Written by Duncan C Brand, Talent & Leadership Development Duncan C. Brand is a leading expert in talent strategy and leadership development, known for helping organizations build people-first workplaces where leaders grow, teams thrive, and performance accelerates. He is the author of the upcoming book Mind the Gap. Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping what work is. It automates routine tasks, accelerates analysis, drafts content in seconds, and makes expertise feel instantly accessible. Yet as AI becomes more prevalent, one truth is increasingly clear, the more advanced our technology, the more valuable our human skills, especially those that help people learn, adapt, and stay connected amid change. That’s why the most underestimated capability in the AI era isn’t prompt engineering. It’s leadership. Not “leadership” as a title or a charisma trait, but leadership as a daily practice, coaching, listening, creating clarity, helping people grow, and navigating uncertainty without turning the workplace into a pressure cooker. The organizations that win in the AI era won’t be the ones that deploy tools fastest. They’ll be the ones who develop people fastest. AI is shifting the skills economy, and human skills are rising We’re moving into a labor market where machines increasingly support technical tasks, and the differentiator becomes what machines can’t reliably do, interpret nuance, build trust, resolve conflict, inspire accountability, and develop talent. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs analysis highlights the growing importance of skills like analytical and creative thinking, leadership and social influence, and curiosity and lifelong learning. It also notes that a significant portion of the workforce will need reskilling in the near term.[1] McKinsey’s research echoes this shift, as organizations deploy AI, demand for social and emotional skills is expected to rise alongside demand for technological skills, especially capabilities such as teaching, training, and leadership. [2] And the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) work on AI and skills points to the same pattern, in jobs highly exposed to AI, employers still demand social, emotional, and digital skills at scale. [3] The story here isn’t “soft skills vs. hard skills.” It’s more practical, AI compresses technical advantage, which means the human ability to lead, coach, and connect becomes a stronger source of competitive advantage. The real risk: AI can quietly erode the very skills we need most AI tools are astonishingly helpful. But they carry a hidden hazard, they can nudge people away from developing their own judgment and relational strength. McKinsey notes that as workers become more involved with generative AI, their focus may shift away from social-emotional skills unless organizations intentionally reinforce them. McKinsey & Company . That’s not a moral failing, it’s a design problem. [2] When productivity is defined as speed and output, learning, collaboration, and reflection can become “nice-to-haves.” Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index highlights how quickly AI is becoming the norm at work, underscoring widespread adoption and the pressure leaders face to turn individual AI use into organization-wide value. In that environment, it’s tempting to focus only on tools, usage, and efficiency. [4] But if we optimize purely for speed, we can inadvertently de-skill people. Confidence erodes. Communication becomes transactional. Collaboration thins out. And leaders begin managing output while missing the human signals beneath it, stress, confusion, disengagement, fear. This is exactly where empathic leadership matters most, not as therapy, but as operational awareness. Because you cannot build a future-ready workforce on burnout and silence.[5] Why coaching is fast becoming the most practical leadership skill in the AI era Coaching is often misunderstood as a “nice” leadership style. In reality, it is a high-performance discipline. It does three things AI cannot do reliably: Build capability, not dependency: AI can answer questions, but it doesn’t ensure that someone learns how to think. Coaching develops the person, not just the task. It strengthens decision-making, ownership, and confidence. Turn change into growth: AI-driven transformation creates ambiguity: new workflows, new expectations, and new skills. Coaching gives leaders a way to guide people through uncertainty without resorting to control, micromanagement, or vague reassurance. Create accountability without fear: Coaching is not avoidance. It is clarity plus support: “Here’s what great looks like, here’s where you are today, and here’s how we close the gap.” In an AI-heavy workplace, the organizations that thrive will be those where employees aren’t just “using AI” but are growing alongside it, learning new capabilities, expanding their judgment, and adapting faster than the environment changes. Coaching is how leaders make that real. Why empathic listening is a strategic capability, not an emotional luxury Empathic listening isn’t about agreeing with everyone or absorbing their feelings. It’s about hearing what’s beneath the words so you can respond to reality, not to assumptions. As AI accelerates work, leaders face a rising volume of change signals: confusion about expectations fear of replacement uncertainty about career paths tension between speed and quality friction between teams as workflows shift If leaders don’t listen deeply, they’ll solve the wrong problems. They’ll push training when the issue is trust. They’ll roll out new tools to address role clarity. They’ll demand resilience when the issue is overload. The Financial Times has reported on risks such as isolation and reduced collaboration associated with heavy AI use, underscoring the need for organizations to protect human connection intentionally. [6] Empathic listening is how leaders detect early warning signs, before they turn into attrition, underperformance, or cultural decay. What “human-centered” leadership looks like in practice If you’re leading in an AI-enabled environment, here are practical shifts that separate organizations that “adopt AI” from those that actually benefit from AI: Make coaching a leadership expectation, not a personality trait: Train it. Measure it. Normalize it: reward leaders who develop people, not just leaders who deliver numbers. Build listening into the operating rhythm: Skip the annual engagement survey as your primary feedback mechanism. Create regular, lightweight listening loops: team check-ins, pulse questions, structured 1:1s, and leader-led reflection. Protect learning time the way you protect delivery time. If AI speeds up execution, reinvest some of that time in learning: capability building, peer practice, and coaching conversations. Otherwise, the “time saved” becomes more work, not more growth. Redefine performance for the AI era: Measure outcomes, yes, but also measure adaptability, collaboration, ethical judgment, and learning agility. AI is changing how work gets done, your performance system should reflect that. Give people a future, not just a tool: Career development becomes more critical as roles evolve. Skills frameworks, mobility paths, and development plans keep people engaged through change. WEF’s data underscores the scale of reskilling ahead, employees need pathways, not just platforms. [1] The bottom line: AI will raise the bar for leadership AI will do many things faster. But it won’t automatically make organizations healthier, wiser, or more aligned. In some workplaces, it will amplify noise, accelerate burnout, and widen trust gaps, unless leaders have the human capability to guide people through change. The highest-leverage investment in the AI era is not only technology. It’s leaders who can coach and leaders who can listen. Because the future of work will belong to organizations that don’t just automate tasks, they develop people. In a world where machines can generate content, analyze data, and simulate expertise, the leaders who stand out will be those who can do something profoundly rare. Help people feel safe enough to learn, brave enough to change, and supported enough to grow. Want to go deeper? If these ideas resonate and you’re looking to build leadership capability that keeps pace with AI-driven change, Duncan Brand works with organizations and leaders to strengthen coaching, listening, and human-centered leadership at scale. To continue the conversation or gain deeper insight, reach out here. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Duncan C Brand Duncan C Brand, Talent & Leadership Development Duncan C. Brand is a senior talent strategist, Certified Master Facilitator, and evidence-based executive coach with decades of experience transforming how organizations grow leaders and shape culture. He specializes in creating intuitive, people-first talent systems that strengthen leadership capability, accelerate performance, and elevate the employee experience. Duncan's work spans multiple industries, from global tech and aerospace to healthcare and government, where he has built enterprise talent solutions that improve engagement, readiness, and internal mobility. As the author of the upcoming book Mind the Gap, he challenges organizations to adopt a "People First, Employee Second" mindset as the foundation for modern leadership. Sources cited: The following sources informed the arguments and insights presented in “The AI Era Needs More Human Leaders: Why Coaching and Empathic Listening Are Now Business-Critical.” [1] World Economic Forum (2023, 2024): The Future of Jobs Report Highlights the accelerating demand for leadership, social influence, learning agility, and emotional intelligence, alongside technological skills. [2] McKinsey & Company (2021–2024):  Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work. The human side of generative AI Explores how automation increases the value of social, emotional, and leadership skills and the risks of de-skilling without intentional people development. [3] OECD (2021, 2023): AI and the Future of Skills Examines how AI reshapes skill demand, emphasizing the enduring importance of human judgment, collaboration, and emotional skills. [4] Microsoft (2024): Work Trend Index Annual Report Documents the rapid adoption of AI at work and the growing leadership challenge of translating AI usage into organizational value. [5] Harvard Business Review:  Why Emotional Intelligence Is Important for Leaders What Great Coaching Looks Like Provides evidence linking coaching behaviors and empathic leadership to performance, trust, and engagement. [6]Financial Times (2023–2024): Reporting on AI’s impact on workplace collaboration, isolation, and organizational culture.

