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Can you transform institutions from the inside without them transforming you first?
What happens when consciousness work meets UN bureaucracy? And how do you harness inner transformation without killing what makes it transformative?
In this episode, Deepa talks to Thomas Legrand, author of Politics of Being and lead of the United Nations Development Programme's Conscious Food Systems Alliance. They explore how integrating science, spiritual wisdom and inner transformation creates more effective pathways to systems change - and what gets lost or found when these worlds collide.
Thomas brings shamanic training and ecological economics to institutional development work, asking hard questions about "consciousness washing," the paradoxes of mainstreaming spirituality, and what real maturity looks like in how we design systems and institutions. They dig into why understanding our inner conditions might be more radical than any policy change, and whether there's genuine hope for transformation from within the systems that created our crises.
This conversation is a rare bridge between worlds that don't usually talk - and Thomas offers practical insight into the uncomfortable work of creating change at institutional pace when the world is burning.
Do share it and better yet, start your own ADDA to talk about it!
For further information:
The Conscious Food Systems Alliance Summit: https://consciousfoodsystems.org/bhutan-summit-2026/
The Politics of Being (Thomas’ book): https://politicsofbeing.com/
Details about the BookClub: https://politicsofbeing.com/book-club/
The ADDA is brought to you by The Deep & Meaningful Consultancy.
Host: Deepa Mirchandani
Music: Unreasonable World by Bernard Schimpelsberger (http://www.bernhard.co.at/)
To find out more about the Deep & Meaningful Consultancy, to sign up for our monthly newsletter and also check out our Group ADDA sessions, please have a look at: https://www.deepandmeaningful.co.
By Deep & Meaningful ConsultancyCan you transform institutions from the inside without them transforming you first?
What happens when consciousness work meets UN bureaucracy? And how do you harness inner transformation without killing what makes it transformative?
In this episode, Deepa talks to Thomas Legrand, author of Politics of Being and lead of the United Nations Development Programme's Conscious Food Systems Alliance. They explore how integrating science, spiritual wisdom and inner transformation creates more effective pathways to systems change - and what gets lost or found when these worlds collide.
Thomas brings shamanic training and ecological economics to institutional development work, asking hard questions about "consciousness washing," the paradoxes of mainstreaming spirituality, and what real maturity looks like in how we design systems and institutions. They dig into why understanding our inner conditions might be more radical than any policy change, and whether there's genuine hope for transformation from within the systems that created our crises.
This conversation is a rare bridge between worlds that don't usually talk - and Thomas offers practical insight into the uncomfortable work of creating change at institutional pace when the world is burning.
Do share it and better yet, start your own ADDA to talk about it!
For further information:
The Conscious Food Systems Alliance Summit: https://consciousfoodsystems.org/bhutan-summit-2026/
The Politics of Being (Thomas’ book): https://politicsofbeing.com/
Details about the BookClub: https://politicsofbeing.com/book-club/
The ADDA is brought to you by The Deep & Meaningful Consultancy.
Host: Deepa Mirchandani
Music: Unreasonable World by Bernard Schimpelsberger (http://www.bernhard.co.at/)
To find out more about the Deep & Meaningful Consultancy, to sign up for our monthly newsletter and also check out our Group ADDA sessions, please have a look at: https://www.deepandmeaningful.co.