations, emotions, thoughts, images, memories or thoughts that arise through you.

Leading from center opens a doorway to the realms of intuition, perception and expression. 

As you get experience being led through the center, ask yourself what is possible if you are able to return to your dignity line, belonging and safety throughout the day? How would your actions and experiences shift? 

If you are a leader, business owner, entrepreneur looking to deepen your leadership capacity, step into embodied leadership for the sake of what is most important to you - schedule time with me at www.elisamaryhaggarty.com

 

EP 62 Play and Improv for Embodied Leadership with David Westerlund

This episode explores the impact and art of improv and play in the workplace. David Westerlund brings his zone of genius to The School of Unlearning podcast and provides insights on the tenets of applied improv and invites listeners into 5 improv games. This episode is great for leaders of teams who wish to create more play and connection in their teams and helps debunk the myths surrounding productivity and play. 

Watch on Youtube!

Books referenced: 

"Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics" by Sam Wells 

"Play Date Deck" by Sara McMahon

Improv Games Played: 

1. Bumper sticker

2. Don't get me started: ranting or raving

3. I couldn't have done it without you

4. Remember when: act as if we have a shared memory, ”remember when…"

5. 7 things

David delights in supporting leaders who want to intentionally learn, grow, and develop and want the same for their teams. Who are we being invited to be and become in order to collectively face the complex challenges in front of us? is the question that enlivens his own growth and his work with clients. He finds joy in designing and facilitating highly-interactive retreats that weave together connection, play, and transformative learning for leaders and teams who want to thrive. David’s work as an executive coach, learning designer, and facilitator has led him to work with teams in health care, business, nonprofits, government, and schools locally, nationally, and globally. He’s called Bellingham, Washington his home for 20 years and finds delight in walking in the Arboretum, Saturday breakfasts at Old Town Cafe, and visiting his daughter in NYC where they delight in improvising their way through the day. His website is: https://davidwesterlund.com/

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work HERE and follow her on Instagram. 

 

EP 61: On Friendship with Jackson Kroopf

For episode 61 of The School of Unlearning podcast we sit down with podcast producer and filmmaker, Jackson Kroopf to explore how we can all foster better friendships as adults. Our first memories and some of the most influential relationships growing up are friendships and as we grow older, friendships prove to be even more essential than we may have realized. COVID and social media have changed the landscape for how we interact with each other and our friendships in adulthood are in major need of a reframe.

In this podcast, we explore: 

• The richness and value of friendships in adulthood
• The importance of community and emotional support and how this comes in various forms in adulthood
• New friends and how they hit differently than old friends
• How old friends bring up nostalgia and belonging, they form a map of our lives 
• How to address rupture in friendships 
• How our relational patterns or attachment styles show up in friendships
• Friendships in all forms of intensities and make ups, ones that allow for idle time and ones that can also allow for spontaneity 
• The value of low touch points with friends 
• How hosting and gathering will keep us healthy and connected

To learn more about Jackson, click here to visit his website and follow them on social media.

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work HERE and follow her on Instagram. 

EP 60: Longevity & Meaning with Andrea Nakayama

For episode 60, we sit down with Functional Nutritionist, Andrea Nakayama to explore the gaps in the ever present conversation around longevity and health. Andrea posits that storytelling, meaning and fulfillment are essential to a life well lived. Andrea is a prolific writer and storyteller in her own right, crafting a newsletter called, "Mending" and runs a book club called, "The Longview" exploring the intersection of storytelling and health and longevity. 

What we cover: 

• Andrea’s new terrain in longevity, meaning and the role of storytelling 
• Control vs influence
• Shift in perspective, a diagnosis isn’t a blame, fault overlay 
• Reimagining longevity: longevity, and a life well lived isn’t about length but about meaning, fulfillment
• The role of narrative medicine within health and functional medicine 
• Why pathologizing health is limiting and the role of storytelling in reclaiming health
• The role of interoception: how did this land and move within in me?  
• Exploring completion: how our loved ones carry on with us 
• Life and longevity, and legacy, and legacy can be defined however we wish to define it. 
• How longevity and storytelling have inspired Andrea’ vision and presence within the Functional Medicine realm 
• Why optimization at every turn Is limiting and draining vitality
• Connection has as many anti-inflammatory benefits as some of our top anti-inflammatory supplements
• Health and longevity has less to do with the things we take, things we do and things we measure 
• Andrea shares some of her non-food and health activities that feed our soul and turns us on 
• “Optimization tools are not appropriate for stabilization” 

