regaining health and sanity with sensei victoria whitfield
angela_howard (00:01.798)
Hello Sensei Victoria, I am so excited for you to join us. I'm honored just to be in your space today and have your insights and knowledge to share with the audience. So welcome to the, to Humanly Possible.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (00:18.584)
It's such a pleasure to be here, Angela. I'm so excited to get to spread more good energy to our leaders and in the workplace. What I believe when we show up to work is that we're here to help. And I believe that's so powerful, people who are showing up to help others. And so the more that we can support them in being more human and having more...
angela_howard (00:33.986)
Hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (00:47.992)
fulfillment, more grounding in their lives. That is something that I'm deeply passionate about. I'm just so honored to get to be with you today and visit around that, yeah.
angela_howard (00:58.526)
Yes, I am equally as honored. And so Victoria, tell us a little bit about yourself, just your mission professionally, but also what makes you human.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (01:09.856)
Yeah. So this is interesting. I actually want to lead with what makes me human and it's actually tied to why I do what I do. And so for me, I'm the world's first business reiki master, which means I help professionals with energy work in the workplace so that they can increase their productivity and profits, specifically by managing their energy. And what got me into this?
is actually something that's, it always kind of weighs a little heavy on my heart, that I never got to meet my maternal grandfather. This is what inspired me to begin on this journey. It's 11 years and counting up just professionally, let alone beforehand, but my mother and her two sisters will always talk about how much they love him, how strong-willed he was, how...
He was always present watching over them. If they would fight over the sink, he would just build another sink so they would stop fighting. And he was always did things with excellence, my maternal grandfather. And he was the top salesman at his lumber yard. And he also helped with the sales teams over their district. So he was more of a district sales manager. So very like strong, beautiful man.
And unfortunately, however, he passed away at work at 51 years old, dropped out of a massive heart attack, leaving my mother and her two sisters orphaned at the time because he ended up working. So he had labile blood pressure, right, which means it's stress affects your blood pressure. And it went through the roof.
angela_howard (03:04.435)
Thanks.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (03:08.468)
him being a person of excellence, like putting all his heart and passion into it, and passed away at work. That shaped my mother and her two sisters' lives, my aunts. For them...
the loss of now both their parents, like affected them for the rest of their lives. And it was all mainly because he had a mindset of, I've gotta be the best. I gotta show up to work and do the best job possible. He's highly competitive, but in a positive way. Putting that above his own health though, and that's the repercussions of it. So for me, I also, my mother,
has lay-by-all blood pressure in my dad, also at high BP. So I grew up with experiences of them being both passionate individuals, but also the experience of driving them to the hospital, where maybe they were too prideful, one of them, to take their blood pressure medication, or they're too busy to calm down. No, we gotta hit the deadline, et cetera. And this...
The work that I do now was birthed out of this pain of, you know, I never got to meet this amazing person, and I have both my parents, who I love dearly, are in workplaces that aren't at all conscious of their health, or, and aren't promoting like a sense of balancing the energy input as well as output. There's just, that consciousness isn't there.
angela_howard (04:40.419)
Hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (04:52.044)
Like how can I help? And so I started with myself. I started with working on my own anxiety management, my own blood pressure, my own body, my own how I show up in the workplace so that at least when I go to work, back when I did work for others, that I would show up in a way that was...
angela_howard (04:58.345)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (05:21.76)
more conscious and supportive of my physical and emotional health throughout the day. But then over time, I started learning more about holistic healing as something that can nourish you for longer and deeper and even become proactive and preventative so that there's less, less needed. How do you say?
less to be fixed because you're getting to the root of the problem. Yeah, proactively. And from there, part of learning more about those holistic practices, such as Reiki, is practicing with and on other people, right? Of interacting with, okay, we're kind of like a study buddy.
angela_howard (05:49.554)
Right. Proactively. Right.
angela_howard (06:11.32)
Yeah?
sensei_victoria_whitfield (06:12.712)
we're experiencing this, what's coming up for you, am I doing this right, et cetera. And the more I would interact with other people, the more they would start to be helped by the different things that I was learning, just organically as part of the learning process. And then from there, my book came, all the movement and the followers and all of that stuff, that came out of this.