Written by Janice Webber, Owner, Coach, and Artist Janice Webber is a creative transformational coach and artist who works at the intersection of stress, burnout, and creativity. She helps people restore calm, clarity, and creative flow through embodied, sustainable practices. Stress is often viewed as something we need to eliminate, manage, or overcome. Yet, despite decades of advice on relaxation, self-care, and productivity, stress-related burnout, exhaustion, and creative shutdown continue to rise. The issue may not be stress itself, but what happens when the body never fully returns to balance. What is stress, really? Stress is a normal human response designed to help us adapt, respond, and survive. When we encounter a challenge, the nervous system mobilizes energy, sharpens focus, and prepares the body to act. In healthy conditions, stress rises in response to demand and then settles once the demand has passed. Problems arise when this cycle does not complete. In today’s fast-paced world, many people move from one demand to the next without adequate recovery. Over time, the nervous system remains activated long after the original stressor is gone. What begins as a short-term response gradually becomes a constant background state. From a mental health perspective, stress is shaped not only by external circumstances but also by how the body experiences and processes those events. When stress remains unresolved, the nervous system stays oriented toward protection rather than restoration. Why staying in stress becomes a real issue The nervous system is built around a natural rhythm, where effort is followed by recovery, and activation is followed by rest. When this rhythm is disrupted, stress loses its purpose and begins to narrow our capacity to function. As stress becomes chronic, subtle changes often appear. Decision-making may feel more difficult. Emotional responses may become heightened or flattened. Creativity can feel distant, not because ideas have disappeared, but because the system is overloaded. Many people continue to function during this phase. They show up, work, and meet expectations. From the outside, they may appear resilient, but internally their available energy and flexibility are steadily diminishing. This is why chronic stress often goes unnoticed and why people feel confused by their experience for so long. Why rest and self-care often do not resolve chronic stress Much of today’s self-care advice focuses on short-term relief, such as taking breaks, engaging in calming activities, or scheduling time off. While these strategies can be helpful, they rarely address the deeper issue of nervous system regulation. When stress is ongoing, even restorative activities can start to feel like another task on an already full to-do list. The body may relax briefly, but it often returns to its stressed baseline soon after. This is why many people feel discouraged when self-care does not seem to work. The issue is not a lack of effort or commitment. Relief and recovery are not the same thing. Chronic stress requires more than interruption, it requires resolution. How chronic stress affects clarity and creativity Creativity depends on flexibility, the ability to explore, imagine, and respond without feeling threatened. When the nervous system remains in a state of stress, that flexibility diminishes. Under prolonged stress, the brain prioritizes efficiency and protection. While this can be useful in the short term, over time it limits curiosity, experimentation, and insight. Many people describe mental fog, creative blocks, or a sense of disconnection from ideas that once came easily. This is not a personal failure. It is a physiological response. Understanding this relationship shifts the focus away from willpower and self-discipline toward capacity, regulation, and safety. Stress is normal, staying there is not Stress is a normal part of life, but it is not meant to be a constant state. Problems arise when stress becomes permanent instead of temporary. Supporting long-term well-being, resilience, and creativity requires learning how to recognize stress patterns and support genuine recovery. This is not about pushing harder or fixing yourself. It is about restoring balance. When the body feels safe enough to settle, clarity and creativity naturally return. This understanding of stress forms the foundation of the work I explore more deeply in my writing, programs, and future publications. A more appropriate next step If stress has become a constant presence in your life, even if you are still functioning, it is important to understand where you currently are in the stress cycle. Different stages of stress require different kinds of support. Matching the next step to your current capacity matters. The Creative Reset Quiz is designed to help identify your current stress state so that guidance aligns with where you are now, rather than where you think you should be. This helps prevent overwhelm and supports sustainable change instead of quick fixes. Creative Reset Quiz Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Janice Webber Janice Webber, Owner, Coach, and Artist Janice Webber is a creative transformational coach and artist specializing in stress, burnout, and creative shutdown. Drawing on decades of lived and professional experience, she helps people restore calm, clarity, and creative flow through embodied, sustainable practices. Her work is grounded in the belief that stress is a normal part of being human and that learning how to work with stress is essential. Further reading on Brainz Magazine: For readers interested in exploring related perspectives on stress and recovery, the following Brainz Magazine articles may be helpful: Why Popular Self-Care Ideas Often Fail – Valeriya Kovbuz: An exploration of why many common self-care approaches offer temporary relief without resolving chronic stress patterns. Rethinking Stress: Mental Health Philosophy and How We Experience, Understand, and Manage Stress – Lance Allan Kair: A mental health-oriented perspective on stress as an ongoing experience shaped by perception, environment, and nervous system patterns.

Victoria Miles is an Executive Leadership Coach and the founder of The Clarity Club®, where she works with leaders and founders operating under sustained pressure to lead with clarity, intention, and within their capacity. Her work supports high-performing individuals navigating complexity, responsibility, and constant demand – enabling sustainable leadership without compromising wellbeing or fulfilment. Victoria Miles, Executive Leadership Coach Who is Victoria Miles, and what do you do? I am an Executive Leadership Coach and the founder of The Clarity Club®. I work with leaders and entrepreneurs operating under sustained pressure to help them lead with clarity, intention, and within their capacity – enabling sustained performance without compromising wellbeing or personal fulfilment. Through my Leadership Recalibration work, I act as a thinking partner to leaders and founders navigating complexity, responsibility, and constant demand. I create space for clarity in environments where reflection is often missing, supporting leaders to make more considered decisions and lead in a way that is both effective and sustainable. My approach is shaped by over 15 years spent working alongside senior executives and teams in high-pressure environments. As a Personal Assistant supporting decision-makers at the top of organisations, I gained a front-row view of how responsibility accumulates over time, often as boundaries quietly erode. I observed how capable, conscientious leaders continue to perform while long hours, constant availability, and competing priorities become normalised – until clarity fades and capacity begins to narrow. Alongside this professional experience, I am also a mother of two, which deepened my understanding of responsibility that does not switch off. Today, I bring this combined perspective into my coaching work, supporting leaders to lead consciously, with intention, and within their true capacity. What inspired you to start The Clarity Club®? The Clarity Club® was created in response to a pattern I repeatedly observed in leadership environments: a lack of protected space to pause, notice, and recalibrate. Many leaders are highly capable and deeply committed to their work and teams yet rarely have the opportunity to step back and reflect on how they are leading – not just the outcomes they are responsible for. Over time, unspoken expectations, growing responsibility, and a culture of absorbing pressure rather than examining it become normalised. Decision-making grows reactive, priorities blur, and pressure is carried rather than consciously observed and addressed. I founded The Clarity Club® to offer support that acknowledges the unspoken pressures leaders carry and it creates a space for conversations that often go unheard. At its core, The Clarity Club® values reflection as a leadership capability, not a luxury, and recognises clarity and capacity as essential foundations for sustained leadership impact. What is the biggest challenge your clients come to you with? The leaders I work with are not lacking motivation, ambition, or competence. In most cases, they are already performing at a high level. The challenge they bring is often internal overload – too many competing demands, constant decision-making, and limited space to think clearly. Many leaders support their team while carrying responsibility and pressure largely alone, with few spaces to explore challenges openly or reflect without judgement. Over time, this can narrow perspective, erode confidence in decisions, and create a sense of operating on autopilot rather than with intention. What clients are often seeking is clarity – clarity around priorities, boundaries, expectations, and how to lead in a way that feels sustainable rather than continuously stretched. How does your coaching help people regain clarity and balance? My coaching creates intentional space for leaders to step out of the noise and examine what is really shaping their decisions, behaviours, and internal pressure. As a thinking partner, I support clients to observe their thinking, surface blind spots, and challenge patterns that may no longer serve them. This allows leaders to reconnect with what matters most, make more deliberate choices, and recalibrate how they lead in line with their current capacity. Rather than striving for balance as a fixed state, the work focuses on alignment – ensuring leadership decisions reflect reality, values, and priorities in a way that can be sustained over time. What makes your approach different from other Coaches? My approach is shaped by close, first-hand experience of leadership environments and lived experience across both work and life, and robust professional training – alongside a strong emphasis on discretion and ethical practice. My experience spans sustained work alongside senior leaders as well as the realities of responsibility beyond the workplace. This gives me a grounded understanding of how pressure accumulates over time and how it shows up not just professionally, but personally too. It allows me to meet leaders without assumption or judgement, recognising the complexity of their roles rather than oversimplifying it. I work as a thinking partner rather than an external expert with answers, creating space for leaders to examine how their thinking, assumptions, and internal patterns influence decision-making under pressure. In that space, clarity surfaces – often revealing what is often already present but hidden by constant demand. My work draws on advanced training in coaching and leadership development and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), using these disciplines to deepen awareness of how language and habitual responses shape behaviour and capacity – rather than to prescribe solutions. Unlike approaches that focus on pushing harder or overwhelming leaders with more frameworks or things to do, my work centres on recalibration. I support leaders to challenge unhelpful patterns and lead more consciously in environments where complexity and pressure are constant. Can you describe a transformation you’ve helped a client achieve? I often work with leaders who arrive feeling constantly “on” - respected, capable, and outwardly successful, yet internally stretched. Through coaching, clients begin to slow down their decision-making, clarify boundaries, and differentiate between what genuinely requires their attention and what does not. Over time, they report increased confidence in their choices, improved focus, and a stronger sense of agency in how they lead. Transformation often emerges through insights alongside gradual shifts, and is reflected over time in calmer leadership presence, clearer communication, and a greater sense of control over time and energy. What common misconceptions do people have about burnout and clarity? One common misconception is that burnout only affects people who are struggling and that capable, high-functioning individuals – including leaders – are somehow immune. In reality, burnout often develops precisely because people are competent, committed, and accustomed to carrying