Mentions: 

Andrea Nakayama website

Share Blackie: Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life

Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin 

 

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work HERE and follow her on social at www.instagram.com/elisamaryhaggarty and www.instagram.com/thesoulpodcast 

EP 59: Wonder & Whole Body Yes with Joyce Chen

Today we welcome Conscious Leadership Coach, Joyce Chen of the Conscious Leadership Group to the podcast. We traverse the land of wonder, and how to access it and what blocks our capacity to step into wonder. We also explore the role of a whole body yes and a whole body no as it relates to identifying and going after our wants, needs and aliveness. Joyce is a force of insight, wisdom and she offers much of her own personal journey through the lens of Conscious Leadership. This episode is for any human and leader seeking more congruence, aliveness and confidence to build an exquisite life. 

We cover:

• What a side by side, conscious coaching relationship feels like and why it's effective for both coach and client. 
• The role of wonder in a coach/client dynamic 
• How emotions unlock our capacity to step into wonder
• What a whole body yes is 
• The role reactivity can play in preventing wonder or preventing us from accessing a whole body yes
• The power of a pause to explore wonder and emotions
• Joyce reviews the five core emotions via CLG and what questions we can ask to explore their inteligence
• How a whole body yes opens up a landscape of opportunity and choice 
• Joyce encourages listeners to step into exploring what needs to change/shift from a whole body no to a whole body yes
• The journey Joyce took while at Meta in honing her interest and love for Conscious Leadership principles
• Joyce encourages people leaders and managers to really become aware of being in a whole body yes or no state, and the "reckoning inside of us" when we are out of alignment with our work 
• The role of the socialized self in development and how it can hinder our knowing and desire in adulthood 
• Our innate knowing and wisdom around what we want and how we can use sensations, pause and emotions to connect more deeply with ourselves
• Both Joyce and Elisa share their fears around life milestones and model stepping into wonder 

References:

Gay and Katie Hendricks, The Hendricks Institute

Whole Body Yes via The Conscious Leadership Group 

Peter Hawkins on side by side coaching approach 

Martha Beck 

Please click here to follow and learn more about The Conscious Leadership Group. You can follow Joyce Chen on Instagram @joycechen_coaching and here on LinkedIn.

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach and host of The School of Unlearning podcast. She coaches leaders and teams to step into radical responsibility and strengthen relational connection. 

 

EP 58: Preview of Live NYC Event "Loving Challenger: A Playground for Radical Aliveness"

Elisa Haggarty and Justin Mulvaney explore the origin story of their upcoming event, "Loving Challenger: A Playground for Radical Aliveness" which takes place on February 8th in NYC. If you notice a surge of curiosity and aliveness listening to this episode, click here to check out the event and apply to be in person with Elisa and Justin exploring big questions and practicing new ways of being. 

In this episode Elisa and Justin cover: 

• Where the idea of "Loving Challenger" comes from
• What the term "coach body" means and how this workshop on February 8th illuminates and shapes your "coach body"
• Who this event is for and how to know if you are ready to step into this Conscious Leadership playground
• Who this event is not for 
• The importance of being willing to show up and play vs sit back and learn 
• The importance of play and aliveness in coaching and life 
• The structure and container for the event 
• How exploring our emotional worlds will be a part of the event 
• Intentions for showing up on February 8th 

To register for this in person event on February 8th in NYC, at Fabrik, please click here. Use the discount code, "FRIEND75" for $75 off. 

 

EP 57: Relationship to Integrity and Aliveness with Elisa Haggarty & Justin Mulvaney

In this episode, Justin Mulvaney who is a Conscious Leadership Coach and peer/friend of Elisa takes the microphone and interviews her on her recent experience at The Integrity Bootcamp with The Conscious Leadership Group. 

If you are seeking aliveness and alignment in your life and in the workplace, this episode lays out the pillars of integrity based on the work of The Conscious Leadership Group. You will hear how learning how to give/receive critical and appreciative feedback and the power of congruence are the foundations of integrity and aliveness. 