constant journey of self-healing and sharing and cultivating that with others. And so that's what's brought me here, but for a very human reason, it actually came from a grief of I want... I don't want my nephew's grandchild to say I never got to meet my grandfather because he dropped dead at work of a massive heart attack. Like I don't want...
angela_howard (07:07.903)
Hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (07:09.82)
anyone else to have that experience. And the more I've actually shared my story around that, especially when I've spoken in corporations, it's funny how many people will come up afterward and say, yeah, you know, my grandpa died too, or my, I heard about that, my husband's father, blah, like dropping dead at work with heart attacks, where it's these very, very simple things.
that could turn the tide.
angela_howard (07:42.898)
Well, I love that story, mainly because it's your story, and it also connects in with your life's work. And isn't that just the dream, right, is to change the course of...
of the bad and make it into good and generational healing and trauma. I think that comes along with it, right? I think about that often with my work, which is it is my job. We've got to break the cycle. So I love what you're doing. I love the fact that we can talk about this within the workplace.
and tie it to the workplace because that is kind of where my background is in building more human-centric workplaces. And I think there's a, for some reason, traditionally the workplace was built more on like widgets and industry, right? It wasn't built on human experience. So this is such important work, I think, especially now.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (08:44.024)
Yeah. Especially now, because it's like, I swear, we're moving at a rate where we're all going to turn into cell phones. We're all going to turn into like computers. No, I don't want it. I don't want it. I want to be whole and complete. But it's so interesting that you say that this concept of the corporation or the workplace is built on machines and widgets.
And so we'll take that machine mindset and apply it to people of like, okay, you have a function. You have a function. You gotta fill your role or else the rest of the machine apparently is going to collapse if you aren't spinning your gear. The whole machine.
angela_howard (09:37.974)
Let's bring it all back, right? Bring it all back.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (09:41.32)
Yeah, my gosh, isn't that crazy?
angela_howard (09:42.782)
Yeah, it's very scary. Cause I work with a lot with executives and decision makers around the culture of the company. And there's still this mental block of.
okay, if you take care of your people, they're gonna take care of your customers or your partners. And so I wanna talk to you about leadership specifically. I mean, I think this, your work, your energy work is impactful to anybody who is balancing anything in life. But in particular, I think leaders, we oftentimes are...
if you are a good leader, you are playing an elevated role. That's a selfless role in a way. And so what is your involvement with energy, work with leadership, and what are some things that are especially important for people who are leading teams, leading a movement, leading in their industry or thought leaders? What are some things to keep at top of mind to keep the balance and the energy in the right places?
sensei_victoria_whitfield (10:53.688)
So the most powerful positive leadership experiences I've ever had was with leaders. So for me, the one being led, I'll put myself in the shoes of the people who we serve to begin with. The most powerful experience working with someone who is director or leading a team is someone who had the ability to listen.
angela_howard (11:09.031)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (11:23.288)
just really tune in and they're they were open enough to stop and listen deeply. They were open enough to also recognize when the rest of us, you know, the people on the team, when we were kind of disconnected, right, or not listening, not watching, they
where they were the ground of the team, if I'm to use a spiritual and electrical term. They held the space, they held that stance of we're gonna stay present, we're gonna monitor, are you okay? So and so's getting married in a couple weeks, that's probably why they're kind of, they had this powerful pulse.
and presence with the humanity of the team. Whereas I know for me in my own evolving mindset at the time, my own growing mindset at the time, it's like, I just gotta get stuff done. I don't understand why so-and-so's not getting things done. We need to get things done. And right, that comes from, as you said, Angela, that generational wound of you have a function, you have got to be the most functional part rather than you're.
human being and there's a way of caring for and being present to your humanity that actually optimizes what others would call your performance. So for leaders, being open, remaining open to listening and being present is a
angela_howard (13:00.36)
Mm-hmm.
angela_howard (13:06.602)
Hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (13:22.184)
is its own spiritual journey. This is exactly, by the way, why I'm a healer. I'm not a business coach. I'm not like some corporate consultant or something like that. Being open, like open and sensitive enough to others' backgrounds, other stories, others' feelings.
