Mind Artist Yoga® - Leading with Sustainable Creativity
What is Mind Artist Yoga?
Creating awareness of narrative wheels, posture, breath, focus, and subtle body energy - to strengthen sustainable high performance states of mind.
Mind Artist Yoga® - Leading with Energetic Presence
Origin Story
Mind Artist Yoga was first created to address anxiety and the impacts of traumatic brain injury. The intention was to learn how to "surf the dread" associated with TBI.In 2018, I began to integrate Mind Artist Yoga into my coaching business Visible Leadership.As leaders and professionals, we are being asked and asking ourselves to evolve to meet the demands of communication.A fundamental part of that process is shifting our mindset, loosening the grip of old thinking and creating a sustainable experience of flow as we tackle the challenges of our era.
The Mind is a landscape of stories
Our Shared Mind is impacted by all the cultural noise
Our neurobiology is resistant to forced change
The state of flow invites the mind to shift into creativity
Listening is an art and an act of courage
Mind Artist Yoga® - Leading with Intentional Communication
Who is it for?
Leaders, entrepreneurs and advocates who want to invest in work that creates a state of flow and loosens the grip of old thinking.Teams that want to create healthy communication and broaden the horizons of creativity.Organizations that want to support sustainable body/mind health and give employees simple fun tools to manage anxiety and change.
Mind Artist Yoga® - Leading with Heart Centered Flow
About Justine
Justine Lewis is the creator of Visible Leadership coaching (1998) and Mind Artist Yoga® (2018).The focus of Visible Leadership coaching is the articulation of leadership presence and authentic voice in strategic communication to advance new ideas.Dr. Lewis created Mind Artist Yoga to help leaders develop intentional communication to create sustainable connection with diverse audiences.
As a young itinerant actor and musician, Justine traveled in Europe, Africa and the U.S. working with experimental theatre companies, village folklorist storytellers and Romani communities – the root inspiration for her work.Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Harvard University (MA) and UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television (PhD). Her dissertation – Performance in Legal Advocacy – examined the roles of storytelling, improvisation and presence in legal communication.At Harvard, she taught at Harvard Law School, The American Repertory Theatre and The Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. At UCLA Anderson School of Management, she designed courses for the Executive and Full-time MBA programs, The Easton Technology Leadership Program, and the Center for International Business Research.For over 25 years, Dr. Lewis has designed communication training for teams in advocacy organizations, startups & business education. She is a recognized strategic communications coach for leaders in finance, education, medicine, law, government, technology, arts and non-profits.
THE THINKING
Mind Artist Yoga can be distilled with these questions
How does my energetic presence influence communication and impact a community of listeners?
How can I surf the dread and drop into a state of flow in leadership communication?
What kind of experience do I want to create for my audience as a speaker (and for what end)?
In leadership communication, what do I want to leave as a sustainable gift?
THE WORK
Mind Artist Yoga - Workshops, Coaching and Consulting
Team Workshops
Customize Mind Artist Yoga to advance clear communication and manage conflict in high performance teams.
What are the unique team communication challenges?What is the impact of "Shared Mind" in those scenarios?
Idea
Incubator
Engage Mind Artist Yoga to pitch innovation and creative solutions.What's the story you need to tell?What are the stories you need to listen to?
Leadership Coaching
Leverage Mind Artist Yoga to access energetic presence as the foundation in persuasive communication.How does your expressive repertory shape and govern opportunity to communicate value as a leader?
Campaigns & Advocacy
Enlist Mind Artist Yoga for intentional communication and learn the art of mapping a campaign of conversations.Who is your audience and who do they think you are?Do you have integrity of intention across live and digital platforms?
Mind Artist Yoga®
Mind Artist Yoga allows leaders to settle the body, brain and mind in challenging times.For leaders, this settling allows us to curate our perception of, experience in, and attitude toward our audiences.Specifically, Mind Artist Yoga is an exploration of the Mind as a Landscape of Stories. These stories are conditioned by internal and external forces simultaneously - the neuroplasticity or "live wiring" of our brain and the cultural environments we experience.The attitude of the artist is distinct from the attitude of the trainer.
The artist leads from curiosity; the trainer leads from compliance.
Artists create space; trainers create rules.
The path of the Mind Artist can soften the grip of the mind’s whirling distractions, invite creativity and embody joy.As we curate our stories, we calm the mind and alleviate extreme stress. This practice helps enhance and expand our energetic presence by grounding our nervous system in a more sustainable way. Mind Artist Yoga can open the space to imagine new ideas, connect to what matters and lead from the core.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Max Planck, quantum theorist and Nobel Laureate
The Inner Life of a Red Tailed HawkBorn to soar, track, span, witness and sweep a landscapeSky surfing currents in gusts, night, rain, fog, fire, smoke and scorching sunSingle-minded in practice - hawk sustains, nourishes and exploresCalibrating variables above and below with a precise wisdomFocused eyes, measured breath, expanded wings, grounded talons - hawk perches, waits, scans, dives, communes and emerges in a graceful symphony of callsA voice reckoned with purposeOn the ground we observe the beauty aloftA yogi to emulate - she hones all her senses to navigate the wildA Mind Artist - surfing the dread in the natural world
Testimonials
"Justine helped me identify my different internal voices, attitudes and ways of projecting my presence, and helped me hone which combinations to use for different audiences and communication goals. Before her help, my performance was memorable but didactic, inaccessible and one dimensional. After, I had a multi-toned repertoire of attitudes, a rich arsenal of voices and a commanding presence that could persuade, teach, fight and/or lead. Visible Leadership reveals the speaker to herself so she can authentically reveal transformation to her audience."Connie Rice, Esq.
