Dr. Helena Lass | Co-Founder | Wellness Orbit
Dr. Helena Lass is a trailblazing leader in the mental wellness field, where she combines her experience as a psychiatrist with innovative approaches to mental health that prioritize proactive well-being. Her journey toward a leadership role in this space began when she expanded her expertise through studies in Practical Consciousness with Ingvar Villido Ishwarananda. It was this exposure that illuminated the potential for improving mental wellness through intrapersonal skills – practical, self-led tools that empower individuals to maintain mental health independently. For Helena, the field of mental wellness goes beyond simply addressing illness; it’s about equipping individuals with skills to proactively manage their mental states and lead fulfilling lives. At EliteX, we are proud to have Dr. Helena Lass as part of the edition: Corporate Queens: Trailblazing Women Driving Business Success in 2024.
Through these studies, she discovered how consciousness can help people become mentally resilient. Rather than just treating symptoms, Helena believes in helping people attain sustainable mental wellness by teaching them practical skills for self-regulation and emotional balance. “Mental wellness should be accessible to everyone, especially in professional environments where stress often takes a heavy toll,” she says. This conviction inspired her to co-found Wellness Orbit, a digital platform designed as a “mental wellness gym.” Through Wellness Orbit, Helena and her team work to create tools and programs that offer systematic intrapersonal education, aiming to prevent mental health issues before they arise.
“Developing strong intrapersonal skills and knowing how to release negative emotions are crucial to harnessing our inner strength and shaping a fulfilling path.”
As a woman in the corporate sector advocating for a mental wellness revolution, Helena has faced her fair share of challenges. One of the most persistent obstacles has been convincing others of the importance of mental wellness, especially in workplaces. “The primary focus around mental health has been largely about disorders and cures,” she explains, “and this narrow view overlooks the everyday relevance of mental wellness.” Helena’s vision is to shift the conversation from reactive care to proactive wellness, where mental health is an active, ongoing practice. This often means addressing stigmas around mental health in corporate settings, where many still see discussions about emotional well-being as taboo or irrelevant until problems surface. However, Dr. Helena Lass believes that organizations need to integrate wellness proactively to prevent burnout, anxiety, and other mental health issues, rather than responding to them once they emerge. Helena’s belief in proactive mental wellness is supported by her research. She authored a scientific paper exploring the benefits of intrapersonal skill development as a means to sustain mental health. In it, she argues for the significance of understanding and managing internal mental processes, something that could make mental wellness a natural and essential part of daily life. This academic contribution serves as a foundation for her work with Wellness Orbit and underscores the importance of mental wellness in all spheres of life, particularly in the workplace.
In a world where technology has blurred the boundaries between work and personal life, Helena advocates for a more integrated approach rather than the traditional concept of “work-life balance.” To her, work and life aren’t separate; they are intertwined. With the tools of Practical Consciousness, she has found a way to achieve holistic integration of work and life. “Work-life balance is an outdated concept,” she explains, noting that our ability to stay constantly connected has transformed how we experience our personal and professional lives. Using intrapersonal skills to find harmony, she believes individuals can achieve fulfillment without feeling overwhelmed by the demands of modern work. Through her understanding of consciousness, Helena has developed a system that lets her navigate both work and personal life with ease. She attributes this to the seven qualities of consciousness, which help her maintain focus and adaptability. She emphasizes the importance of awareness, creativity, and inspiration – all qualities that Practical Consciousness training provides – in building resilience and adaptability.
Dr. Helena Lass’s approach to wellness revolves around the application of consciousness. She believes that the ability to direct one’s awareness at will is crucial to mental health. “Not being able to manage our own awareness is the root cause of stress, confusion, and even mental health issues,” she says. Awareness, as she defines it, allows her to focus on what’s important, manage fast-changing situations, and unlock creativity and inspiration. Practical Consciousness training also helps her avoid energy-draining emotional reactions, keeping her focused and effective in her work. She encourages others to learn this skill as well. Directing awareness is, in Helena’s view, the first step to mastering intrapersonal skills that help individuals maintain a healthy mind. By understanding and managing internal processes, people can spot early signs of stress or emotional strain, reducing the likelihood of more severe mental health issues. She points out that the absence of practical intrapersonal education in society is a significant reason for the mental health crisis we face today.