angela_howard (13:24.727)
Mm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (13:48.396)
how other people express themselves, their culture, right? Their artistic side or if they're coming more from like a strategy or a numbers side. Being able to speak and be that translator is the role of the leader as a powerful, powerful center or ground to the entire team. And I think the more that we can have conversations.
angela_howard (14:05.174)
Mm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (14:17.436)
in leadership around, this is going to sound strange, but the mechanics of grounding and the mechanics of listening, the more powerful our leaders can and will become. Because I know for me in my own journey as a healer, my own cultivation and learning of different healing techniques has been around the mechanics of.
angela_howard (14:24.663)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (14:45.196)
healing. I've dove into healing you would think everybody heals you're a human being you're alive you're gonna heal versus diving into the mechanics of it and really unpacking it as its own science right has helped me to understand so much more for myself and for supporting others so applying that same kind of engineers mindset I would say to
angela_howard (14:58.168)
Mmm.
angela_howard (15:12.874)
Yes.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (15:14.608)
listening and being open is what I would say. And that engineer's mindset, I would have to say, is also behind how I wrote my book of like, I want people when they're cultivating their ability to ground and clear their energy, to understand the mechanics behind why you may need to stand up or sit down, versus just stand up, sit down, tell me what to do.
No, no, I want you to like be able to really understand the power of adjusting your position in the middle of your work day. Like for example, as I'm talking to you, I'm standing recording this. I could be sitting. Yeah, you are. Yes. Way to go. So this is.
angela_howard (15:50.186)
Mm.
angela_howard (15:56.378)
I guess. Yeah, it makes a huge difference. And that's to your point, like how, I mean, you know, I've read into your work, you know, you talk about how the body actually works and how that translates, I think, into action and to monitoring our energy, which to your part, it's about the steps and the recognition, the awareness that something is happening. I think that's the other piece. When I do this, this happens.
either in myself or in other people.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (16:29.857)
Yeah.
angela_howard (16:30.47)
And I think another big element is, and I wanna talk to you about this, cause I don't know, I'm sure you work with ego. But letting go of ego with leadership is such, I consider that such a part of healing work. I am more of the business consultant, business coach, but I bring a lot of these elements into like managing your energy into how I.
work with executives and give them feedback and make them understand how they're being perceived and a lot of it comes down to ego. So tell me more about what your philosophy is on that and how that all integrates in.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (17:12.528)
Yeah, so I love, I love, oh my gosh, I love this question. I love you, I love everything. Right now I'm so excited. Like, and I also, I love the ego. I do, I do. So I'm not, I'm not from the camp of like kill your ego. You should be like an empty jar.
I checked I was a human being yeah more power to you my friend work it out and this is another reason why in my book natural intuition now this is why I wrote a section on the ego is a good guy and I specifically use gendered language to help speak to the reader so they can understand
angela_howard (17:38.339)
for you.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (18:04.204)
based off of their own programming around gender roles, even though I believe in serving men, women, and trans individuals. But I call the ego is a good guy because when you think of him as like your bouncer at the nightclub of your mind. And so he stands guard and he's looking strong and awesome and he has the door list at the nightclub. I'm from the tri-state area. So, you know, when you go to New York and you wanna go clubbing,
angela_howard (18:32.866)
You're never gonna be another.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (18:33.428)
Like there's the velvet. Yeah, you gotta be on the list. If you're not on the door list, get out. Like that's sort of a thing. And it could be a situation if you're like trying to get in and that's what the bouncers are for. And so we're really grateful for them because they're protective. But at the same time, without a regular energy management practice, what can happen is that you're.
that bouncer who you are employing, who is part of the company who we are grateful for, his door list will never update. So that's why I'm like, will you need me to give that project to Susan? I'm not, no, because, blah, versus having energy management practices that can update the bouncer of, you know, Susan's okay. It's okay to ask for help.