Elisa and Justin dive into: 

• Integrity is about energetic aliveness and congruence, it's not a moral or ethical. 
• The tenets of feedback via CLG framework
• Feedback is a gift and a pathway towards connection, learning and is also for the collective. 
• When receiving feedback, ask, "how is it true?" 
• The feedback that Elisa received that lit her up and also challenged her
• Justin explains how we can receive the feedback without needing to change/create/solve for the feedback, let it land. 
• "You've never met another person, you've only met your story of them." Byron Katie 
• What our "racket" is according to CLG and how we use our racket to cover up discomfort and vulnerability. 
• How feeling feelings to completion unlocks aliveness and creative energy 
• How fear and anger and sexual energy are connected 
• What a projection is and how we "x" out what we don't accept in ourselves and in others. 
• Congruence: your inner world is matched by your outer expression and how this "noticing and matching" is the foundation of aliveness and integrity 
• "We are either getting more transparent or more opaque." Jim Dethmer 
• What a "Whole Body Yes" and "Whole Body No" is and why this is connected to aliveness. 
• Elisa and Justin share critical and appreciative judgements for each other at the end. 
• Elisa and Justin explore the questions: "What am I willing to risk to experience full aliveness?" and, "What are you not willing to risk to experience full aliveness?". 
• "Coaching is only as powerful as we honoring aliveness in our lives. The Coaching happens outside of the coaching for everyone." Justin Mulvaney
• "Leadership isn't learned in the workshop, it's learned in the work." Kristen Lisanti 
• "The idea that the healing is here for the client is part of the illness" Deb Katz
• Click here to learn more about the work of The Hendricks Institute. 

To learn more about Justin Mulvaney, click here to follow his work. Justin is a Conscious Leadership Coach and a powerful force for founders who want to create and run business with aliveness and integrity. 

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work HERE and follow her on social media.

Dr. Sarah Coxon on Relationship to Our Soma

Today’s episode is the fourth in a five part series on relationships and we sit down with Somatic Coach and Practitioner, Sarah Coxon. Sarah connects the dots between her first love, archeology and the work she does now to help people reclaim their power through somatic practices. Our conversation traverses many spaces, and brings us all closer to understanding, and feeling empowered about the healing path. Unlike many practitioners, Sarah doesn’t hyperfocus on the trauma, instead, she uses practices and present moment awareness to address what is here now. Sarah offers us gem after gem and posits that perhaps moving toward joy and aliveness can be a powerful pathway to healing. 

• How Sarah’s background in archeology has shaped her worldview, and how it influences her work in Somatic Coaching
• The link between nature and our own internal growth and healing 
• Sarah connects the dots for us on how our leaps in technology have surpassed our own biological and psychological capacities to handle them 
• Context in archeology is foundational, we are always looking at the context to understand a finding or a pattern in history and Sarah helps us see this through the lens of Somatic Coaching 
• Sarah reveals how our lack of curiosity, largely influenced by our need to know and technology, has impacted our capacity to think, feel and stay connected.
• Sarah shares her insights on her evolution in coaching which started 8 years ago  and how she thinks of her role now in holding space for whatever wants to be felt/seen/expressed now
• Sarah uses a beautiful metaphor of embracing the tidal rhythms of life through grief and other complex emotions 
• How culture doesn’t teach self-trust, how early on we are told to trust authorities and this can lead to disembodiment and lack of inner knowing and trust
• How attunement is a muscle we must deepen for our relationships, and how it begins with our bodies and going slower than we think we need to 
• Elisa and Sarah discuss that even leaders feel fear and disempowerment and the sooner we can develop empathy for their experience, the closer we get to a more connected workforce

To learn more about sarah and her podcast, books and offerings, visit www.drsarahcoxon.com and follow her at www.instagram.com/drsarahcoxon 

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work HERE and follow her on social at www.instagram.com/elisamaryhaggarty and www.instagram.com/thesoulpodcast

Megan Liebmann-Gudat on Relationship to Rituals and Nature

In episode 55 on The School of Unlearning podcast, the theme of relationships is explored as it relates to rituals and physical spaces in nature. This conversation builds on a five part relationship focus and grounds us back in our bodies and in to the natural world around us as we find our center and slow our pace down, all in the effort to be more attuned to our needs and those around us. Our guest is Functional Medicine Practitioner and Clinical Herbalist Educator and Practitioner, Megan Liebmann-Gudat. Megan specializes in helping women in the peri-menopause and menopause stages of life and health through dietary, lifestyle and mindset approaches. 

