Ever since I was in high school, I’ve had a habit of telling myself things like, “Well, my life is busy now, but in 3 or 4 months everything will calm down and be normal again. 3 or 4 months later, I would find myself just as busy as ever, and once again I would tell myself “all I need is 3 months more…” and the cycle would start all over again. These has been going on for years, and let’s face it, my life has yet to “calm down.”
This summer one of the executives at the company where I am working gave us interns a great pearl of wisdom for our careers. He told us that we should accept that, “the only thing constant is change.” Quite Zen for a corporate executive! I’ve come to realize that my life will probably never be less busy. I need to embrace the constant changes and challenges because they are the “normal” state of my life. If I can’t find “calm” or “normal” in the midst of change, I will never find it.
Now several days into my year of daily yoga, I‘ve embraced change and flexibility in my practice from day to day. I once viewed yoga as an energizing morning activity, a way to start my day. During the last few days I faced what I thought would be my first yoga challenge, fitting yoga into some very busy days filled with early morning meetings, long work hours, and after-work commitments. I ended up getting home later than I expected both nights and starting my practice after midnight. Needless to say, I had low expectations of my ability to practice so late and when I was so exhausted. But I got on my mat and started some cool poses, like gentle twists, child's pose, and cat cows. Then, lying on the floor, I moved my arms up and over my body with long, slow, deep breaths.
To my surprise my late night practice was so much more fulfilling than I had expected. Because I was sleepy, focusing on my breath felt totally different. I felt calm, healed, and rejuvenated in a new way. I could feel breath and oxygen find its way to the deepest parts of my body. Then, when I finally, climbed into bed, I could tell that I was breathing deeper. I felt completely prepared for a night of peaceful, restorative sleep.
Late night yoga showed me that I need to drop my expectations of how yoga should be. By accepting changes and variability like I did on those busy days, I open the possibility of new experiences in my yoga practice. And because I can make space for yoga regardless of what each day brings, I know that it can be a constant in a life that will invariably bring some new surprise or challenge each day.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Starting a Year of Yoga
This blog begins a journey of one year of yoga. For the next 365 days, I intend to practice yoga every day. I’ll practice it inside or outside, at yoga studios or at home, and even at airports if needed.
Why, you ask? I have been inspired to do so by a strange mix of yoga teachers, an MBA marketing professor, and several CEOs I’ve heard speak. From them, I’ve seen that I need to pick something to inspire me outside of the school experience, but that will align with my overall focus on learning and growth. And really, I also just want to see what happens if I do this, with no expectations of what will come next…
First: Focus
Kimber Simpkins, a yoga teacher whose classes I have just begun taking, said something in class recently that inspired me. She encouraged us to be fully present during the activities we pursue in our lives, and give 100% of our focus while doing them. I realized that I’m not always present. My mind frequently wanders, and I undertake so many activities that it’s hard to make any one of them a focus. Kimber's anecdotes reminded me of advice often echoed by CEOs and leaders. Many of them have advised us students that, “You can do many things in your life, but not all at the same time.” These past few months I’ve been contemplating running a marathon, training for another triathlon, and starting a pro-bono project, while seeking my soul mate, interning in a new industry and function, trying to have the fun I missed out on all year, moving, and preparing for a new school year. I’ve been focusing on so much, but I haven’t really been doing any of it 100%. And because I have so much going on, I don’t really enjoy the things I’m doing as much as I could. And it only gets more complicated when I return to school! Kimber made me realize that I should streamline my life to a few things I’m really passionate about, yoga being one of them.
Second: Seeing the Big Picture
Being in grad school is in many ways a gift. I’ve given myself the opportunity to learn new subjects, explore varied career options, meet new people, and visit countries all over the world. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process. But, self discovery is more than just career discovery. It means exploring and challenging my physical and emotional sides. My marketing professor, Rashi Glazer, lavished praise on companies that defined their missions broadly, lending flexibility to their strategies. For example, FedEx, initially founded as a package courier, realized during the 1970s that it was actually in the business of delivering information. Consequently, it achieved success by creating small packages for time sensitive documents. Professor Glazer also constantly bemoaned the myopic vision of companies like Kodak, which used the marketing slogan “We don’t sell film. We sell memories” without really believing memories to be its strategy. As a result, too focused on film, Kodak missed many early opportunities to deliver memories in the digital age. By making my second year of grad school a year of yoga as well, perhaps I can broaden my perspective and see a bigger picture where learning includes many aspects of my life. Since yoga and grad school are both experiences of learning & discovery, I hope I can pursue both while staying fully present in each.
