August 2020: A Note from Hope & Cynthia — It is with pleasure that we introduce you to Laurie Ellington, CEO at Zero Point Leadership, a leading-edge Integrative NeuroSomatic® based learning and development organization. She is among the pioneers who recognize that our ability to change the world begins by harnessing the power of the connection between the heart and mind. With more than 25 years of experience in coaching, teaching, consulting, leadership, facilitation, and mind/body medicine, she is appreciated for her ability to evoke untapped capacities and eliminate outdated habits that get in the way of transformation, healing, and growth.
What she does: Laurie is co-creator of the Integrative NeuroSomatic® Self-Mastery experience. Combining ancient wisdom teachings with findings from modern neuroscience, mind-body research, stress resilience, mindfulness, and flow she helps individuals, teams and organizations elevate the way they think, feel, and show up in the world.
How she got here: Laurie completed her coach training with the College of Executive Coaching, where she became a Certified Professional Coach. She continued her coach training at the NeuroLeadership Institute, where she earned her certification in Brain-Based Coaching (BBC). Laurie also earned her Master Certified Coach credentials from the International Coach Federation and is a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with expertise developing trauma-informed health and human service systems. Following her journey working in private practice as a psychotherapist, she became a change leader in systems transformation. Laurie is also a HeartMath® Certified Trainer (HMCT), where she teaches people the psychophysiology of building stress resilience to prepare for and adapt in the face of change and adversity.
That’s not all: Laurie is also on the adjunct faculty with the Office of Personnel Management’s Center for Leadership Development, where she facilitates Neuroscience of Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Brain Hacking Tools for Creating Flow States of Consciousness, and Stress Resilience/Mindfulness programs for federal government leaders within various agencies across the continental US. As a Mentor Coach and Adjunct Faculty at Maryland University of Integrative Health, Laurie teaches mindfulness/meditation and health & wellness coaching courses. She is also an Associate Faculty at University of California- Davis, where she teaches brain-based leadership and resiliency courses.
Laurie says: “I believe upgrading human interactions plays a key role in shifting out of status quo to move positive change forward. Her philosophy is that change happens from the inside out versus the outside in, and people have unleashed power and creative solutions within them. My purpose in life is to expand consciousness by unlocking our capacities to self-regulate, connect deeply as a human family, heal, and embody compassion and kindness.”
For fun: Laurie enjoys yoga, dancing, being in nature, and facilitating transformative change. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine and is a Registered Yoga Teacher.
Scroll down for Laurie’s insights into What’s Next in Leadership!
4 questions for Laurie Ellington:
1. Hope & Cynthia: Tell us about your business / industry and where it was before the pandemic hit in March 2020.
Laurie: Zero Point Leadership is a global coaching, learning, and development organization whose mission is to upgrade human interactions and expand consciousness by bridging the ancient wisdom teachings with cutting edge discoveries from fields such as modern neuroscience, mind-body research, mindfulness meditation, flow, epigenetics, integrative wellness, and quantum physics. We coach and teach individuals, leaders, and organizations on how to transform the way they think, feel, and show up in the world. Prior to the pandemic, about 40% of our work was virtually delivered, with the remaining 60% involving workshop facilitation and speaking engagements throughout the United States. Although, we continue to coach, speak, and teach, all of our work shifted to a virtual platform. Additionally, we are in the process of developing an online learning academy that will provide our clients the opportunity to experience the Integrative NeuroSomatic® Self-Mastery journey virtually. This was catalyzed by the pandemic.
2. Hope & Cynthia: Where were you personally in your life when COVID-19 arrived in the US? What were your short and long-term goals at that time?
Laurie: I was and continue to be on a path to self-mastery and enlightenment. My goal is to help others do the same by helping them connect to their purpose, increase self-regulatory capacity, cultivate mindfulness and wise compassion, self-heal, and shift into the next version of our journey, which I like to refer to as human 2.0.
3. Hope & Cynthia: What are your thoughts now about your industry, your business, your personal life, your heart?
Laurie: The business continues to move the mission forward. However, we are now engaging with clients in virtual environments, as well as focusing on increasing our self-mastery and enlightenment experiences from virtual self-paced platforms that promote self-directed transformative change from the inside out. My heart is in demystifying consciousness and bringing enlightenment and human optimization to the most vulnerable populations and mainstream public. All voices in the system need to be elevated.
4. Hope & Cynthia: Now the big question — What do you see coming next?
Laurie:
- For your industry: A greater focus on helping people with health, resilience, and well-being. It is not just about performance or the bottom line. We are living an outdated human story, one that has programmed us to believe our narrative is about survival of the fittest and competition. However, this is not how we come wired. The human brain is wired for contribution, care, compassion, and mutual aid. We have the ability to consciously regulate, access higher levels of intuition, engage in super learning and sharpened perception. Resilience is built into us at the cellular level. We just have to access it. This is where the industry is going. We will be taking a consilience approach to human development, integrating and synthesizing breakthroughs from multiple scientific fields. As an example, nutrition science will prove to be as critical to leadership development and the treatment of mental health issues as social and emotional intelligence and cognitive behavioral health.
- For your company: I see this to be very similar to the response regarding what is coming next for the industry. Zero Point Leadership intends to be a leader in an integrative brain-based mind-body approach to personal, social, and global transformative change. Our mission is to upgrade human interactions and elevate consciousness.
- For yourself: I intend to continue the path of self-mastery and live in alignment with my purpose, which will require continuous commitment to being a pioneer in connecting the ancient wisdom teachings with contemporary science for the purpose of promoting transformation, growth, and human optimization.
- For the country: It is time we acquire skills that shift our perspective of who we are and our relationship to the world and other human beings. The next evolution is us moving from an egocentric to world-centric perspective, which include patterns of human behavior that reflect cooperation and recognition of our deep interconnectedness.
- For the world: A paradigm shift is in process. We are crawling out of the outdated mechanistic Newtonian worldview on the nature of reality to a quantum perspective that recognizes we are more energy than matter, and where we direct our attention is what creates physical reality. The collapse of the current paradigm, which holds tremendous chaos, will yield a more relational and whole-systems thinking rather than the reductionistic linear lens through which we define reality. This has grossly impacted organizations, communities, and the human family as a whole, creating separation and weakening the human spirit.
- For women: A mindful and compassionate revolt against the patriarchal supremacy is on the horizon. The domination of masculine energy and oppression of the feminine has created imbalance, fear-based power over, and disintegration in our homes, organizations and communities. Disintegration is a direct consequence of trauma and integration lies at the heart of healing. The world needs the power of the feminine and women’s voices to help heal the wounds from the violence that has been inflicted on the human family.
Stay tuned for our video and podcast interviews with Laurie, coming soon!