In this podcast, we discuss: 

• How to zoom out of the singular obsession of romantic relationships and move into a broader view of how to manifest love in life. 
• Elisa and Megan discuss why the “eradicate” approach with chronic health conditions isn’t working or healing. 
• Megan shares how our dialogue with our symptoms and ailments is foundational and the most powerful way to embark on a healing path. Megan asks us to invite a conversation with our symptoms to the table? 
• How we can match our environment with our biology and what this does for our health. 
• Relationship to space: Megan highlights how we can cultivate trust to a space, which she says is often one of our first relationships.  
• Megan introduces a “sits spot” which is a space she brings her children to a few times a year to notice seasonal changes and shifts in the terrain. 
• We cover what an “access point” is in healthcare and how knowing where to begin is maybe the most important thing. 
• Pacing and our relationship to slowness help improve our ability to be present and notice what is arising. 

Top 10 Takeaways: 

1. When dealing with chronic health conditions, move beyond “eradication” and dip into curiosity and conversation with the condition and it’s symptoms. 
2. Being in relationship to the healing is more important than the protocol itself. 
3. Our first relationship to trust is often our relationship with a physical space, a home. 
4. A powerful way to be in relationship with physical spaces is to do what Megan calls a “sits spot” is an activity of mindfulness and noticing. Find one spot in nature and sit with it as the seasons change, draw and document what changes.
5. One way to mitigate the feeling of loneliness is to integrate other ways of bringing spiritual practices in, starting with nature or outdoor spaces. Realizing that we are not in fact alone. 
6. Megan reminds us that we can’t speed up nature, so making a practice of keeping seasonal journal for your surrounding environment is a powerful way to bring presence into your life. This practice slows us down. 
7. Take what you think you can do and divide it in two and take what you think you need and times it by 3. 
8. Megan on embracing slowness: a major theme from all of the relationship podcasts so far has been pacing. And, Megan doubles down on how our pacing impacts our ability to connection. 
9. Attunement matters when we consider how to shift our relationship to health, and this begins with a slowing down. 
10. Access point is everything for practitioners of health and change. And, the access point is figuring out where the person is willing to shift, and that begins the great conversation and practice of healing. 

Follow Megan on Instagram at @meganliebmann_ and for more on her body of work, visit www.amethystandrose.com

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work HERE and follow her on social at www.instagram.com/elisamaryhaggarty and www.instagram.com/thesoulpodcast

Kristen Lisanti on Our Relationship To Change

Today’s episode is the second in a five part series on relationships. Our guest and thought partner in this conversation is Kristen Lisanti who coaches and trains transformational leaders. After 20 years of cultivating healthy, high-performing cultures in organizations around the world, she now builds the capabilities of her clients to do the same. Kristen hosts Radiant Leader, a community of practice for transformational leaders, and immersive leadership development retreats and programs, including her mindful leadership cohort, Momentum. She lives outside New York City.

This is one of my favorite conversations on the podcast yet - and it’s an exploration of the human experience and the beauty of how our work can be fuel for our growth - and that in seeing work and career evolution as a pathway towards personal ascension and radical acceptance, we are never not in learning mode. Kristen walks us through her new framework for the 3 traps that keep leaders stuck in transitional leadership and how we use attunement and self-awareness to avoid these traps and step into the dynamic conversation of transformational leadership. 

Top 10 Take aways: 

1. We exist in relationship to one another  - we are always interbeing and interbecoming. 
2. We do not change other people. The only thing we can do is work on and within ourselves. 
3. The 3 traps of transactional leadership are 1. The Compliant Trap. 2. The Controlling Trap and 3. The Knowing Trap. 
4. Transformational leadership has nothing to do with your role or seniority and everything to do with relating to a purposeful vision and creating conditions for the team to achieve that vision. 
5. Attuning ourselves and the people around us is essential for transformational leadership. 
6. Change is not a sprint. Change is not a marathon. Change is infinite. 
7. The case for efficiency and effectiveness is slowing down. 
8.  “Perfectionism is not perfection. Perfect is not a thing. Completeness is not a thing. Everything is always iterating and evolving forever.”
9. STOP, a classic mindfulness practice helps us move away from reactivity and creates space - in turn, opening us up the option of choice. 
10. Check in with yourself - are you in a story that you didn’t write? 

Follow Kristen at @kristenlisanti and @radiantleader.co and for more on her body of work, visit www.kristenlisanti.com

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach who works with executives and teams to shift the way people relate and collaborate through radical responsibility, curiosity and emotional intelligence. You can follow her work at www.instagram.com/elisamaryhaggarty and www.instagram.com/thesoulpodcast