angela_howard (19:20.142)
I'm gonna sleep, yeah.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (19:30.684)
Your inner child is not going to be attacked right now. You're safe. You're protected by the entire team. You are so held right now. And everyone is still listening. Everyone is still with you. You don't have to raise your voice in order to feel hurt. Like there's so much inner healing that it comes from energy management practices that can essentially update your, back to the metaphor, your bouncer's door list.
angela_howard (19:36.814)
Mmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (19:58.42)
where when it comes in that someone is asking you to kind of let your walls down, you're not expecting letting your walls down to mean I am now open to attack. Instead, letting your walls down is I am now open to receive support. I mean, you'll even see this, like I don't know if you ever saw the, okay, I saw when I decided to look up the definition of vulnerability.
angela_howard (20:08.782)
Mmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (20:26.316)
I was like, let me look this up in the dictionary. And it says, open to attack or wound. And I'm like, in the Merriam-Webster's in Oxford. And it's like, okay, so that's what we think vulnerability is. Okay, if I wanna be vulnerable in leadership, that means I am officially open to attack. I'm not open to anything else. I'm only open to attack.
angela_howard (20:26.543)
Oh, yes.
angela_howard (20:33.068)
Yes, yes.
angela_howard (20:46.531)
Right.
angela_howard (20:52.25)
Mm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (20:52.884)
So I'm gonna brave heart open up like, rah, I'm gonna be open to my teeth. Please.
angela_howard (20:58.238)
Going into war, being a leader. Yeah, isn't that sad, the definition? We've gotta change it. We've gotta change the definition. I think that's something we gotta take away from this call is call up the dictionary people and say, change it. It's not what it means anymore.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (21:00.746)
Yeah.
angela_howard (21:16.178)
But I love your analogy of the bouncer because you're right, ego is there to protect you. And I go back to kind of this idea of our brains and how our brains work and what they ultimately, it's a very common denominator primal perspective. It's there to help you survive.
And so we have all these things that are emotions, physical, everything about us, ultimately, is being used to help us survive. But times have changed. We're not running from that saber-toothed tiger or whatever animal was attacking us. We're dealing with conflict. And
shitty people who work with us, who maybe aren't the best people, are the best leaders. So to your point, it's an idea of managing it and understanding and regularly resetting ourselves I think to make sure that we're putting our energy in the right places when it comes to ego. So I love that analogy.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (22:24.588)
Hmm, yeah, inside of that update, if we're to speak of it, in such a way of updating the ego from, let's say, prehistoric, like, caveman times of the saber-toothed tiger, just to bring it, well, maybe we can bring it into, like, uh, maybe 2000 years ago versus prehistoric. Let's get a little bit closer. But in inside of that update.
angela_howard (22:46.7)
Yeah.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (22:54.324)
is actually, just like with a computer, how ironic that the fear, we open up with the fear of becoming cell phones and using mechanical language to illustrate this, but just like when you update your computer, inside of that update is things that can actually cause it to run faster, cleaner, leaner, you have so much more access if you're open to receiving the update. Now this by the way is not like, you know, if...
Maybe you need, like, your update situation is unique with your device, but what I'm talking about is like this is a metaphor for spiritual and mental and emotional updating. And for example, especially around receiving the update, so to speak, around vulnerability of it doesn't mean the ancient definition of open to attack, it just means open.
angela_howard (23:42.657)
Right.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (23:47.12)
I'm open. So when I'm practicing vulnerable leadership, it's not because I'm going to be crying all the time or anyone's going to backstab me. But instead, I'm open maybe to suggestions, open to insight, open to learning, open to growth, open to joy and surprises and delights and celebrations, open to my world getting even bigger and finding out there's more to love and more to celebrate. Inside of that update.
is also when you're open is something that I like to call sensitivity but I don't mean it in the corporate demonized way of sensitivity. I'm like, you need sensitivity training because this is bad. What's been going on is bad and oh you're white. You need sensitivity training or you're a man. You need sensitivity training. With love, like I'm just sending healing to the word sensitivity because there's another update.
angela_howard (24:28.106)
Mm-hmm.