responsibility over long periods of time. The very qualities that make someone effective can also make sustained pressure feel manageable – until it isn’t. Another misconception is the belief that burnout would be obvious if it were happening to you. More often, it unfolds gradually over a long period of time, sometimes years. As pressure accumulates, operating at a stretched capacity can start to feel normal and “just part of the role.” When feeling tired, reactive, or mentally overloaded becomes familiar, it becomes much harder to recognise when something is no longer sustainable – particularly while performance remains outwardly strong. Many people hear and read the word burnout, but are unclear on the early signs and symptoms, making it difficult to recognise in real time. There is also a belief that building a little more rest into the week will prevent burnout. While rest is important, it is rarely sufficient on its own. Without examining how decisions are made, where pressure is absorbed, and what expectations are being carried, the same patterns often persist – and clarity continues to erode. There are also common misconceptions about clarity. Many capable leaders believe they should already have it – that if they are experienced and successful, clarity should come naturally. In practice, clarity is not a fixed trait; it can erode under sustained pressure and constant decision-making. Another belief is that clarity will return once things slow down. In leadership roles, things rarely slow down on their own. Without intentional space to pause and reflect, clarity doesn’t automatically reappear. I encourage people to see burnout not as a sudden breaking point, but as the cumulative result of unexamined pressure and gradual energy depletion over time. Clarity, in this sense, is not passive. It is an active leadership practice that supports intentional decision-making and sustainability, helping prevent pressure from becoming unmanageable in the first place. How do you help clients take actionable steps toward lasting change? Insight alone is not enough. While moments of clarity can be powerful, lasting change comes from how those insights are applied and revisited over time. I support clients to translate awareness into practical actions that fit their individual context, responsibilities, and circumstances. This often involves redefining boundaries, changing how decisions are made, or addressing internal expectations that have shaped behaviour over months or years. Because long-standing patterns are easy to slip back into – particularly under pressure – conscious leadership is required to sustain change. Beyond coaching sessions, I encourage regular self-check-ins so leaders can notice when old patterns re-emerge. This might include practices such as journalling or choosing someone they trust to help keep them accountable. These practices help keep leadership intentional rather than reactive. Change often involves stepping into unfamiliar territory. While this can feel uncomfortable, it is frequently where the most meaningful and lasting change occurs, both in leadership and overall fulfilment. The actions a client chooses are always personal, not prescribed. My role is not to tell someone what to do, but to offer direction, challenge assumptions, and support thoughtful decisions that lead to sustainable change. Some clients also choose to revisit coaching at key moments, using it as a space to pause, reflect, and recalibrate as circumstances change. What results can clients expect after working with you? After working with me, clients often describe clearer decision-making, heightened awareness, and reduced internal pressure, alongside a stronger sense of control over how they lead. Many notice a shift in perspective – feeling better able to see what matters, what doesn’t, and how they choose to respond. Alongside these leadership changes, many experience noticeable improvements in how they feel day to day. Clients have described feeling more rested, calmer, and experiencing greater fulfilment as pressure is no longer carried unconsciously. With clearer boundaries and more intentional communication, relationships often improve too – both at work and with those closest to them. The result is leadership that feels sustainable, effective, and intentional - supporting not only performance, but overall wellbeing and quality of life. What would you say to someone on the fence about starting coaching with you? People often come to coaching because something feels unclear or difficult to navigate on their own. Coaching creates space to explore not only what is being consciously considered, but also what is going unspoken or unnoticed beneath the surface. If you’re on the fence, that’s completely understandable. Coaching can be hard to fully understand from the outside, because it’s not about advice but about the experience of creating space to think, notice patterns, and gain a new perspective. Often, an initial conversation with me is the most effective way to understand whether that space feels useful. There is no shortage of information and self-help resources available, and many people also lean on friends and family for support. While these can be really valuable, they can’t account for individual blind spots or unspoken patterns – particularly when you’re personally invested or close to the situation. Having a skilled, impartial thinking partner such as myself can help surface insight more efficiently, without judgement or personal agenda. What matters most is a willingness to show up honestly for yourself. Coaching is only effective when someone is open, personally invested, and ready to engage with their own thinking. For many, simply starting the conversation is an intentional first step. How can potential clients get started or contact you? People interested in working with me can start by visiting The Clarity Club® via my website , where they can read more about my work, approach, and how I work with leaders. If and when it feels like the right next step, they can use the link on the website to book an Intro Call . A no-obligation conversation to explore whether working together would be a good fit. I also share insights, reflections, articles, and announcements on Instagram. Enquiries are always welcome by email . For those looking for more personalised support, my Leadership Recalibration programme offers a focused, yet reflective coaching experience for leaders navigating pressure and responsibility – designed to support clarity, capacity, and intentional leadership. Follow me on Instagram for more info! Read more from Victoria Miles

Written by Michelle Stroud, Holistic Reproductive Practitioner & Doula Trainer Michelle Stroud is a holistic reproductive practitioner, doula educator, and reflexology and Reiki trainer with over 20 years of experience supporting women through fertility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She specializes in trauma-informed, client-centred care and holistic education. Pregnancy and birth today involve more information, more testing, and more medical options than ever before. While access to care has expanded, many families are quietly feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and unsure how to navigate the system in a way that truly aligns with their values. This is where holistic doulas play an increasingly essential role, not in opposition to modern care, but alongside it. Holistic doulas are needed now, not because the system is failing, but because it was never designed to meet the full emotional, relational, and decision-making needs of families during one of the biggest transitions of their lives.   What is a holistic doula? A holistic doula provides continuous, non-medical support throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, with attention to the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, not just the physical process of birth.   In addition to emotional and practical support, holistic doulas often help clients navigate complex information, regulate stress and overwhelm, process past experiences with healthcare, and make informed choices that reflect their personal values, beliefs, and circumstances.   Their role is not to replace medical care, but to complement it.   Why informed choice needs more than information Modern maternity care offers a wide range of   prenatal tests, screenings, and interventions . While these options can be valuable, families are often given limited time to fully understand the benefits, risks, and implications of each choice. Holistic doulas help bridge this gap by taking the time to: Explain information in an accessible language Provide evidence-based resources Explore how different options align with a family’s values Support thoughtful, pressure-free decision-making Help families feel empowered in advocating for their individual needs. Informed consent works best when it’s paired with informed confidence. Personal care in a time-limited system Healthcare providers today are often managing heavy caseloads, administrative demands, and strict timelines. Even well-intentioned practitioners may not have the capacity to deeply know each client’s history, fears, or lived experiences. Research indicates that staffing shortages are a key contributor to   unsafe maternity care  in documented cases, illustrating how shortages affect not just workloads but clinical outcomes as well. Holistic doulas offer something the system struggles to provide: time. Time to listen. Time to understand. Time to build trust. This personalized care allows families to feel seen and supported rather than rushed through a checklist of appointments and procedures.   Emotional regulation during a major life transition Pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum are not just medical events, they are profound nervous system experiences. Fear, uncertainty, and unresolved stress can influence how people experience care, make decisions, and process outcomes. Holistic doulas support emotional regulation by helping clients: Stay grounded during uncertainty Process emotions as they arise Feel supported rather than alone Integrate challenging moments instead of suppressing them This kind of support can   reduce the likelihood of birth trauma  and contribute to a more positive overall experience, regardless of how birth unfolds.   Supporting collaboration with medical teams Holistic doulas are often misunderstood as being “against” medical care. In reality, their presence frequently improves communication and collaboration. When clients feel calm, informed, and confident, they are better able to: Ask clear questions Communicate respectfully with providers Participate actively in their care Reach out when support is needed Holistic doulas help facilitate these interactions, supporting both the client and the care team.   Choice is limited, presence still matters In many regions, families have limited choice when it comes to care providers. Midwives may have long waiting lists, and clients are often assigned an obstetric provider they’ve never met before labor begins. A doula is one of the few members of the care team a family can intentionally choose. Holistic doulas offer continuity, familiarity, and presence in a system where many faces may be new and changing. They are often the one consistent support person throughout the entire journey, and almost always present at the birth. Why this work is calling more people now As maternity care becomes more complex and less personal, many individuals feel called to support birth differently. For some, becoming a holistic doula is not a rejection of modern care, but a response to its limitations. It’s a career transition rooted in service, presence, and a desire to support families in a more relational, human way. Holistic doulas act as bridges between information and understanding, between systems and intuition, between medical care and emotional support.   A needed role in a modern system The modern birth system is not broken, but it is incomplete. Holistic doulas are needed because families deserve care that honors not only their bodies, but also their emotions, values, and lived experiences. As pregnancy and birth continue to evolve, so too does the need for practitioners who can hold space for the full human experience of bringing new life into the world. If you have been considering a doula career with a body, mind, and spirit approach that balances holistic values with evidence-based care, don’t hesitate to reach out to learn more about   By the Moon’ s holistic reproductive and full-spectrum doula training programs. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more info! Read more from Michelle Stroud Michelle Stroud, Holistic Reproductive Practitioner & Doula Trainer Michelle Stroud is a holistic reproductive practitioner, doula educator, and healing arts trainer with over 20 years of experience supporting families through fertility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She is the founder of By the Moon, a training school offering holistic doula, reflexology, and Reiki education. Michelle’s work focuses on informed consent, emotional regulation, and bridging evidence-based care with holistic and spiritual support.

