I’ve been a fan of yoga for many years. I initially was sent to Bikram style yoga by a my chiropractor, who told me if I did 3 sessions per week, I would alleviate my need to see her at all. That was a good start, but the extreme heat and the long, repetitive sessions gave way to exploring other types of yoga, leading me to Iyengar style yoga. As of this post, dear Mr. Iyengar passed on in the last 24 hours, having given the majority of his nearly 100 years to the practice and study of his ancient form of mind/body evolution and sharing it with the world.
I loved working with the Iyengar folks. The instructors I had the honor of learning from included some of the first wave of students who learned directly from Mr Iyengar himself: Manouso, Evlaleah, Kofi Busia. After a time, schedules and relocations led me to need a practice I could do myself, which didn’t take a ton of time, and which helped me connect to my inner, deeper self on a regular basis.
The 5 Tibetans is another ancient form that is great for having one’s own practice, involving the body, mind and spirit and being do-able. I don’t have to go to the gym or studio outside my home, I need no equipment, and it is designed to have me move and contemplate in a defined, specific way without requiring a 90 minute session.
Currently I’m co-hosting a 7 part online workshop via Google Hangouts, providing information and support, a community and a conversation not only about the movements themselves, but the content of our lives as human beings, where we are ever in a state of growth and flux emotionally and spiritually. Author Susan Westbrook, Qigong expert Simone Shipp, and I, along with a series of special guests, move through the content of Susan’s wonderful book which I highly recommend.
Here’s a link to the workshop: https://www.5tibetansworkshop.com/the-5-tibetans-online-workshop/.
Here’s the book, which you can buy directly from Findhorn Press or at Amazon.com.
As business owners, having a regular time and space for being present to what is going on inside is a necessity. Many folks who have a practice of going to the gym or running get some of this done through the discipline and zen-like repetitions of their chosen activity.
The discipline this provides for the mind is essential. Taking it up a notch from meditative movement, how about giving some simple, systematic consideration to what comes up inside, a sense of grasping or need, a sense of where that leads. The 5 Tibetans helps us bridge from Grasping behaviors such as Resentment to Healing behaviors such as Vulnerability.
For ourselves, and for our interactions with and understanding of those we work with, whether vendors or employees or officials or customers, working with these human feelings is foundational for being our best in our work.