angela_howard (24:43.318)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (24:45.62)
not just on vulnerability, but on the word sensitivity. When you're open and sensitive, you can actually sense what's going on with your team and be able to pick up on what's being left unsaid. That's profound, intuitive leadership. That's healing leadership, is where you're able to help others connect deeply to themselves and to one another.
specifically where you're open enough to pick up on what's being left unsaid, you can connect the dots between yourself and others within individuals, within themselves. You help people connect to their own greatness simply because you're open enough to that, to tune in and tap in. That's why I teach intuitive development.
angela_howard (25:29.221)
Mm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (25:40.016)
is because intuitive leaders become then healing leaders in our workplace.
angela_howard (25:46.25)
Yeah, and I think the two together, you know, the awareness of your own healing. Now, question for you, do you feel like my awareness with my healing is necessary to accomplish before I can do that with others? Or can they happen simultaneously?
sensei_victoria_whitfield (26:05.196)
Definitely happens simultaneously and in fact it's natural that it does. So the A plus perfectionista within every one of us says I gotta get it done, I gotta figure it out, I gotta get the A plus first before I help somebody else out because what if blah blah. But actually, I'll speak from my own personal experience. I've...
had the most profound healing in relationship to others. Where a friend of mine, Alex Gray, is an incredible visionary artist, and he paints the insides of people, like he paints their anatomy using rainbow colors, and he calls these paintings sacred mirrors. And this whole philosophy of every person that we meet, everyone...
is a sacred mirror of ourselves is what comes out. Like his art opens that conversation around it. And so to your point and your question, Angela, it's, of course there's a certain amount of when you need, when you need to go within and to not have anybody else. There's a certain level of trauma and healing where no, you just...
I'm wounded versus I'm scarred. Now, when you're more into the scar around your own emotional and spiritual wounds of, okay, yes, the wound is there, I'm aware of it, but it's actually scarred over. Now, I'm ready to get out and continue deepening the healing of, like, how do you say, was that physical therapy where there's been scar tissue and we're, ah, we're moving through it so that even deeper healing.
angela_howard (27:52.963)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (28:00.912)
And regeneration can come through because, all right, now we're going to PT. And that's with interaction with others. So I don't want anyone to think that you're not allowed to be wounded because that's a recipe for disaster. Missing out on all of the gifts of grief and going through clear depression or clear sadness, clear anger, like having that is so clearing.
angela_howard (28:27.848)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (28:28.744)
We don't know where the ground is until we hit rock bottom and so sometimes we need that but at the same time When you found your scar then it's okay to go out and allow It to reflect off of others and see how can I in my relationships? Continue to deepen healing and then that becomes kind of like viral healing rather than spreading wounds you spread healing By being open to sharing that experience. I don't know did that make sense or?
angela_howard (28:51.164)
Mm-hmm.
angela_howard (28:56.646)
makes complete sense. And I connect it back to vulnerability, right? Because I think in helping other people heal and helping other people with their energy work and healing work, I think it's about sharing your experiences. And if you're looking for perfect, you're gonna be hesitant to open yourself up to sharing those experiences. So I love that connection and it makes complete sense.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (28:59.044)
Mm. Mm-hmm.
angela_howard (29:21.482)
What about managing your energy? So to me, it's like, you know, for me to effectively work as a leader, I feel like I need to be really grounded. I need to be...
grounded in the best way possible, meaning like, composed, I mean, not like, I'm not talking about professional composed, I mean just being able to take things a step at a time, because I think when you're working with teams, like you said, you're the healer, you are the person who's saying, you know what, let's revisit that, you know, we don't, you're almost taking their trauma around perfectionism and saying, let's manage this together.