Written by Luis Vicente Garcia, Business Performance-Leadership-Success Coach Luis Vicente García is a business coach, international speaker, and best-selling author, known for helping entrepreneurs and leaders elevate performance through mindset, motivation, and strategic leadership. For much of the past decade, leadership has been framed as a race. Faster decisions. Faster execution. Faster adaptation. Speed became synonymous with competence, and motion with progress. But as 2026 begins, a quieter truth is becoming impossible to ignore: many leaders are moving quickly without moving clearly. Growth is back on the agenda, artificial intelligence is accelerating decisions, and opportunity is once again within reach. Yet the inner and organizational structures required to sustain that momentum have not fully recovered from years of uninterrupted strain. The result is not failure. It is misalignment. Leadership today is not breaking down because leaders lack ambition or capability. It is straining because the architecture that supports leadership attention, judgment, focus, and renewal was never designed for a world that no longer pauses. The illusion of acceleration From boardrooms to strategy sites, the language of 2026 is unmistakably optimistic. Growth targets are returning. Investment conversations are reopening. AI is no longer experimental, it is operational. And yet, beneath the surface, many leaders are experiencing something different: cognitive overload, fragmented attention, and a constant pressure to respond rather than reflect. This creates a dangerous illusion. Organizations appear active, even agile. But activity without coherence quietly erodes decision quality. Leaders become busy rather than focused. Strategic intent dissolves into competing priorities. Judgment gives way to reaction. In this environment, speed does not create an advantage. Architecture does. Leadership is now an operating system problem The defining challenge of leadership in 2026 is not strategy, vision, or even execution. It is whether leaders have consciously designed the inner and organizational operating systems that allow strategy to be held, decisions to be made, and people to function sustainably under continuous pressure. Every organization runs on an operating system, whether intentional or accidental: How attention is allocated How decisions are made under uncertainty How priorities are chosen and protected How leaders recover, reset, and renew. When these systems are unclear or overloaded, even the best strategies fail quietly. This is where Leadership Architecture becomes essential. Leadership Architecture is the intentional design of the inner and organizational structures that shape how leaders focus, decide, renew, and create coherence in conditions of permanent uncertainty. It shifts leadership away from personality and endurance, and toward design, clarity, and sustainability. Not to slow ambition but to make it viable at the pace the world now demands. Thus, Leadership Architecture is about rebuilding those foundations. Focus as a strategic capability One of the most revealing questions leaders face in 2026 is deceptively simple: Are we focused, or are we just busy? Focus today is no longer a personal productivity skill. It is a strategic capability. Organizations that cannot protect attention cannot execute strategy. Leaders who cannot reduce complexity cannot create clarity for others. The most effective leaders this year will not be those with the most initiatives, but those with the courage to choose fewer priorities and align the system around them. In a noisy environment, focus becomes a signal of leadership maturity. AI and the exposure of judgment Artificial intelligence will accelerate nearly every leadership process in 2026 analysis, forecasting, communication, and execution. But AI does not eliminate the need for leaders. It exposes the quality of their thinking. Technology amplifies what already exists: Clear judgment becomes clearer. Poor judgment becomes faster. This makes Leadership Architecture even more critical. Without discernment, ethical grounding, and the capacity to pause before acting, acceleration turns into erosion. AI rewards leaders who can integrate data with meaning, speed with wisdom, and possibility with responsibility. Growth without renewal is erosion Perhaps the least discussed constraint on growth today is not capital, talent, technology, or time but capacity. Many leaders are attempting to grow from systems that are already depleted. Attention is stretched thin. Energy is fragmented. Reflection has been crowded out by urgency. Renewal, in this context, is not a wellness luxury. It is a strategic act. Leaders who fail to rebuild their capacity to think, reflect, and recover will eventually pay for growth with coherence, culture, or credibility. Sustainable leadership requires rhythms of renewal not to slow down ambition, but to sustain it. Coherence as competitive advantage In a fragmented world, coherence becomes rare and therefore valuable. Organizations that align strategy, culture, decision-making, and leadership behavior outperform those that simply move faster. Leaders who communicate a clear logic of priorities reduce anxiety, increase trust, and improve execution. Coherence does not eliminate uncertainty. It makes uncertainty navigable. A practical translation: Five architectural shifts leaders can make now Leadership Architecture is not a theory to admire. It is a structure to adjust. As 2026 unfolds, leaders do not need to reinvent who they are. They need to redesign how their leadership operates. The following shifts are not tactics, but structural choices that reshape focus, judgment, and coherence over time. 1. Replace "everything is urgent" with what actually matters Many leadership failures do not begin with poor strategy, but with an unspoken belief that everything deserves immediate attention. When urgency becomes the default setting, focus dissolves and priorities compete rather than align. Architectural leaders challenge the culture of constant urgency. They make deliberate choices about what truly matters now and what can wait. By reducing noise and protecting attention, they create the conditions for clearer thinking, stronger execution, and greater trust across the organization. 2. Design decision pauses into fast systems Speed is no longer the enemy, unexamined speed is. In environments accelerated by AI and constant data flow, leaders must intentionally insert moments of pause before irreversible decisions. These pauses are not delays, they are safeguards for judgment. High-performing leaders design decision checkpoints that ask: What are we assuming? What are we missing? What will this affect next? Good architecture slows decisions just enough to make them wiser. 3. Shift from personal endurance to systemic renewal Leadership has long celebrated resilience as an individual trait. But endurance without renewal eventually becomes fragile. Architectural leaders stop relying on personal stamina alone. They build rhythms, reflection time, recovery cycles, and strategic off-sites with real thinking space that allow leaders and teams to restore clarity before it is lost. Renewal is not retreat, it is maintenance. 4. Treat attention as a leadership asset, not a personal skill In 2026, attention will be one of the scarcest organizational resources. Leaders shape attention through what they ask about, what they reward, and what they ignore. Meetings, dashboards, and communication rhythms all signal where focus belongs. Architectural leadership means consciously designing where attention flows because what receives attention ultimately defines culture. Organizations become what their leaders consistently attend to. 5. Make coherence visible Coherence rarely announces itself, but its absence is immediately felt. Leaders can strengthen coherence by consistently connecting strategy, decisions, and values in plain language. Explaining why priorities exist reduces anxiety and increases trust, especially in uncertain times. Architectural leaders do not eliminate ambiguity. They reduce unnecessary confusion. When coherence is visible, people move with confidence. The real work of 2026 The leaders who thrive in 2026 will not necessarily be the most charismatic, the most visionary, or the most aggressive. They will be the ones who redesign their Leadership Architecture with intention. They will: Protect focus as a strategic asset. Treat judgment as a leadership discipline. Use AI as an amplifier, not a crutch. Build renewal into the rhythm of leadership. Create coherence where others create noise. The future of leadership is not louder. It is clearer. And clarity grounded in a new leadership architecture is the ultimate advantage in a world that no longer slows down. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Luis Vicente Garcia Luis Vicente Garcia, Business Performance-Leadership-Success Coach Luis Vicente García is a business performance coach, international speaker, and best-selling author with over 35 years of experience in leadership, motivation, and strategic growth. A former CFO and CEO, he now empowers professionals through Incrementum Academy and his signature concept, Motitud, the fusion of motivation and positive attitude. Certified by Brian Tracy and Jack Canfield, Luis helps entrepreneurs and leaders unlock their full potential. He writes regularly for global platforms and is a recognized voice on mindset, productivity, and leadership transformation.

Written by Lauren Lea Fenn-Ellis, Agency Founder and Fractional COO Lauren Lea Fenn-Ellis, founder and CEO of OBM Associates, leads a globally trusted business management agency. Named one of the Top 10 Disruptive Entrepreneurs, she helps founders scale with clarity, strategy, and operational excellence. There’s a point in growth where everything technically looks great. Revenue is steady, opportunities are pouring in, and the team is larger than ever. But the business feels heavier than it should. Most CEOs don’t talk about this moment. They just feel it. That creeping sense that things are getting harder to hold together, that decisions are taking longer, that the business is running, but not running smoothly. And here’s the part most leaders won’t admit out loud, it’s confusing. You’re doing well. You’ve built something with real traction. So why does it feel like you’re constantly firefighting? I’ve seen this inside corporate environments, managing operations across multiple countries, moving entire offices, and leading teams through structural change. And I see it now every week with SMEs. The pattern is the same, growth exposes what the current system can’t hold. And that's usually because the pace has changed, but the structure behind it hasn’t. Right now, this is happening everywhere. Businesses are optimistic, but they’re also navigating more complexity, more tools, more decisions, more expectations. And eventually, there’s a moment when you realise, we can’t keep operating the way we always have. If you’re at that point (or heading towards it), this conversation is the one that usually brings everything into focus. Growth isn’t linear anymore One of the biggest shifts I’m seeing across SMEs right now is this. Growth used to feel sequential. Predictable, even. You’d hire, refine, improve, expand, and the system would more or less keep up. That’s not the landscape anymore. 1. Growth is outpacing internal structure Businesses are investing more in tools and tech than ever, yet leaders still describe the same issues: Teams skipping processes because “it’s quicker that way” Decisions are being made with half the information Work is being duplicated across departments Everything feels reactive, even when the business is doing well From the outside, it looks like disorganisation. From the inside, it’s usually because the pace of growth has overtaken the system, which was never built for this stage. 