This meditative practice can help change how you think and feel
By Diane Breneman, JD
Attorney and Conscious Transformation Instructor
Kansas City-area attorney Diane Breneman has practiced Conscious Transformation for more than 10 years, and taught the practice since 2010. She teaches group classes and works privately with clients in the Kansas City metropolitan area, and across the country.
She sat down with Our Health Matters to explain the benefits of Conscious Transformation.
What is Conscious Transformation?
Conscious Transformation is a personal development system based in ancient meditative practices, combined with cutting-edge neuroscience.
How does Conscious Transformation work?
Neuroscience has shown that the brain can be rewired to experience less fear and more peace in as little as six weeks of mindfulness-based meditation 20 minutes a day. Conscious Transformation practices are based on these principles.
Why should we consider Conscious Transformation as a personal and professional growth tool?
The key to success in our personal and professional lives is emotional intelligence. Conscious Transformation is a system developed to decrease emotional reactivity and increase peace, thereby supporting success personally and professionally.
How did you discover Conscious Transformation as a tool for your life?
I began working with Joey Klein, the founder of Conscious Transformation 10 years ago before the Conscious Transformation curriculum existed. At that time, Joey taught weekend programs in the Kansas City area. What we saw was that people came for a weekend, had a wonderful experience, but soon went back to their old habits. As a result, we developed a system that would support consistent application of meditative tools to support a rewiring of the brain.
Once the Conscious Transformation curriculum was created, people begin to transform quickly and sustain their growth. It has been such a wonderful experience to have been involved in the organization for so many years and to see how changes in the curriculum have so impacted those who engaged the work.
What drew you to Conscious Transformation and why?
I was an attorney who represented badly burned people. Eighty percent of my clients were children or parents who lost a child to a burn injury. I saw a lot of trauma and stress, and was experiencing a lot of stress in my own life. I had a demanding job, a husband and two young daughters – and serious health issues. I had always been interested in learning to meditate.
When I met Joey Klein, I was fascinated by what I experienced. Being a lawyer who looks for proof, I began to discover the science around meditation and became fascinated by the science I saw and the impact I personally experienced from meditating. As a result, I have an extensive collection of medical studies regarding meditation, neuroscience, and epigenetics (the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression, rather than alteration of the genetic code itself).
How has Conscious Transformation helped you?
All aspects of my life transformed. Today, I have a happy marriage, a deep connection to my daughters and I am finally healthy. I am so very grateful to what these practices have done to support me that three years ago, I quit the full-time practice of law to concentrate on teaching meditation.
What can a person who is new to Conscious Transformation expect at a class?
My meditation classes teach people how to meditate in a supportive and interactive setting. The curriculum is based on science and most people experience changes in their overall experience of life through the course of a class. Our classes come with recorded meditations to support and facilitate a meditative practice.
How does Conscious Transformation differ from mindfulness or are they similar?
Conscious Transformation is generally based on mindfulness principles, but also provides hourly check-in exercises for those who wish to increase their speed of transformation.
How can Conscious Transformation help people better manage stress?
Stress is fear-based emotions that we do not know how to manage. Through a consistent meditation practice, Harvard studies show that the fear center of the brain, decreases in size (amygdala), while those portions of the brain that control peace increase in size (pre-frontal cortex)
How can we learn more about Conscious Transformation or attend a class?
My next class begins May 16th, at New You Health Studios, 10557 Mission Road, in Leawood, Kan., in Mission Farms at 7:00 p.m. The class will run for six consecutive Tuesdays.
The class listing can also be found at http://www.conscioustransformation.com or on our Kansas City Conscious Transformation Facebook Page. Please come early to sign up.
For an introductory look at Conscious Transformation, everyone is invited to a free class on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center, in Overland Park, Kan.
Can a person attend just one class, or are there multiple sessions that must be attended?
To receive the full benefit, one must be consistent in daily practice. The best way to engage the work is through a six-week class such as the one beginning on May 16th.