So what are some things that are most important to managing your energy? What are some maybe rituals or routines that leaders can think about doing to help manage their energy, other than hiring you to help them? Like that.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (30:19.515)
other than hiring me, other than buying my book.
angela_howard (30:21.067)
which they absolutely should by the way, but things they can take on and start to build into their routine initially.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (30:28.212)
Oh my goodness, yes, yeah. So one of my favorite sayings that I live by, and maybe when someone with strong, unupdated original ego hears it, they think, oh, you're a jerk. But for those who've received some updates, it'll start to resonate. One of my favorite sayings that I live by and that I teach the healers and leaders that I work with is,
What matters most is how you feel. So this is like a central point that we emerge into all the different, like we could go automations and tactics and behaviors and all that, but out of all of the above, what matters most is how you feel, not what Sensei Victoria says, not what your mama said, not what your kids might've said when they were angry, not what Cosmo.
angela_howard (31:20.663)
Um...
sensei_victoria_whitfield (31:25.724)
says, what matters most is how you feel. And as leaders, because we're at the center as well, we're the spaceholders, we're the healers, if we don't remember to feel good, we then spread not feeling good. So right, if you're at the center, you're the glue of the team, right? Or you're the one who's influencing everyone to stay on track.
in leadership, as well as on track with themselves, if you essentially don't care how you feel, if you essentially believe that I don't matter, or this is frivolous, or this conversation, so if you aren't on board with caring for yourself and prioritizing how you feel, then your team is going to mirror that to you. And...
angela_howard (32:02.542)
Yeah.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (32:23.168)
you're going to be spreading more of that. So with that in mind, what matters most is how I feel. Then the next thing that emerges from that, if we want to implement being more balanced energetically, is that okay, I am listening to how I feel. I am monitoring and getting curious about my energy levels and how they're affected. So okay, start tracking. Start becoming curious about.
angela_howard (32:44.27)
Hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (32:52.928)
your energy. What raises you up? What damps you down? Is having the news on all day while at work something that is a constant distraction? Is there a way that it can be crafted that protects your ability to focus while also keeps you tuned in? What does that look like? Is the food that you eat draining you energetically, physically, or even emotionally? Is the
food that you are eating while you're at work, are you eating marketing rather than eating food that fuels you? Like, oh, you know, we got to drink that Pepsi because marketing. Nothing against Pepsi. You're a very successful company. Thank you for all of your contributions to humanity and shouldn't really be going inside human bodies. That's just...
angela_howard (33:29.889)
Oh.
angela_howard (33:45.39)
That's a whole other podcast episode, by the way.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (33:47.876)
Yeah, that's a hold of it. Let's just not continue down that rabbit hole. But to support the are you eating marketing versus are you eating food and how does that affect your energy level? So that curiosity extends out of, okay, what matters most is how I feel. Well, how am I feeling? What is affecting how I'm feeling? And the more that this is this is the organic process for creating.
angela_howard (33:54.731)
Yes.
angela_howard (34:11.214)
Mm-hmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (34:13.96)
behaviors that are supportive of energy is to start with you first as the healer On the team as the leader on the team. You got to start with you first. So, okay I'm curious about how my energy is and so I found hmm. I actually am able to Think more clearly when I go for a five-minute walk at the end of my lunch just at the end of I feel it or we have more insights as a team when
or I'm getting more out of my team members getting more out of my team members when they stand during the meetings like there's more insights versus when they're sitting down crumpled and pinching all their meridians to use a energy term so the what needs to be done I believe must come out of your healing journey first as the leader
angela_howard (34:45.008)
Mmm.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (35:11.392)
versus me coming in as a consultant and top-down authoritarian saying, here's what you need to do at 9 a.m. you need to do this, you need to change these light bulbs, you need to do this and you gotta go da-da-da-da-da-da. I could come in and do that, but that would be for me personally going against my own beliefs as a healer that what matters most is how you feel, right? Instead, if I were to come in as a consultant, it would actually just be, we'd be finding out, well, how do you feel? And I'm not talking about like,
angela_howard (35:21.609)
Oh.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (35:39.928)
Tell me what happened to you in your childhood. I'm not like a psychotherapist or any of that types of stuff, but no, I mean like sight, sound, taste, touch, smell. Are you aware that you have senses? Are you aware that you have a low level burning sensation whenever you touch that device? And are you aware that can maybe affect how you're functioning throughout the day, right? And is that also happening to everyone else on the team?
angela_howard (35:41.933)
Right.
angela_howard (35:48.29)
Yeah.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (36:06.572)
Do we need to change devices or change the environment to be more supportive of our health? So that's more of the nuts and bolts of it, whether I'm coming in and helping guide that conversation or you can just sit down and get a pen and pad of paper and do the work like Byron Katie would say. Sit down and ask yourself, okay, so am I acting like, so to give you some question prompts for doing this.
angela_howard (36:24.238)
Thanks for watching!
angela_howard (36:32.686)
Okay.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (36:35.1)
Am I acting like what matters most is how I feel? And if so, how does that affect my team? Is it positive or negative? How do I feel and go through just start with the five senses, sight, sound, taste, touch, smell? Is it good? Is it bad? While I'm at work, how are we feeling?