2. Stronger SMEs are shifting focus, from selling more to running better Stronger SMEs are shifting focus, from selling more to running better One thing I’ve seen in corporate, in agency life, and now consulting for SMEs is that most leaders don’t reach out for support when things are “fine”. They reach out when they’re already at this inflection point, when the team is stretched, when they’re exhausted from holding everything together. And almost every time, the belief is the same, “I’ll get help once we hit £X, once we land this contract, once the next hire is in, once things calm down during the summer.” But things don’t calm down. They compound. What actually moves a business out of that cycle isn’t more selling or another burst of growth. It’s strengthening the core operations. The SMEs that continue to grow sustainably have something in common. They stop chasing the next big revenue goal as the solution. They turn inward. They tighten how the business runs. They get intentional about the tools they’re already paying for. They refine workflows, decision-making, communication, and expectations. Once the structure starts creaking, adding more volume won't grow the business. It just reveals every weak point. For most leaders, this is the turning point. Growth stops being about “more.” It becomes about capacity, the ability of the business to hold what you’re building without draining you or your team. And it’s usually around this moment, when the firefighting becomes the default state, that they finally say, “This shouldn’t feel this hard.” 3. AI is no longer a “nice to have”, it’s a stress test When AI comes up in conversations with SME leaders, the hesitation is rarely about the tech itself. Most people are already experimenting. The real sticking point is that every time they try to introduce AI into the business, it highlights just how unclear the underlying system is. And that’s what catches people off guard. I see it happen again and again. Someone tests an AI tool to “save time,” and within a week, they’re realizing: The data is inconsistent No one’s following the same process Decisions aren’t documented Roles overlap There’s no single source of truth AI didn’t create those problems, it just surfaced them. This is why so many SMEs find AI overwhelming. It isn’t the tool. It’s the realization that the business doesn’t yet have the clarity, structure, or discipline to make the tool work. AI only works when the system is ready for it. If the foundation is messy, AI simply automates the mess. I go much deeper on this topic in this article. Most SMEs don’t need “AI solutions.” They need the operational clarity that makes AI a genuine advantage. The inflection point: The moment you realize growth feels different now There’s usually a single (small) moment that makes leaders pause: A missed handover A decision that took three meetings instead of one A team working hard but not in the same direction Or that quiet sense of, “Why does this feel harder than it should?” Most CEOs come to me at this stage because something underneath the surface has shifted. They describe things like: Growth that suddenly feels weighty, not exciting A team that’s capable, but not aligned Meetings increasing, clarity decreasing Systems that once worked now need constant patching Pressure to adopt AI without knowing if the business is ready Feeling stretched too thin, even with a bigger team On paper, everything is moving forward. But operationally, it’s becoming harder to see the full picture. Technically, nothing is “wrong.” They’ve simply outgrown the way the business currently runs. Businesses don’t become messy out of carelessness. They become messy because the structure that got you to this point isn’t built for the stage you’re entering. This is the inflection point, the moment growth stops responding to effort and starts requiring clarity. The real issue: Systems that can’t carry the ambition By the time most SMEs hit the £1.5M–£30M mark, the business is no longer being held back by a lack of demand, effort, or ambition. What actually limits growth at this stage is far quieter, the internal system simply isn’t built for the weight the business is now placing on it. Inside, it feels like you’re always compensating. You step in, pick things up, smooth things over, and fill gaps you didn’t expect to still be filling at this point. This is the part nobody warns you about. The systems that got you to this point stop being the systems that can carry you forward. You don’t notice it at first. Then it becomes the backdrop of your entire week. The founder-led intuition that once held everything together isn’t enough anymore. The business has outgrown memory, proximity, and good intentions. It now needs clarity, structure, ownership, and flow. This isn't because you’ve “done something wrong.” Instead, the business has moved into a more complex stage. This is exactly where SMEs break, stall, or burn out their leaders, because the internal architecture can’t hold the pace, the volume, or the ambition anymore. And this is the point where support makes the biggest difference (long before a crisis, long before burnout, long before you start questioning whether you’re the bottleneck). The business is evolving, and the system hasn’t caught up yet. What SMEs at this stage actually need When a business hits this inflection point, the solution isn’t “work harder” or “hire more.” It’s getting the internal system to a place where it can actually hold the growth. Here’s what that looks like. A clear picture of how the business actually runs Most leaders are operating from assumptions. They think they know how work moves through the business, until they map it. How to do this: List your core processes (sales, delivery, operations, finance). Ask each owner to outline how they actually do the work. Compare the versions. The gaps, duplicates, and bottlenecks will reveal themselves immediately. You can’t fix what you can’t see. Defined ownership, not “shared responsibility” Shared ownership sounds collaborative, but in practice, it creates delays, confusion, and dropped balls. How to do this: Assign a single owner for each function, workflow, or recurring responsibility. Make it visible (in your org chart, project tool, or weekly check-ins). If “everyone is involved,” no one is accountable. Decision pathways that remove bottlenecks Most decisions end up with the CEO because there’s no alternative route. How to do this: Identify decisions you shouldn’t be making anymore. Define who makes them and what information they need to do it well. Create a simple rule, “If X is true, this decision sits with Y.” Decision hygiene is one of the fastest ways to free up leadership time. Workflows that match reality, not the ideal version Far too many businesses have workflows written once and ignored forever. How to do this: Review only the processes people touch weekly, ignore the rest for now. Remove steps no one actually follows. Rebuild the workflow around how the team already works (not how they “should” work). Re-test it live for one week. If a process doesn’t make someone’s life easier, it won’t get used. Clean, consistent data (not perfect data) You don’t need dashboards worthy of a boardroom. You just need numbers you trust. How to do this: Pick 5-7 metrics that actually inform decisions. Define exactly how each metric is measured. Update them weekly or monthly, consistently, not perfectly. A team that understands the operating rhythm If the team doesn’t understand how the business runs, they can’t run it without you. How to do this: Set a simple weekly rhythm, such as check-ins, priorities, and blockers. Give people clarity on what “good” looks like in their role. Revisit responsibilities quarterly. Autonomy isn’t a mindset, it’s a structure people can rely on. A system that’s ready for AI, not scrambling for it AI becomes powerful only when the foundations are in place. How to do this: Start with clean data and consistent workflows. Test AI on one contained process first, not the whole business. Document what worked (and what didn’t) before scaling it. The opportunity: Why getting this right now matters When the system gets clearer, the whole business opens up. In practical terms, it means: Decisions stop feeling heavy. You have the information you need when you need it, no circling back or guessing. Your team finally knows what “good” looks like. With the right structure, people step into their roles with confidence, not hesitation. Growth stops depending on how much you can personally hold. The business runs because the system is working, not because you’re working overtime. AI becomes genuinely helpful, not another thing to figure out. With clean workflows and data, AI supports the business instead of overwhelming it. You get real visibility without getting pulled into every detail. You can see what’s happening, trust the flow, and stay out of the weeds. You get your headspace back. There’s room to think, to lead, to plan without everything feeling last-minute or reactive. For leaders standing at this inflection point If you recognize yourself in any of this, you’re not alone. Most SMEs reach this stage sooner than they expect, and almost always after they’ve spent far too long firefighting their way through it. This is exactly the moment where stepping back becomes more powerful than pushing forward. When you can see the whole system clearly, everything becomes lighter. Decisions get cleaner. Teams align. Growth stops feeling like pressure and starts feeling like progress again. This is the work we do, calm, structured support that helps leaders build a business capable of holding the next stage of growth. If you’re at that inflection point, here are two simple places to start. Reach out for a conversation on where your business is right now and what it needs next. Your business can grow with more ease, more structure, and far less strain. You don’t need to carry all of it. You just need a system that will. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Lauren Lea Fenn-Ellis Lauren Lea Fenn-Ellis, Agency Founder and Fractional COO Lauren Lea Fenn-Ellis is the founder and CEO of OBM Associates, a globally trusted business management agency supporting high-growth entrepreneurs. With nearly two decades of operational leadership experience, Lauren and her team partner with visionary founders to scale intentionally through strategic systems, high-performing teams, and operations designed for clarity, efficiency, and scale. Named one of the Top 10 Disruptive Entrepreneurs, her work turns operational friction into focused momentum. For founders who are ready to step out of the day-to-day and into confident, sustainable leadership, OBM Associates builds the structure that sets them free.

Geoffery Nnalue is a tech founder and product leader who has spent nearly a decade transforming how businesses connect with their customers. Starting his career in customer support at a financial institution in Nigeria, he quickly became known for solving complex problems that drove revenue and satisfaction. This foundation led him to product management, where he led the development of payment solutions that processed millions in transactions across borders while dramatically reducing complaints. After moving to the UK, Geoffery expanded his impact as Lead Customer Executive at a proptech company, driving product adoption, improving customer satisfaction, and ensuring seamless alignment between clients and internal teams. As the visionary behind The Circlesapp, he has pioneered AI-powered solutions that help businesses generate content at scale, engage customers continuously, and boost sales, turning technology into measurable growth and impact. His latest innovation, an AI “employee” trained with his 10 years of experience in customer service, product management, and sales, is now being deployed across multiple businesses. Beyond building products, Geoffery is the author of the book Obsessed Customers: How Businesses Can Use AI to Create a Cult-Like Brand, sharing his expertise on building customer-obsessed companies that thrive in the modern economy. Geoffery Nnalue, Tech Founder, Product Leader, and Author Who is Geoffery Nnalue, and what problem did you feel called to solve through your work? I am a tech founder and author. My focus is on helping people start and grow their online businesses, and helping offline businesses move online successfully. The problem I am solving is the overwhelming complexity that stops talented entrepreneurs from taking action. Too many great business ideas never launch because the process feels too complicated and expensive. I am dedicated to making business ownership accessible to everyone. What inspired you to create The Circlesapp, and what makes it different from other platforms in this space? Starting and scaling a business online is way too complicated. Entrepreneurs are forced to juggle dozens of tools, master countless platforms, and spend precious time on technical setup instead of serving their customers. I kept asking myself: why can't this be simpler? Why can't someone just click a button to start their online business and watch it grow? That vision drives everything we do at The Circlesapp. We are not just another tool in an entrepreneur's already crowded toolkit. The Circlesapp is a comprehensive