About Us

I started my journey of research in consciousness studies through the Centre for Consciousness Studies, Dayalbagh Educational Institute (CCS-DEI), India. I attended various workshops and conferences in this area. While looking for a psychological measurement of consciousness, I came across CQ-i. I had a rigorous discussion over this topic in the ‘Basic Course on Neuro-Sciences and Cognitive Sciences’ organized by CCS-DEI. Though initially, researchers at the center were cynical to accept CQ-i, presently, numerous researches are conducted in India relating consciousness with other factors using CQ-i. I have conducted various experimental studies at CCS-DEI, Agra, and presented the results at ‘Toward a Science of Consciousness’ conference series held annually. CQ-i has given me a new perspective in studying consciousness and conducting research in this area. Using CQ-i, I wish to continue seeking answers to unexplored research questions in the science of consciousness.

https://www.dei.ac.in/dei

My growth journey toward maturity and inner harmony has been a long and messy process, with many ups and downs. Amazing insights and openings unfolded, simultaneously with stressful entrepreneurial failures in Romania, which forced me to go deeper within myself, to be truthful, compassionate, more flexible, and adapt to life as it is.

The beta version of the CQ-i was developed through 14 studies on a population of 6,800 individuals. It was released in 2008, and presented the next year at the Toward a Science of Consciousness conference. The standardized version of the CQ-i was released in 2020, using a normative sample that included 2,266 participants from 96 countries. Our research revealed that collective conscious experiences, as explored with the CQ-i test, appear to have 15 patterns common to all of us, comprising the Consciousness Quotient model.

Now, the research objective is to gather a more diverse and large enough sample, to re-check the CQ-i patterning model, and to see the results of the experiment with the 15^th scale, the “Awakening Skills”, for which we added 31 items that explore the depths of the awakening journeys.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/Ovidiu-Brazdau

I am certified as a yoga therapist and meditation teacher, I have practiced and studied mindfulness/meditation for over 25 years. I bring over 30 years of experience to my practice. An alumnus of Price Waterhouse Coopers, I was the founder of IT Enabled Services Alliance, Inc., a global consulting firm. I was the Director for Global Solutions at British Telecom, AT&T, and MCI Telecommunications, later to become Verizon Business. I designed communications solutions to engage and connect people and organizations globally, for customer service support and outsourcing experiences. I have helped develop solutions for Best Buy, CUNA, Apple, McGraw-Hill, Time Warner, Autism Speaks, General Electric, Citibank, and Merrill Lynch, among others.

Conscious Work | Life Coach
www.workmindfulness.com

I hold an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, an M.A. in Postsecondary Educational Leadership, and BA degrees in both Psychology and Africana Studies. Additionally, I have several certificates in Management and Leadership, Community College Teaching, both from San Diego State University, and a certificate from the University of Oklahoma, College of Continuing Education, and Institute on Crisis of Young Black Males. While in my doctoral program, I developed a new leadership framework, that is focused on what I call Conscious Leadership.

Conscious leadership is grounded in being purposeful and intentional, incorporates the sociocultural knowledge of reciprocity, allows for shared accountability and responsibility and is highly functional within organizations, which are networked and interconnected. I believe leadership is a natural state of being, however, it must be shared and built on reciprocity. I think we have to begin re-educating and re-teaching what it looks like to be a conscious human being, therefore a conscious leader.

I regard myself as highly knowledgeable about the functionality of higher education systems and organizations. I have worked in community colleges, private and public universities, which has provided me with the opportunity to gain valuable insight, while shaping me as a conscious systems thinker. As an adjunct professor I have taught courses in the following areas: Cultural Competency, Educational Leadership in a Diversity Society, Introduction to Psychology and Cooperative Work Experience. I have an extensive background in qualitative research, leadership, student affairs and human development and functioning. I believe consciousness is universal, however, sometimes its best explained from a familiar worldview, one that may be grounded in cultural ways of being and traditions. I enjoy facilitating the human development process for people, especially from a conscious cultural lens/paradigm. My formal self-imposed title/role is Sakhu Sheti. This is an ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) term meaning one who is an illuminator of the soul/ healer.

Currently, I work as a Director of the Office of Success Coaching, at California State University San Marcos, San Diego, USA. However, I consider myself a cultural custodian and spiritual librarian. I believe it is my “purpose” to assist human beings in awakening and becoming conscious. I want to do that through a process of education, research, and coaching, so that we create a different world that is purposeful. My primary goal is to fulfill my “purpose” and practice being a universal citizen of the world, who is focused on being a practitioner of enlightenment, using the message of oneness, vibrational love, awareness and consciousness. Using the principles of balance (Maat)… truth… justice… order… love… harmony… peace… reciprocity, thereby growing a more conscious and informed world citizen!

https://www.csusm.edu/successcoaching

Another essential moment of my inner development was the acknowledgment that I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), a neuro-divergent trait known to correlate with a depth in processing information and stimuli. This trait gave me the ability to notice subtleties, make exciting connections between emotional and cognitive streams of information, and have in-depth empathy. Over the years, I studied and wrote about HSP, its ramifications, and its impact at a collective level. I have delved into various humanistic fields, from Political Science and Cultural Theories to Contemporary Dance, Body Awareness Practices, and Psychology.

I am defined by this powerful inner drive to be of service to our human collectives, towards an expansion of perspectives and capabilities. At the same time, I’ve always been curious to understand the possibilities of human development, and this is how I was drawn to Consciousness Quotient Institute’s work. Here, I wish to contribute with my knowledge, unifying streams of information and giving rise to new reflections, topics, and opportunities for studying personal and collective phenomena related to conscious evolution.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/iulia-sima/

In recent years, I have been interested in organizations and communication management issues in organizations, for which I have developed a series of computer tools, based on an original concept, designed to optimize decision-making and psychological assessment. In addition, my doctoral thesis aims at the same area of interest, focusing on the psychological evaluation models, based on item response theory.

Other professional activities include studies and research on organizational climate in a cable company (RDS-RCS Iasi) and the Constanta County Council, translation and adaptation of organizational diagnostic tools (with Filaret Sintion from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences), writing scientific books on data analysis, research methodology, and psychometrics.

I did my Master’s degree in education, which helped me explore the practices prevalent in the field of education. I discovered that it was educational psychology and particularly the field of consciousness, which can help in the development of learner-centered approaches in teaching.

I have completed my doctoral research in the field of contemplative pedagogy., with a research involving exploration and testing of the techniques and methods for adolescents that can be employed in the mainstream classrooms to evolve conscious learners.  During my Ph.D. research, I also tried to explore how much adolescents understand and comprehend the CQ-i. The research paper based on the study is entitled as ‘Consciousness Quotient Inventory administration on adolescents: difficulty level assessment’.

Some of the other research papers upon which I have worked include: “Consciousness Quotient as a predictor of executive functioning”, “Blend of phenomenology and scientific approaches in yoga and meditation researches” and “Leadership Approach in relation to levels of consciousness: a correlational analysis”. Presently, all my endeavors are aimed at the development of a component in the curriculum which can help the learners in the realization of the witnessing awareness or the conscious being.