Third (And Most Importantly, I think): Remembering to Laugh
It can be easy to take grad school too seriously. The pursuit of the perfect career, the desire to learn everything taught in class, and the quest to attend every interesting speaker can easily consume you. I thought I would come to grad school to find my passion and learn what I want to do with my life, but that’s a tough thing to do. I definitely lost myself in the intensity of the experience last year. When her class is holding the toughest poses, Melanie Salvatore August, my wonderful yoga teacher, always reminds us to smile. I need that reminder. Smile through all the little challenges life throws at you, because we should be enjoying this. Grad school should be fun, and my whole life doesn’t depend on this next year. I don’t have to figure out “what I want to be when I grow up” or find the perfect job. I have many years for my life and career to keep evolving. So there is no need to take everything so seriously! Instead I should have some fun and remember to smile! Daily yoga will serve as a great reminder.
Setting my Intention…
This year, I hope that my grad school experience can become more about the journey than the initial outcomes. Similarly, though I plan to do yoga each day for one year, I won’t be doing so to achieve one of the many challenging poses I can’t now do or tout some achievement. Rather, I undertake this experiment to see where it takes me and what it teaches me, whatever that may be.
Namaste!
-- Lauren
Why, you ask? I have been inspired to do so by a strange mix of yoga teachers, an MBA marketing professor, and several CEOs I’ve heard speak. From them, I’ve seen that I need to pick something to inspire me outside of the school experience, but that will align with my overall focus on learning and growth. And really, I also just want to see what happens if I do this, with no expectations of what will come next…
First: Focus
Kimber Simpkins, a yoga teacher whose classes I have just begun taking, said something in class recently that inspired me. She encouraged us to be fully present during the activities we pursue in our lives, and give 100% of our focus while doing them. I realized that I’m not always present. My mind frequently wanders, and I undertake so many activities that it’s hard to make any one of them a focus. Kimber's anecdotes reminded me of advice often echoed by CEOs and leaders. Many of them have advised us students that, “You can do many things in your life, but not all at the same time.” These past few months I’ve been contemplating running a marathon, training for another triathlon, and starting a pro-bono project, while seeking my soul mate, interning in a new industry and function, trying to have the fun I missed out on all year, moving, and preparing for a new school year. I’ve been focusing on so much, but I haven’t really been doing any of it 100%. And because I have so much going on, I don’t really enjoy the things I’m doing as much as I could. And it only gets more complicated when I return to school! Kimber made me realize that I should streamline my life to a few things I’m really passionate about, yoga being one of them.
Second: Seeing the Big Picture
Being in grad school is in many ways a gift. I’ve given myself the opportunity to learn new subjects, explore varied career options, meet new people, and visit countries all over the world. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process. But, self discovery is more than just career discovery. It means exploring and challenging my physical and emotional sides. My marketing professor, Rashi Glazer, lavished praise on companies that defined their missions broadly, lending flexibility to their strategies. For example, FedEx, initially founded as a package courier, realized during the 1970s that it was actually in the business of delivering information. Consequently, it achieved success by creating small packages for time sensitive documents. Professor Glazer also constantly bemoaned the myopic vision of companies like Kodak, which used the marketing slogan “We don’t sell film. We sell memories” without really believing memories to be its strategy. As a result, too focused on film, Kodak missed many early opportunities to deliver memories in the digital age. By making my second year of grad school a year of yoga as well, perhaps I can broaden my perspective and see a bigger picture where learning includes many aspects of my life. Since yoga and grad school are both experiences of learning & discovery, I hope I can pursue both while staying fully present in each.
Third (And Most Importantly, I think): Remembering to Laugh
It can be easy to take grad school too seriously. The pursuit of the perfect career, the desire to learn everything taught in class, and the quest to attend every interesting speaker can easily consume you. I thought I would come to grad school to find my passion and learn what I want to do with my life, but that’s a tough thing to do. I definitely lost myself in the intensity of the experience last year. When her class is holding the toughest poses, Melanie Salvatore August, my wonderful yoga teacher, always reminds us to smile. I need that reminder. Smile through all the little challenges life throws at you, because we should be enjoying this. Grad school should be fun, and my whole life doesn’t depend on this next year. I don’t have to figure out “what I want to be when I grow up” or find the perfect job. I have many years for my life and career to keep evolving. So there is no need to take everything so seriously! Instead I should have some fun and remember to smile! Daily yoga will serve as a great reminder.
Setting my Intention…
This year, I hope that my grad school experience can become more about the journey than the initial outcomes. Similarly, though I plan to do yoga each day for one year, I won’t be doing so to achieve one of the many challenging poses I can’t now do or tout some achievement. Rather, I undertake this experiment to see where it takes me and what it teaches me, whatever that may be.
Namaste!
-- Lauren
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