ecosystem of products, all engineered with one goal: making business ownership easy and accessible. From storefront creation to payment processing, from marketing automation to customer support, we provide a one-stop solution. Every product we build moves us closer to that ultimate vision of making entrepreneurship as simple as clicking a single button. Someday, we will make it just one button, and that future excites me every single day. Who do you primarily help, and what challenges do they usually come to you with? We help businesses of all kinds, from e-commerce store owners to traditional offline businesses looking to expand their reach. Our community is diverse, but the challenges they bring to us share common threads. Most often, our customers are working to grow their revenue while simultaneously improving their customer experience. They face the constant pressure of doing more with less, needing to save on costs without sacrificing quality. They are bootstrapping founders struggling with finances to employ more staff, small business owners trying to be always available for their customers, e-commerce owners battling the rising costs of generating content and maintaining strong branding, and entrepreneurs who need to scale their operations without scaling their expenses proportionally. These businesses know where they want to go. They just need the right tools and support to get there efficiently and affordably. In simple terms, how does The Circlesapp help people or businesses grow and connect more effectively? We leverage AI to solve the most expensive and time-consuming challenges businesses face. Take our KYG AI, for example. This tool produces the same quality, or even better, product images as a one-thousand-dollar product photographer, but at a much larger scale and for free. E-commerce store owners use it to generate professional product images and videos that would normally cost them anywhere from one thousand to thirty thousand dollars if they hired photographers, built a content team, or paid influencers. Then there is Sentinels, our AI employee solution. Sentinels is already working in businesses across industries, acting as an out-of-hours staff member, reducing missed calls, and providing comprehensive customer service. It performs the combined roles of appointment setter, receptionist, lead qualifier, and contact center representative all at once, on a larger scale, for 0.01% of the cost of hiring these positions separately. In essence, we democratize access to enterprise-level capabilities, making them available to businesses of any size. What is the biggest mistake you see individuals or organizations make when building communities or platforms? Treating all customers as top-of-funnel customers. When businesses treat everyone the same, regardless of where they are in their journey, it creates widespread dissatisfaction. Personalization is not optional anymore. It is essential. Messages need to resonate with each customer depending on their specific stage in the funnel. Your content, branding, advertisements, and every touchpoint should create a personalized experience for the customer, not deliver generic messaging. Think about it: a customer who just discovered your brand has completely different needs than someone who has purchased from you three times. Yet many platforms communicate with both identically. This approach leaves money on the table and customers feeling undervalued. The businesses that win are those that recognize their customers as individuals with unique needs and contexts. How do you personally guide clients from confusion or stagnation to clarity and results? We take a human-first approach to onboarding. We personally conduct discovery calls with most businesses we work with, and these conversations are not sales pitches. Instead, we focus on understanding where and how we can genuinely help based on their unique problems, not on pushing a generic solution. We have built strong touchpoints throughout the customer journey: our educational content, business assessments, discovery calls, and personalized account managers. Each of these touchpoints helps businesses discover how to get the most value from our solutions. Depending on which tool or solution brought you into The Circlesapp ecosystem, we customize our approach to ensure our solution is not just a fit, but optimized for your maximum success. We treat each business as unique and standalone. Clarity comes from being truly heard and understood, and that is what we provide. Can you share a transformation or success story that best reflects the impact of your work? One story that perfectly captures our impact involves a fashion brand owner who was bootstrapping her business. She was spending a significant portion of her limited budget on content creation. Her challenge was beating the algorithm to achieve a viral post on platforms like TikTok, which requires posting large volumes of content consistently. The quantity was not her problem. Her challenge was maintaining her brand identity and premium feel while producing content at the necessary volume and speed. Professional photography and content creation were eating into her profits. After implementing KYG AI, everything changed. She was able to produce significantly more content, at a faster pace, for a fraction of the cost. The quality remained premium, her branding stayed consistent, and her content production became sustainable. As a result, she has grown her business substantially while actually reducing her content creation expenses. Her story represents what we aim to do for every business: remove the barriers that limit their potential. What core values or principles guide how you build technology and support your clients? My background in customer support and experience management shaped three core principles that guide everything I build. The first pillar is user experience. Our products should be so simple to use that a five-year-old could navigate them. Complexity is the enemy of adoption, and we refuse to create complicated solutions. The second pillar is what I call "the great two": accessibility and responsiveness. I ensure customers have instant, 24/7 access to our team, whether they need to provide feedback or seek support. We are not hidden behind email forms or ticket systems. We are just a button away at every touchpoint because accessibility must be embedded in the products I build. My third pillar is exceeding expectations. I am committed to over-delivering compared to the cost of working with us. Our customers should always feel they received more value than they paid for. This principle keeps us honest, innovative, and customer-obsessed. How do you balance innovation, human connection, and long-term sustainability in your business model? My approach might seem unconventional, but it works: I spend substantial money using products I do not actually need, just to study their models and approaches to customer experience and service fulfillment. I am not learning about business by buying courses. I am learning by being a customer, experiencing services from the customer point of view. This gives me insights no course could provide. I also spend significant time in forums, on Reddit, in Skool communities, and in Facebook groups. I dedicate most of my day to being with customers, listening to their conversations, understanding their frustrations and aspirations. This is where innovation meets human connection. Long-term sustainability comes from building something customers genuinely love, not from growth hacks or shortcuts. When you deeply understand your customers and consistently over-deliver, sustainability takes care of itself. You build a business that grows through genuine word-of-mouth and customer loyalty. What should someone expect when they start working with you or using The Circlesapp? In one word: ease. We make running your business easy. With The Circlesapp, you can create an experience your customers are obsessed with. Every feature, every interaction, and every support touchpoint is designed to remove friction from your business operations. You should expect to feel supported, not overwhelmed. You should expect tools that actually simplify your work rather than adding to your complexity. And you should expect a partner that genuinely cares about your success, not just another vendor collecting subscription fees. For those feeling stuck or unsure about their next step, what is one powerful action you recommend they take today? Stop assuming and start asking. Speak directly to your market and gather firsthand information. Do you not know if people will buy what you want to create? Run test ads. Do not know what your customers actually want? Ask them directly. Do you not know how to increase your sales and improve customer sentiment? Speak to us at The Circlesapp. But more broadly, my advice distills to two words: remain curious. Do not be afraid to ask more questions, run more experiments, and seek more feedback. Curiosity breaks through stagnation. Action, even imperfect action informed by real market feedback, beats perfect planning every single time. The answers you need are out there in your market. You just need to be brave enough to ask the questions. Follow me on LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Geoffery Nnalue

Written by Kristi McLeod, SubSoma Practitioner and Speaker Kristi McLeod is a Master of nervous system capacity and subconscious imprinting. She trains practitioners, entrepreneurs, and executives to not just survive business but thrive through it. Walk into almost any corporate environment, and you’ll find some version of “wellness.” Yoga-at-lunch. Mental health posters. A meditation app subscription that no one opened past day three. And yet, burnout is rising. Turnover is rising. Communication challenges are rising. It’s clear that most wellness initiatives aren’t addressing the root. Here’s the truth leaders need to hear: Traditional wellness fails because it doesn’t work with the nervous system. You can’t “positive mindset” your way out of physiological survival mode. You can’t “just breathe” your way out of chronic pressure if the body is still bracing. Most workplace wellness programs focus on coping. What employees actually need is capacity. The real problem: We’re asking dysregulated bodies to function at high levels A person in survival mode cannot access: Creativity Long-term thinking Problem-solving Emotional intelligence Collaboration Steady communication These are physiological privileges, not moral strengths. When employees are dysregulated, they’re not underperforming on purpose; they’re operating beyond their bandwidth. Asking them to “self-care harder” only increases shame. What actually works: Nervous system-centered wellness When workplaces shift the focus from coping to capacity building, everything changes. This approach gives employees tools to: Regulate under pressure Process stress effectively Respond instead of react Communicate clearly Stay grounded in conflict Recover faster from strain This is wellness that creates real business outcomes, not temporary relief. Because when people have more capacity, your entire organization has more possibilities. The ripple effect leaders always notice When teams regulate together, you start to see: Fewer misunderstandings More cohesion Better energy in the workplace Improved retention Stronger leadership presence Less emotional labor throughout the day This is the kind of wellness that fundamentally strengthens culture. A note on this season of giving back Until December 31, 2025, every corporate wellness package purchased, whether it’s a 90-minute workshop or a full multi-month employee container, will have 50% of my speaker fee donated to STAND Against Sexual Assault. Sessions can be booked into 2026. The impact starts now, in your workplace and in our community. Learn more here . Follow me on Instagram and visit my LinkedIn  for more info! Read more from Kristi McLeod Kristi McLeod, SubSoma Practitioner and Speaker Kristi is a nervous system coach and Subconscious practitioner specializing in helping entrepreneurs, practitioners, and executives build true capacity from the inside out. She’s the founder of SomaSkye Wellness and creator of The Foundation, a monthly membership rooted in nervous system regulation, Subconscious Imprinting (SIT), and SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol). Known for her grounded, deeply embodied presence, Kristi teaches the kind of safety that can be felt, not just understood. Her work is for the ones ready to stop performing regulation and actually build capacity.

