“As Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology for Tufts’ medical, dental and veterinary schools,” she recalls, “I was [also] central director of all research programs in human reproduction.”
She adds, “In dealing with faculty, I saw there was so much struggle – for ‘success’. I thought, who am I without titles and roles? I turned to the body as a model [for] how to thrive.”
Offering people a rich and rewarding perspective through her business, “Beyond Success,” King explains, “[involves] coaching, training, mentoring, and continuing education for advanced coaches. My clients have to be ready to work. In each meeting, we create a road-map for action.”
She has mentored twelve coaches in the last 2 ½ years, using face-to-face and telephone meetings. “A client typically sees me for eight two-hour sessions,” she continues. “We see what has allowed you to do certain things well and what stopped you.” It’s a practical approach from a professional who is confident of her ideas, based upon sound scientific principles.
In The Code…, she writes, “The life of [a] cell, whatever its function, is orchestrated from within by an abundance of stored information,… the evolutionary blueprint coded into DNA and RNA is translated effectively and harmoniously into a cell’s sustaining and communicating activities. The synchronicity of molecular events within cells and between cells is a symphony of reliable and repeatable events.”
She further writes, “Every cell has the same DNA but they’re not the same, they specialize, use a different part of DNA. Cells learned that when they went from being single-celled to multi-celled, collaboration was essential… an individual must [also] learn to specialize and, with that specialty, cooperate with others.”
According to King, “When we try to be something we’re not, we feel stress… it’s easy to know when you’re in alignment… it’s very natural, resonates the truth of who you are.”
Religion and science/academia did not address the full spectrum of King’s human needs and talents. Religion lacked the intellectual challenge and creativity. Science/academia lacked the compassion. Her array of inborn potentials represents the core, the center of her being. “Cells which make up the organs and systems of the body direct their activities from a centrally located nucleus… I knew that if I did not begin to live from the center of my being, I would collapse or explode from the tension,” she writes.
King’s prescription for centeredness is spelled out in her book. “I provide a mirror for people to view the resources of the essential self and the vast energies available to them as a result. This helps them to understand that their stumbling and bumbling behaviors are not all that they are.
“Cellular wisdom tells us that we can help to re-balance our lives by finding ways to express emotions, promote feelings of love and warmth, and avoid negative thinking. Each of these re-balancers has been shown to reduce variability in the heart rate.
“I encourage my clients to view their disconcerting behavior in its fullness, without self-deception, while simultaneously being aware of the wise essential self, always accessible,” she writes. “The local self is very concerned with how it looks and can thus be very defensive. Harsh or overly critical feedback brings the local self to the fore, ready to do battle.”
“Establishing a strong connection with the essential self is the foundation for transformative change,” she asserts.
Once we establish a strong connection with the essential self, we need to connect that essential self to others. King speaks of the principle of amplification which “allows cells and systems to act in concert to produce a larger or more complex outcome than any single cell or system could produce alone.
“We explore ways that you as an individual can amplify your values or belief within your community to trigger positive social changes – the larger and more complex your social network, the easier it is for the ideas and values to spread to others.
“Do you want to make a difference in the world – the clear message from cellular wisdom is make connections. The action of a person with a well-developed social network can set off a chain reaction of amplified effects [and] impact… Act! Take a small, but public step,” she readily asserts.
What about preconceived notions and prejudices? “Processing information may involve a mental process that is explicit and verbalized, requiring time and attention. This mode is slow and deliberate. Or it may involve a more automatic mode of processing. [In our social interactions], when we meet someone who would normally evoke our [engrained, automatic] schemata, but who, in some way, does not conform to our mental map, we may recognize that our automatic mode of processing is inadequate and [we may] shift to a [more] deliberate mode. Shifting from an automatic mode to a more deliberate way of processing… bring[s] our schemata to consciousness and help[s] us to formulate a new view.”
In The Code…, King makes an interesting allusion to the boundaries we seem to form around our social selves which tend to isolate. “Like all living beings, cells cannot thrive in isolation. Although they have boundaries – membranes that define their limits and maintain their integrity – those boundaries don’t isolate the cell; much of each cell’s activity is directed to communicating with other cells.”
Unfortunately, in socialized human beings, those boundaries of the self get in the way of our core being. She says, “Be present in the moment – people are usually either being angry at the past or wanting to change the future. The only moment of decision is now, so pay attention to cues, internal and external.”
Currently, King is Professor Emeritus at Tufts, splitting her time equally between writing, speaking, coaching and coach training. Her mission statement is “To greatly and expansively unfold my decision to love and help people evoke their greatness.”
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