“True work-life integration becomes achievable when we’re empowered by the qualities of consciousness, blending personal and professional life with balance and purpose.”
For Helena, intrapersonal skills grounded in consciousness have been essential to her success. These skills enable her to keep a healthy mental state while managing the challenges of a career in psychiatry and mental wellness. Sharing her knowledge and experiences with others is a major source of motivation. She firmly believes that mental wellness can be achieved by everyone if they are given the right tools and training, which she aims to provide through Wellness Orbit. As both a businesswoman and a medical doctor, Dr. Helena Lass faces stress and pressure regularly. Her strategy for coping with these challenges is to remove automatic reactions from her responses. “Knowing how to release negative emotions has been essential for maintaining a clear and calm mind,” she says. At Wellness Orbit, she and her team teach basic intrapersonal skills to help individuals manage emotions and stress. Through Practical Consciousness training, she has learned to handle repetitive patterns of negative emotions, giving her the freedom to focus and move forward without internal interference.
Leading an innovative mental wellness initiative like Wellness Orbit has been a challenging journey for Helena. The journey, she notes, has required perseverance and consistency. Launching something as revolutionary as a proactive mental wellness platform took far more time and effort than she initially anticipated. Dr. Helena Lass’s scientific paper on intrapersonal skills as a proactive means to support mental health introduced many to her perspective, but she found that creating widespread understanding and acceptance would take continuous dedication. She credits the ongoing success of Wellness Orbit to her team’s commitment and resilience, recognizing that transformative ideas often require time to be fully accepted.
Helena encourages young women with leadership aspirations to trust in their intuition and harness their inner strength. “Intuition is an advantage,” she says. Cultivating self-leadership skills and managing automatic emotional reactions is key to unlocking personal potential. She urges women to focus on developing strong intrapersonal skills, which allow them to navigate their roles effectively and confidently. For Helena, true empowerment comes from understanding and directing one’s internal processes, giving women the confidence and resilience to lead successfully.
As more women step into business roles, Helena sees an increasing need for self-trust and awareness of internal processes. Men often perceive women as more emotional, but Dr. Helena believes that mastering intrapersonal skills can help women manage and channel their emotions constructively. This self-awareness can make a substantial difference in both career success and personal life. “We have the power to shape our own paths,” she says, emphasizing that women are not defined by past experiences but by their capacity to grow and direct their futures. With practical consciousness skills, Helena believes women can find opportunities in areas others overlook, using their unique strengths to thrive in business.
Helena envisions a world where mental wellness is valued equally with physical health, especially in professional settings. Her goal is to encourage a “mental wellness revolution,” where proactive approaches to mental health are prioritized by business leaders. She dreams of workplaces that actively support mental fitness and well-being, reducing stress and preventing issues like burnout and anxiety. Ideally, she would love to reach a point where her own role as a psychiatrist becomes unnecessary because people are empowered to maintain their mental health independently. But with workplace stress levels still alarmingly high, Dr. Helena acknowledges that there is a long road ahead.
“Learning to direct our awareness at will is the most basic intrapersonal skill—one that empowers us to spot the early signs of stress and prevent burnout, anxiety, and other mental health issues.”
Dr. Helena Lass hopes her legacy will be one where mental wellness is as normalized as physical fitness. She envisions a future in which people actively train their minds and emotions to stay well, not only in times of crisis but as an everyday practice. By championing a proactive approach to mental health, Helena is setting the stage for a healthier, more resilient society where everyone has the tools to lead fulfilling lives.