Written by Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, Dermal Clinician & Body Contouring Specialist Dr. Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, is an expert in body transformation, metabolic performance, and longevity. As the founder of The Elite Hub, Dr Os helps high-performing individuals achieve visible, lasting results through advanced diagnostics, personalised recovery strategies, and specialised body contouring therapies. Most athletes assume that breathing takes care of itself. After all, it is automatic, constant, and something we rarely think about outside moments of distress. Yet in endurance sport, breathing is not merely a background process, it is a trainable physiological system that can either amplify performance or quietly sabotage it. In metabolic testing, ventilatory efficiency and breathing coordination consistently emerge as critical differentiators between athletes who perform at their potential and those who plateau despite strong fitness markers. Ventilatory efficiency: Doing more with less Ventilatory efficiency reflects how effectively the lungs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide relative to workload. In practical terms, it measures how much breathing is required to sustain a given intensity. Poor ventilatory efficiency forces an athlete to breathe more, and harder, to deliver the same oxygen to working muscles. This increases sympathetic nervous system activation, elevates heart rate disproportionately, and accelerates carbohydrate depletion. Highly efficient athletes, by contrast, maintain calmer breathing patterns and lower ventilatory demand at submaximal intensities. This allows them to preserve energy, enhance fat oxidation, and maintain metabolic stability over long durations. Breathing coordination: The hidden performance lever Breathing coordination describes how well respiration synchronizes with posture, core engagement, and movement. Dysfunctional patterns, such as shallow chest breathing, excessive upper-body tension, or incomplete exhalation, compromise oxygen delivery even when cardiovascular capacity is high. This explains a paradox frequently observed in metabolic testing, VO₂ max improves, yet breathing coordination declines. The engine grows stronger, but the airflow becomes inefficient. In these cases, performance stagnates not due to a lack of fitness, but due to poor respiratory control under load. The cost of inefficient breathing Athletes with poor breathing mechanics often experience: Elevated heart rate at easy intensities Early breathlessness despite good fitness Reduced fat oxidation Faster glycogen depletion Slower recovery between sessions Over time, this leads to chronic fatigue, inconsistent performances, and a reliance on excessive high-intensity training to “feel fit.” Why zone 2 training alone is not enough Zone 2 training is foundational for endurance development, but it does not automatically correct dysfunctional breathing. In fact, athletes often reinforce poor respiratory habits during long, easy sessions. Breathing must be deliberately retrained, especially at low intensities where athletes can focus on rhythm, nasal breathing, and controlled exhalation without cognitive overload. When breathing reconditioning is paired with Zone 2 training, aerobic efficiency improves exponentially. Practical breathing techniques for endurance athletes During training (especially zone 2) Nasal breathing at low intensity: Encourages diaphragmatic breathing, improves CO₂ tolerance, and reduces sympathetic stress. Use during warm-ups and Zone 2 sessions whenever possible. Extended exhalation (4:6 or 3:5 breathing): Exhale longer than you inhale to promote parasympathetic activation and breathing efficiency. Ideal during long aerobic sessions and recovery runs. Step-breathing coordin ation (e.g., 3:3 or 4:4): Synchronizing breath with stride improves rhythm and movement economy. Particularly effective for trail and endurance running. Outside training (daily reset) Diaphragmatic reset breathing (5 minutes): Lie supine, one hand on chest, one on abdomen. Breathe slowly through the nose, keeping chest quiet. Restores proper breathing mechanics after stressful days or hard sessions. CO₂ tolerance holds (advanced): After a gentle exhale, hold breath briefly (10-20 seconds), then resume calm breathing. Improves ventilatory efficiency and tolerance to exertion. Before sleep (recovery & nervous system downregulation) 4-7-8 breathing or 5-5 nasal breathing: Slows heart rate, enhances vagal tone, and improves sleep quality. Particularly valuable for athletes with high training loads or elevated stress. Consistent application of these techniques retrains breathing as a performance skill, not an unconscious afterthought. From automatic to intentional Elite endurance athletes do not leave breathing to chance. They measure it, train it, and integrate it into their metabolic strategy. Breathing is not simply about oxygen intake, it is about efficiency, coordination, and control under load. Once athletes understand this, they stop chasing fitness blindly and start building performance intelligently. If you want to understand how your breathing, metabolism, and cardiovascular system are truly functioning, and how to train them with precision, a VO₂ max and metabolic assessment is the starting point. At The Elite Hub, we use advanced metabolic testing to identify inefficiencies, guide training intensity, and build personalised strategies that improve performance, recovery, and longevity. Because in endurance sport, how you breathe often matters more than how hard you train. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Osvaldo Cooley, PhD Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, Dermal Clinician & Body Contouring Specialist Dr. Osvaldo Cooley, PhD, is a leading expert in body transformation, metabolic performance, and longevity. A former athlete, his promising career was cut short by injuries that sparked a passion for understanding recovery and performance optimisation. Drawing from his personal journey and extensive research, Dr. Os developed proven techniques to help men and women transform their bodies, improve fitness, and boost long-term health. As the founder of The Elite Hub, he empowers high-performing individuals to achieve visible, lasting results through advanced diagnostics and personalised strategies.

Juna Ting-Wei Chang is a forest therapy guide, mentor, and the founder of Shinrin-Yoku Taiwan, a nature-based wellbeing platform dedicated to supporting individuals and communities in slowing down and returning their attention to themselves and the more-than-human world through forest therapy and Shinrin-yoku. She is the first Taiwanese guide certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) and also holds the Taiwan Forest Therapist Certificate, serving as a mentor within Taiwan’s forest therapy system in collaboration with the Taiwan Forest Therapy Society. Juna Ting-Wei Chang, Forest Therapy Guide Who is Juna Ting-Wei Chang? Juna Ting-Wei Chang is a forest therapy guide and founder of Shinrin-Yoku Taiwan, supporting people in coming closer to themselves through nature. Her journey began in 2017 at a Girl Scouts seminar in Switzerland, which inspired her to pursue a Master’s degree in Landscape and Recreation Management after completing an undergraduate degree in English and Spanish. Her research explored cyberbullying and sharing economy models in Taiwan’s forest therapy industry, bridging the realms of well-being and innovation. Having lived in the U.S. and Panama, and traveled extensively, Juna blends a global perspective with local insight, transforming science, tradition, and personal experience into accessible, grounded wellbeing practices. What inspired you to create Shinrin-Yoku Taiwan? I’ve been a Girl Scout since age 10, and that sense of curiosity and service has guided me. My first encounter with forest therapy revealed the healing potential of nature, made more meaningful through seeing friends and family struggle with mental health challenges. At the time, Taiwan had no formal forest therapy training, so I pursued ANFT certification. Today, through Shinrin-Yoku Taiwan and the family business Green Shower, I combine professional training, personal healing, and over 30 years of experience in nature-based wellness products. Following my father’s motto, “bring the forest back home,” Green Shower imported wooded essential oils and developed Home and body care products with them, bringing nature’s benefits into daily life. My mission complements this: to guide people to interweave nature’s closeness into body, mind, and daily life, supporting lasting emotional, mental, and sensory transformation. Who will come to you? Most seek relief from the fast pace and pressures of modern life, wanting to slow down, breathe, and feel present. Some want to enhance self-awareness, emotional regulation, or social-emotional learning, while others are looking for practical, sustainable ways to care for mental and emotional well-being. What makes your approach unique in Taiwan and beyond? I am the first Taiwanese ANFT-certified Forest Therapy Guide, one of fewer than 20 in Taiwan. I also hold the Taiwan Forest Therapist Certificate and serve as a mentor in Taiwan’s forest therapy system. With my background in languages and cross-cultural experience, I localize forest therapy and Shinrin-Yoku practices for Taiwanese participants while offering English-language sessions for international communities. I work with individuals, organizations, and international groups, keeping practices culturally grounded yet globally accessible. How do you blend science, tradition, and modern wellbeing practices? I integrate scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, and embodied experience. Studies show the benefits of forest therapy and nature-based interventions, while ancient wisdom affirms our deep connection with the natural world. This approach ensures wellbeing is lived, felt, and sustained, supporting people in cultivating resilient, balanced lifestyles and preventive health strategies. Who benefits most from your guidance? Those willing to slow down and allow themselves to experience nature’s restorative potential. Forest therapy is not prescriptive; it invites presence, curiosity, and receptivity. My role is to create a safe, supportive framework, allowing each person to engage at their own pace, making the experience deeply personal and sustainable. What does a typical client journey look like? Sessions last 2.5-3 hours, often in urban natural settings, with occasional mountain or forest group sessions. Participants follow the ANFT relational forest therapy sequence, developing sensory awareness, mindful presence, emotional regulation, and reflective integration. Shared reflection helps translate the experience into practical wellbeing insights for daily life. Can you share a breakthrough moment that deeply moved you? One of my most meaningful breakthroughs has been my own transformation. I struggled with perfectionism, searching for meaning, and self-doubt, and found healing through forest therapy. Nature has been a steady, non-judgmental companion, guiding me back into presence, calm, and embodied awareness, which shapes how I guide others with empathy, care, and respect. What do you wish more people understood about forest therapy? Forest therapy is simple yet profoundly powerful. It is not a luxury or trend, but an essential practice that nurtures mental health, emotional resilience, and holistic wellbeing. By engaging in forest therapy, we gently remember a sense of closeness and attentiveness to nature, supporting balance within ourselves and harmony with the world around us. What future vision drives your work? In a world of rapid change, social instability, and rising mental health challenges, I aim to help people return attention to human nature, nurturing connection, compassion, and sustainability. Through forest therapy, I invite readers to explore nature-based practices themselves and experience how mindful engagement with the natural world can support daily well-being. What would you say to someone hesitant about forest therapy? I’d say it’s okay to start small and simply be curious. Forest therapy isn’t about doing anything perfectly – it’s about slowing down, noticing nature, and giving yourself space to feel calm and present. Every step in nature can support your wellbeing, and I’m here to guide you at your own pace. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Juna Ting-Wei Chang

Written by: Samantha Pope , Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Your home should be more than just a place to reside; it should be a sanctuary that nurtures your well-being and reflects your unique style. However, many homeowners, especially those in the luxury residential sector, encounter unique challenges related to their living spaces. This is where interior designers step in, not just to enhance aesthetics but to provide solutions that improve your quality of life. As the founder and creative director of Samantha Pope Interiors, I've dedicated my career to transforming houses into exquisite dream homes. Our mission goes beyond aesthetics; it's about understanding the distinctive challenges that come with luxury living and crafting bespoke solutions that elevate your well-being. Designing for luxury living Luxury living demands a level of sophistication and refinement that goes beyond the ordinary. It's about creating spaces that not only align with your lifestyle but also exude an air of opulence and comfort. At Samantha Pope Interiors, we start by delving deep into your daily routines, preferences, and unique demands of luxury living. Do you find your kitchen impractical for your culinary desires? Is the lack of storage causing clutter in your elegant spaces? Are you struggling to create a serene oasis in your master suite that matches your discerning taste? By understanding your unique challenges, we design spaces that work for you, enhancing functionality, flow, and the unmistakable touch of luxury. Crafting emotional well-being A well-designed luxury home isn't just about aesthetics; it's about fostering emotional well-being in an opulent environment. Your surroundings significantly impact your mood, productivity, and overall happiness. That's why we emphasize elements like natural lighting, sumptuous colour palettes, and texture in the furnishings. Our commitment to well-being goes beyond trends; it's about crafting spaces that promote harmony and balance in a world where luxury is not just about possessions, but experiences. It's a place where you should feel not only safe and content but truly indulged. Solving practical dilemmas with elegance Practical dilemmas, even in luxury homes, often require innovative design solutions. Our team excels in addressing these issues with the elegance and grace that luxury living demands. Whether it's transforming a compact kitchen into a culinary haven fit for a chef or converting an underused space into a stylish home office, we make your spaces work for you while maintaining the utmost sophistication. The power of collaborative luxury Collaboration is key to solving dilemmas effectively, even in luxury interior design. We work closely with our esteemed clients, becoming an extension of their vision and lifestyle. Your insights and preferences are paramount in shaping the design process. Together, we turn your vision of a luxurious dream home into a reality. Conclusion At Samantha Pope Interiors, we understand that luxury living demands more than just beautiful spaces; it requires the creation of bespoke homes that enrich lives. By aligning our designs with your luxurious lifestyle, promoting emotional well-being, and addressing practical challenges with sophistication, we don't just create luxurious spaces; we create homes that epitomize opulence, comfort, and well-being. So, if you've ever faced dilemmas with your luxury living spaces, remember that there's a solution waiting to be designed with elegance and refinement. Let Samantha Pope Interiors transform your luxury home into a haven of well-being and style, where opulence and practicality coexist harmoniously. Explore our luxury design services on our website . Read more about our approach to luxury interior design in my exclusive Brainz Magazine interview. Click here. Learn more about the impact of your environment on brain health and well-being in this article on Neuroplasticity. Click here. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Samantha! Samantha Pope, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Samantha Pope is the Founder and Creative Director of Samantha Pope Interiors, a renowned luxury interior design studio in London and West Essex, UK. With a passion for creating exceptional spaces, she collaborates with property developers and private clients, delivering innovative and timeless solutions with unwavering attention to detail. Beyond the pursuit of beauty, Samantha firmly believes in the profound impact of thoughtfully designed environments on overall well-being. Her bespoke designs are meticulously crafted to elevate the human experience, promoting productivity, serenity, and a deep connection with the space, proving that a happy home should not only look amazing but also make you feel amazing.

