The Smoke Trail: Season 1, Episode 16 – Audience Q&A 1.0 with Smoke Wallin

Host Bio:

Smoke Wallin is a serial entrepreneur, conscious leader, global M&A deal maker and host of The Smoke Trail podcast. Smoke has navigated personal trauma through spiritual awakening, studying traditions like Buddhism, Christianity, and mysticism. His journey—from childhood challenges to leading global businesses—fuels his mission to share tools, truths, and stories for seekers, blending leadership with spiritual growth to inspire transformation.

Setting:

Recorded in the vibrant energy of a park in Prescott, Arizona, where the children and dogs playing juxtapose with the need for introspection, this solo episode captures Smoke’s reflective voice answering audience questions from recent YPO talks in Bangkok, Sedona, and San Francisco, as well as queries inspired by the first 15 episodes. The sounds of birds as a backdrop enhances the clarity and warmth of his responses, inviting listeners to deepen their consciousness journey.

Summary:

In this special Q&A episode, Smoke Wallin responds to audience questions gathered from global YPO talks and the first 15 episodes of The Smoke Trail, offering practical tools and insights for conscious leadership. Addressing meditation’s role in leadership, Smoke explains how it creates a gap between stimulus and response, enabling emotion-free decisions that enhance clarity and effectiveness. He shares how leaders can foster team optimism by modeling calm presence during tough times, transforming dynamics through non-reactive, conscious leadership. Smoke discusses journaling as a tool to gain perspective and boost awareness, positively influencing teams. Diving into David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness, he outlines its value in understanding team emotional states, anticipating behaviors, and leading with context over content. On clearing emotional blockages, or “hairballs,” Smoke explores modalities like EMDR, plant medicine, and tapping to release subconscious trauma, emphasizing that conscious awareness dissolves these energies. Finally, he underscores the synergy between spiritual growth and leadership, asserting that raising consciousness is essential for impactful leadership. This episode, infused with Smoke’s spiritual resonance, empowers listeners to apply these practices for personal and collective growth.

Learnings:  

• Meditation Enhances Decisions: Regular meditation fosters a calm mind, enabling leaders to make emotion-free choices, improving outcomes.  
• Calm Leadership Inspires: Modeling presence during crises spreads optimism and cohesion, transforming team dynamics.  
• Journaling Boosts Perspective: Daily journaling clarifies thoughts, enhancing consciousness and team influence.  
• Map of Consciousness Guides: Hawkins’ framework helps leaders anticipate team behaviors and lead with higher awareness.  
• Clearing Blockages Frees: Releasing emotional “hairballs” through modalities like EMDR or tapping unlocks leadership potential.

Universal Truths:  

• Consciousness is Power: Higher awareness drives effective leadership and personal harmony.  
• Presence is Leadership: Staying calm in chaos inspires trust and optimism in others.  
• Forgiveness Heals: Releasing emotional blockages restores ease and enables growth.  
• Love Dissolves Shadows: Conscious love and awareness clear subconscious barriers, fostering bliss.  
• Spirituality Fuels Impact: Spiritual growth is essential for transformative leadership and collective good.

Examples:  

• Meditation in Action: Smoke’s practice of witnessing thoughts during meditation improved his decision-making, filtering out emotional noise.  
• Calm Leadership: A leader’s non-reactive presence in a crisis, as Smoke observed, unified a stressed team, echoing Episode 12’s optimism.  
• Journaling Breakthrough: Smoke’s daily journaling clarified his responses to challenges, enhancing his leadership perspective.  
• Map of Consciousness: Understanding a team member’s anger (150 on Hawkins’ scale) allowed Smoke to tailor communication, aligning with Episode 15’s intentionality.  
• Clearing Hairballs: Smoke’s use of plant medicine uncovered childhood trauma, dissolving blockages with conscious awareness, inspired by Episode 10’s healing tools.

Smoke Trail Threads:  

• Consciousness (Episodes 1, 9, 11, 13, 15): Smoke’s Q&A ties to his awakening, Steve Hershberger’s map, Ivan Rados’ health, Chris Clements’ action, and Rob Follows’ intentionality.  
• Forgiveness (Episodes 7, 8, 13): Clearing emotional blockages aligns with Luke Wallin’s enemy forgiveness, Liv Fisch’s self-kindness, and Chris Clements’ liberation.  
• Presence (Episodes 2, 3, 8, 15): Smoke’s calm leadership echoes Sarah Fruehling’s breathwork, Jack Maxwell’s living now, Liv Fisch’s holding space, and Rob Follows’ meditation.  
• Leadership (Episodes 4, 6, 12, 15): Smoke’s conscious leadership connects to Michael Brabant’s safe workplaces, Justin Breen’s vulnerability, Elizabeth Funk’s empowerment, and Rob Follows’ significance.  
• Healing (Episodes 2, 10): Emotional blockages link to Sarah Fruehling’s EMDR and Dani Brooks’ heart-mind coherence tools.