Yoga and Career

Today  we’re specifically talking about yoga and career. It doesn’t matter if your career is nursing a new baby and raising children. It doesn’t matter if your career is running a multi-billion dollar corporation. Yoga and its ancient wisdom remind us how to be more effective and productive no matter what it is we are undertaking today.

How does this help us?

Well, to be successful in today’s world we must learn to deal with people and to overcome obstacles. Unless you’re a hermit and live in a cave, you already know we encounter both people and challenges on a daily basis. The great news is the Yoga Sutras gives us the eight limbs of yoga, which offer us tangible and effective tools to assist us in dealing with all the different facets of our lives.

Specifically, the first two limbs of yoga are the yama and the niyama, which remind us to govern ourselves with greater clarity and awareness, and to engage with others on a higher, more focused level. Why is this important? How do we even know that this works in our careers? Only when we establish a genuine connection with somebody can we be truly persuasive. Additionally, a sincere connection allows us to solve their problems in a better way. This can happen in the form of a handshake, a hug, or even selling someone the right product to meet their needs, something we can only do that when we’ve taken the time to listen to their needs and understand what their problem is that needs to be solved.

Without personal connection, this doesn’t work.

You know this is true from your own life experience. Have you ever tried to reach somebody by yelling at them or belittling them? Once we yell, the listener stops listening. The opportunity is immediately shut down. You can no longer reach them on a personal level. When people want to connect with you it’s because they TRUST you, and they trust you’ll lead them in the right direction. This is important whether you’re parenting or selling a multi-million dollar product. Trust and personal connection are what encourage people to hire you or buy what you are selling. And you can’t have a personal connection unless you’re fully present in the moment. The yoga sutras remind us of this as well.

If your mind is off future surfing some scenario that hasn’t even come to exist yet, (and might not), you can’t truly connect with anyone. If your mind is lingering in your past mistakes, you can’t focus on right now…..and you can only work with right now (side note: stop wallowing on your past mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes and dwelling on them is not going to help you). The present moment is the only opportunity we have to build that genuine relationship, to solve someone’s problem, to sell them the right thing, to be that better mother or father, etc. RIGHT NOW now is your time, and the eight limbs of yoga give you these tools to remind you how you can make a positive change today. You don’t have to wait for some far off time in the future or to be perfect before you make it happen. The work happens now, but the results happen now too, which is a really powerful thing.

Very important! I’ve left a freebie for you at the bottom this page. 3 Tips on How You Can Take Your Yoga Off the Mat, because off the mat (aka the other 22 hours of the day) is where yoga really happens. Yoga happens when you’ve had an argument with your boss and you have to try and regroup. Yoga really happens when you would rather stay in bed and pull the covers over your head, but you have a big day to face and it’s time to go for it, giving the best effort you can.

As you are working consciously to be more focused, to live a life of greater productivity and operate from a higher place, remind yourself that all these tools are there for you.

if you’re ready to go deeper and establish a greater connection with these yogic tools, click here for my new online course, Off Your Mat Into the Modern World: How to Use Yoga to Help You Achieve Everything You Want in Life Today.

So doesn’t matter whether your goals is to be a better parent, or to build your business, the ancient wisdom of yoga is here to help, and so am I.

Have a beautiful day. Namaste.