Harry Pickens, Coach, Consultant, and Musician
Meet Harry Pickens…
Harry Pickens’ life mission is to bring joy, loving kindness, compassion, and wisdom wherever he goes.
Currently, he integrates multiple careers — musical performance, teaching, coaching — with lifelong passions (reading, writing, practical psychology, applied neuroscience, spiritual activism) — to help ordinary people live extraordinary lives; lives radiant with purpose, clarity, compassion, and contribution.
His most meaningful accomplishment thus far: caring for his aging mother by himself, in his home, as dementia slowly ravaged her mind and body.
Through this eight and a half year ‘boot camp for the soul’, Harry learned how to persevere, let go of vocation/future/expectations/old priorities, remember what really matters, give his everything — mind, body, heart, soul — with no hope of personal gain, fully embrace the miracle of the present moment, and navigate heartbreak, grief, gratitude and grace — all at the same time. Since her passing in November 2019, Harry has been rising like the archetypal Phoenix into a new life at the ripe young age of 60.
Exemplars of Harry’s work over the years include:
Presenting nationwide workshops focusing on practical applications of neuroscience research for reducing stress, optimizing performance, accelerating learning, awakening creativity, and creating greater life fulfillment.
Collaborating with hundreds of world-class jazz artists, including Milt Jackson, Freddie Hubbard, James Moody, and Johnny Griffin.
Performing an original composition for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Training over 200 coaches, counselors and therapists in drug-free modalities for healing the emotional pain of past traumatic experiences.
Mentoring over 4000 young creative and performing artists through the Kentucky Governor’s School For The Arts.
Helping thousands of his clients, students, and mentees release the pain of the past, embrace the miracle of the present moment, and take action to create the futures they most deeply desire and deserve.
Organizing community musical events to support local peacemakers, youth organizations, interfaith councils, and refugee populations.
Personally transforming debilitating stage-fright to unshakable confidence, decades-long chronic illness into vibrant wellbeing, and a family legacy of anxiety, depression, and trauma into ever-expanding equanimity, inner harmony, and authentic joy.
These days, Harry is particularly interested in how cutting-edge research in neuroscience and psychology can inform positive social change.
As a lifelong learner, Harry invokes the following questions as he navigates this place of change and inspires other to do the same:
““How may we use what we know about how our brains perceive, process, and encode experience in service of co-creating a world that works for everyone?
How may we use what we know about healing trauma, resolving conflict, and creating interpersonal harmony to help communities — and nations — heal?
How may we apply emerging modalities that safely and rapidly help individuals ‘rewire’ their brains for less stress, more joy, greater resilience, optimized creativity — to help mobilize constructive action in service of a more just, peaceful, sustainable world for all?””