My eyes by the end of the day, I just I need to come home and sit with darkness because I'm so overloaded. For example, I had a client who was like that. She worked in branding just like oh my god. So and changing the environment to be supportive of her, of course she started making more money and helping more people because she wasn't harming herself at work anymore, but we don't ask this question of, okay.
angela_howard (37:24.087)
Alright.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (37:28.04)
Am I acting like what matters most is how I feel? Knowing that that's true for everyone. Am I talking to other people? Is another prompt. Am I, when I speak to people, am I aware of for them what matters most is how they feel?
angela_howard (37:45.742)
Hmm. That's a great one.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (37:48.152)
Or when I'm speaking to somebody, is it about how I feel? And that's my interpretation of it. So this is more, I would approach this more in mindset. I'd be happy to go into tactics, but my spirit, my intuition is really anchoring me into talking about mindset, Angela. I hope that's okay.
angela_howard (38:09.974)
Yes, no, that was wonderful. I love the prompts and I think anyone listening can do a bit of a gut check on those things. But I think where you come in as a healer and a coach, and when I think about coach, I do think about the accountability partner. It's someone who is getting the best out of you, pooling those questions, right?
I think for those leaders, including myself, I've been in places where I know when I'm at a place where my energy is not balanced. And that took practice, but it still happens. But at least I can catch it before burnout. And, you know,
Sensei Victoria, I think your work is so important because I know this is very meta, you know, to a lot of people who talk, when we talk about trauma and we talk about generational healing, but we really do need some healing right now. And I think it has to come within and especially those who are leading these, these huge changes, these transformations in the world.
I just, I'm so excited about the work you're doing because I think it's gonna make a huge difference. And especially with leadership, I mean, we could talk about leadership all day, but I truly believe it's changing. This next generation is forcing it to change. They're saying, you know what? There's no questions, like this has to change. So it was just such a pleasure talking with you and hearing your insights. The prompts were amazing. I'll make sure those are in the show.
notes so folks who check out this episode can maybe start some journaling, write some things down, but would highly recommend folks to reach out to you and have an accountability partner and someone to guide them through this journey.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (40:12.576)
Oh my gosh, I'm so grateful. You know, Angela, I was just reminded like a really great way to start that inner accountability journey if someone's ready for it. A friend of mine, Wanda, helped me to create this clarity guide around opening up
your own internal journey around being a better leader and using your natural intuition, your natural sensitivities to help more people. So Wanda did a great job. I was actually just speaking to her earlier today with the technology behind it. And so this is so in case someone's listening on a podcast and they're like, I wanna dive deeper into this material, but I don't exactly know where to start. And I didn't write down her like URL or whatever that fast.
How you do it is you text the word ready to 411-321. That's all you have to do. And what it'll do, it'll ask for your email. And when you give the email, it'll send a clarity guide that I wrote that even has more explanation, more prompts around how you can dive deeper into cultivating your relationship with being able to listen deeply and to lead your people well. So, I mean, I highly recommend it. Again,
text the word ready to 411321. You can even pull it up while you're listening to this podcast in another app.
angela_howard (41:44.526)
Perfect. We'll make sure to put that in the show notes too. Victoria, thank you so much. I learned so much from you today. I enjoyed this conversation and just thank you for all the work you're doing. I think it's so needed right now and we'll make sure all your information is in the show notes in case folks want to reach out and learn more. Thank you.
sensei_victoria_whitfield (42:05.816)
Thank you, Angela. I get the chills. I'm so grateful.