Co-founder and Co-director Advancement Project
"Justine has been a great Idea Incubation partner for us. She brings enthusiasm, humor and bold thinking to every process, and has been vital to our achieving Winner’s Circles on several occasions. She finds the center, thinks about audience and successfully challenges individuals and teams with heart, smarts, and deep insight, helping design language that captures ideas in a way that inspires every stakeholder. Expansive dreamers, startup players and tech entrepreneurs will enjoy and immensely benefit from Visible Leadership coaching."Simon Maskell
Filmmaker and Founder, Gigniks
Advancement Project CA
“If you’re trying to deliver a message, you need to talk to Justine. Her background in both theater and political philosophy are essential to not just framing a perspective, but also embodying it. She helped me own my full voice and point of view. She has an uncanny ability to hear authenticity - and will let you know what sounds true or rings hollow."Omar Brownson
Co-founder and CEO - gthx
"I had the honor and pleasure to work with Justine Lewis on multiple complex public policy-related documentary films. As a filmmaker, my goal was to tell a good human story that will resonate with policymakers; however, it takes more than cinematic and directing skills to tell a big-picture story that will humanize complex social issues. The wealth of knowledge Justine Lewis brought to our storytelling was invaluable. While I saw the story development process from my camera's lens, Justine always helped me see the story from the 30,000 feet bird's eye view, and her perspective served as my guide in developing and telling these complex stories. Having Justine Lewis on my side as a messaging consultant and a co-writer of the film was absolutely the main reason why our documentary films were so successful. Due to her targeted messaging advice, our film moved California legislators to approve a bond measure that resulted in $1 Billion in state funding to construct new schools. The resulting new legislation has since produced over 100 schools in California to relieve overcrowding."Art Simon Documentary Filmmaker, Storyteller Art Simon Productions
"For many years Justine has guided me and my colleagues in the making of persuasive presentations of all types, not just written materials, but videos, speeches, and in appearances before legislative bodies and broadcast media. In forty years as a courtroom lawyer and non-profit advocate, I have seen none better than - or even as good as - Justine. She’s a Grand Master of Persuasion."Steve English, long-time litigator and Co-Founder of Advancement Project
"Dr Justine Lewis’s unique perspective on performance and communication represents a critical contribution to digital communication driven by issues of self and emotion. She applies an impressive range of knowledge and worldviews to a global understanding of expression and identity. Dr Lewis’ leadership coaching applies this with searing insight to the mediated worlds we all now inhabit, thinking of and using language in fresh ways beyond the literal, and cutting through the noise."Dr Clare Foster, PhD, FHEA
British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow, CRASSH
University of Cambridge*
AI & Society: Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication
Founding convener, ‘Re-‘ Interdisciplinary Research Network
"Dr Justine Lewis helped redesign our presentations for national and global outreach as well as delivered annual presentation training for all admission officers and leaders who engage the public. She customized one-on-one coaching with the eye of an educator and the instinct of an advocate. This boutique approach enhanced the professional development for each team member.
I absolutely recommend her as a training and coaching partner for any educational department or team that is looking for a fresh approach to both internal and external communications."Janina Montero
Vice Chancellor Emeritus UCLA Student Affairs
"At the UCLA Easton Technology Management Center, a student once told me: “I don’t want to be seen as just an engineer or technology specialist. I am also a leader, a manager, an entrepreneur.” Dr Lewis’ strategic communication workshop series moved MBA students toward that goal with insight, integrity and humor through dynamic and interactive scenario-based learning."Vandana (Ana) Mangal, PhD
Higher Ed Innovator. Academia-Industry Connector.
"If you want a genuinely brilliant communications expert to lift your thinking, help you see around corners, give deep insight into how to be proactive, and respond with wisdom, Justine Lewis is your person. Her Visible Leadership agency is proven to offer tools to expand the voice of our leaders, which then helps to move progressive politics and policy forward. She also has a unique ability to motivate leaders with great ideas to help them transform those ideas into action. She's an incredible asset to any organization and leader."Katie Smith (they/them)
Director of Communications
Advancement Project CA
"Transparency in telling and exchanging personal stories helps create an experience of shared value. Political messaging can’t be prescribed – it needs to be designed with awareness of who is and isn’t in the room to hear. Leadership presence is not just how you hold yourself in public; it’s how you listen, energetically, to the communities you serve. Visible Leadership coaching is for anyone seriously interested in the impact of presence and story in persuasive communication."Beth Burnam
Community Activist LA County
Leaders often feel under siege. We are functioning on adrenaline. We are hustling to pivot. We are scanning for ways to support our teams’ wellness. We are turning inward, as well out toward our audiences, with new questions about value and viability. We are challenging ourselves, our systems and our people to adapt, thrive and innovate. We are hurtling into a global digital first world.
Understanding both the strategic and mindful art of communication is critical now. We need it to stay healthy as people demand more from us to engender trust. And only with the gift of that trust, whether from colleagues, partners, teams, constituents, clients or stakeholders - can leaders inspire from the ground up with authenticity.We can advance new ideas as we check in on the energetics of progress and change. We can create a culture of action that is motivated by vision and not fear or bluster. We can lead visibly and include different or discordant voices while framing the truth.
Visible Leadership coaching and Mind Artist Yoga create the space to expand leadership presence and authentic voice in strategic communication.Coaching and training are curated for your organizational brand, personal style and the unique challenges of your constituency and mission. VL coaching is opportunity driven and designed to provide lasting sustainable change.