Written by P aul of Venus, Mount Shasta Spiritual Guide and Healer Paul of Venus is the author of “The Sacred Rays of God” and founder of Mount Shasta Spiritual Tours. He serves as a bridge between dimensions, offering retreats, activations, and transmissions from the heart of Mount Shasta. What if the path to higher consciousness wasn’t about transcending your physical body, but about activating the sacred technology already encoded within it? At the base of Mount Shasta, where Ascended Masters walk between dimensions and crystalline frequencies pulse through ancient stone, I’ve discovered that our bodies hold the same elemental wisdom that powers this legendary portal. And that we’re living through the most pivotal moment in human history since the fall of Atlantis. Insension: The journey inward For decades, spiritual teachings have focused on “ascension,” rising above the physical realm to reach enlightenment. But through my direct transmissions with the Ascended Masters on Mount Shasta, I’ve received a corrected understanding: humanity isn’t ascending anywhere. We’re insending. Insension is the recognition that you don’t need to go up, out, or away to access higher consciousness. Everything you seek already exists within you, encoded in your DNA, waiting in the quantum field of your cells, present in the sacred geometry of your bone structure. Lady Venus whispers to those who are ready to hear: “True love waits for you, patiently.” Not romantic love as the world defines it, but the love that is your true nature, the love that exists when you remember you are divine, when you activate your sacred architecture, when you stand sovereign in your full multidimensional power. Where ascension implies leaving Earth behind, insension means fully embodying heaven on Earth. And the five elements, bone, breath, light, stone, and water, are the keys that unlock this transformation.   My first meeting with Saint Germain My first encounter with Saint Germain occurred in a small cabin at the base of Mount Shasta, and it unfolded in a way that perfectly demonstrates the essence itself, from subtle to dense, from frequency to form. Late evening. Alone. Journaling my frustrations: “Where are you? Why can’t I feel the Masters?” Then it began first as a feeling. The air shifted, became thick with presence. My chest filled with warmth. Not threatening, but powerful. Ancient. Loving. The feeling transformed into knowing. Without words, without thought, I suddenly knew with absolute certainty: this was Saint Germain. I knew his name. I knew why he’d come. This wasn’t belief, it was direct knowing, downloaded instantaneously. Then the light came. Violet light fills the cabin. Alive, intelligent, communicating through color what words could never convey. Finally, the form emerged. Tall, regal bearing, eyes holding lifetimes of wisdom. He smiled: “You’ve been asking me to prove I’m real. But Paul, I am only as real as you allow yourself to become. Stop seeking me out there. I exist within you. I always have.” He faded in reverse form to light, light to knowing, knowing to feeling, feeling to quiet. But I was forever changed.   Understanding your sacred architecture Your body is a temple designed with the same sacred geometry that structures entire universes. Bone, breath, light, stone, and water aren’t just physical elements, they’re living technologies that activate dormant DNA. Bone: Your crystalline DNA library Your skeletal system is a crystalline antenna array. Bones contain hydroxyapatite crystals that store and transmit electromagnetic frequencies, functioning exactly like the quartz deposits running through Mount Shasta’s volcanic stone. Your bone marrow produces stem cells that carry your DNA, the literal code of your divine blueprint. Your skeleton becomes a living tuning fork, resonating with the planetary grid and activating genetic codes that enable telepathy, energy healing, and direct knowing. Breath: Your quantum field generator Breath doesn’t just oxygenate cells, it generates coherent electromagnetic fields that extend beyond your physical body and directly influence DNA expression. Each inhale draws in what the Lemurian Masters call “liquid light.” Each exhale releases density and fear patterns. Conscious breathing actually changes gene expression, turning on beneficial genes and turning off stress-response genes. This is insension in action. Light: Your photonic activation system Every cell in your body contains biophotons, coherent light emissions that facilitate communication and directly influence DNA. Your DNA itself emits light, it’s literally a bio-photonic transmitter and receiver. When Saint Germain or Lady Venus communicates, they’re adjusting the photonic emissions in your cellular matrix, sending light codes that activate specific DNA sequences. Stone: Your grounding anchor You cannot insend what you haven’t first grounded. Stones, crystals, and minerals provide the stable matrix that allows consciousness to integrate into physical form. You can download light codes all day long, but without the grounding element of stone, those activations won’t anchor into your physical biology. Mount Shasta’s volcanic rock demonstrates how heat and pressure transform base elements into sacred geometry, the same alchemical process happening in your genetic transformation. Water: Your cellular memory carrier Water comprises up to 75% of your body and serves as the primary medium for DNA communication. Water has memory, it can store and transmit frequency patterns, emotional information, and consciousness itself. The glacial streams flowing from Mount Shasta carry frequencies of purity and the original template of Lemurian consciousness. When you work with water ceremonies, you introduce high-frequency patterns that support DNA activation.   Five steps into the fifth dimension Through my work channeling the Ascended Masters and the Lemurian consciousness of Telos, I’ve developed a specific five-step process for insension:   Activate your bone crystalline matrix: Place your hands on your major bones while toning sacred sounds that activate bone marrow stem cells. Master quantum coherent breathing: Five-second inhales, five-second holds, five-second exhales. Visualize drawing golden liquid light from Telos into your lungs. Receive photonic light transmissions: Sit in sunlight, gaze at candle flames, or visualize the sacred flames of the Ascended Masters. Ground through stone consciousness: Work with crystals, place bare feet on earth, touch stone. Anchor activations into your biology. Flow with sacred water practices: Ceremonial baths, blessed water, sacred springs. Feel old programming washing away.   These five steps create a complete circuit. Practiced consistently, they generate measurable changes in your energy field, consciousness, and physical biology. The mountain calls While these practices work powerfully from anywhere, there’s something uniquely transformative about activating your sacred architecture directly on Mount Shasta. Walking the mountain trails, you feel ancient stones beneath your feet pulsing with Lemurian memory. Drinking glacial streams, you consume water carrying the original template of purity. Lady Venus reminds you: true love waits for you, patiently, the love of your own divine nature, waiting to emerge. Your bones are crystalline receivers. Your breath generates quantum fields. Your cells emit coherent light. Your body grounds your spirit while accessing higher dimensions. Your cellular waters carry divine intelligence. This isn’t a metaphor, it’s the literal technology of your sacred design, waiting for your conscious activation. The only question is: are you ready to insend? Paul of Venus channels Ascended Master transmissions and guides transformational experiences on Mount Shasta through Mt. Shasta Spiritual Tours and PaulofVenus.com , available in English and Spanish. His book, The Sacred Rays of God, is available here . Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Paul of Venus Paul of Venus, Mount Shasta Spiritual Guide and Healer Paul of Venus is the author of "The Sacred Rays of God" and founder of Mount Shasta Spiritual Tours. As a spiritual teacher and channeler, he serves as a bridge between dimensions, bringing forth divine wisdom and activations from ascended masters, including Saint Germain, Sanat Kumara, and Lady Venus. Based at the sacred vortex of Mount Shasta, California, Paul facilitates transformative retreats, ceremonies, and transmissions that guide lightworkers and seekers into deeper states of consciousness. His work focuses on anchoring higher-dimensional frequencies and supporting humanity's collective awakening. Through his teachings, Paul offers a pathway to embody divine love and reclaim one's sacred essence.