As my teacher, John Scott, described it during our teacher-training course last week –the process of Ashtanga yoga is that of removing the clouds in order to reveal the light that is already there. Therefore we are on a path to strip back all of the conditioning – both physical and emotional- that we have had in our lives thus far, so that the ‘true self’ or the ‘soul’ can be revealed.
Thanks to the part-funding of a LinkedIn for Good grant, I have been privileged enough to spend the last two weeks with John Scott and Lucy Crawford-Scott in Cornwall, participating in their Level 1 teacher-training course. My intention in signing up for this course was to take the first step in enabling myself to share the Ashtanga practice with others, so that they too can enjoy the physical, mental and spiritual benefits to our wellbeing that this practice offers. This post is another step in the ‘sharing’ process, and will possibly motivate some of you to explore the idea of embarking on your own yoga journey!
While the benefits can be observed in many different aspects of our daily lives, I have particularly noticed the following benefits in my professional life.
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Patience
- Typically I have most definitely not been a very patient person in my professional life, as anybody who has worked closely with me can no doubt affirm! I am ambitious, and therefore impatient to move up the ladder to ‘bigger and better’ things, to higher status, more responsibility, etc. If I think back to my days of playing the violin – I was always wanting to move on to the next concerto/sonata, the more difficult one that all the older students were playing.
- It’s incredible to what extent the Ashtanga practice has knocked me down in this sense. The Ashtanga practice is HARD… and if you are impatient with it, you bring the wrong intention to the mat, and will progress more slowly. There have been times where I have decided that I will be ‘able to do’ a certain pose, by a certain date, or by a certain retreat… and it has sometimes taken me an entire YEAR longer than I expected to do the pose! Learning that the most important thing is to get on your mat 6 days a week and surrender to the JOURNEY of the practice rather than approaching it with an ambitious, aggressive mind-set has now also rubbed off on the way I approach my career and professional journey.
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Discipline/Focus
- As previously mentioned – traditionally Ashtanga is practiced six mornings per week, for approximately one and a half to two hours per session. Spending one to two hours breathing, moving the body and focusing the mind before starting your work day allows you to arrive to work with a very focused mind, less inclined to get carried away with little distractions, irritations or disappointments that occur throughout the day.
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Resilience
- When you start observing the mind and the way in which it and our ‘ego’ attempt to control us, you become aware of the insignificance of most of our day-to-day concerns and preoccupations. This in turn leads to greater perspective on what actually matters in life/in work/ in the long-term – which is very helpful during challenging periods when things are not working out as you had expected they would. Ultimately these things not working out don’t really matter that much in the grand scheme of things.
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Detachment from results
- One of the reasons I have delayed in writing this post, is the thought that as a sales professional, to be celebrating my attitude of ‘detachment from results’ may not necessarily be the best career move! This point, however, is logical, and in fact is an incredibly useful attitude for sales professionals to adopt.
- Through the Ashtanga practice I have learned that things will happen when they are meant to happen (e.g. binding in a pose), and that no amount of obsessing about a desired outcome will get you there. In fact – obsessing about the desired outcome will usually distract you from your plan, and leave in a less effective state.
- In a sales organisation, we are of course working towards a specific number, each year, quarter, month, and it is our responsibility to achieve these objectives. The yogic principle of ‘detachment from results’ has helped me massively as a sales professional. Rather than spending time or energy thinking about a number, I set my intention at the beginning of each year/quarter to make my clients as successful as possible, develop a plan that will help me support them in achieving this, and then trust that in focusing on the right activities I will achieve the results if it is meant to be. If the results don’t come, this is of course unfortunate… but we cannot allow our happiness, success or worth to be defined by a number.
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Heart vs Head
- The more I have opened my heart through many of the poses in the asana practice, and through clearing away the cobwebs in breathing or sitting practices, the more I am appreciating the huge value our heart, or ‘gut instinct’ can have in the way in which we approach business interactions. Rather than focusing solely on my logical, thinking mind to guide my actions and decisions, I will now always involve my heart in the process too.
It has only been two and a half years since I began establishing a regular yoga practice, so I am most definitely still at the beginning of my journey. What I also absolutely love about it is the ageless quality of the practitioners I meet on retreats/courses who have been practicing Ashtanga for 10+ years. It really is quite incredible, and motivating to see that the longer you practise, the more you will receive the fruits of your dedication, regardless of your age.
As per one of Sri. Pattabhi Jois’ most renouned quotes – ‘Practice and all is coming’.
From: Jane Feighery, Relationship Manager at LinkedIn