Yoga is sold to modern day women as a means to create a toned, flexible, and strong body. However there are many mental and spiritual lessons that are directly related to what you may experience at different times in office or more broadly in life.
- Show up
In today’s world, a reluctance to commit is becoming common because the uncertainty of upside in the future. Technology allows us an easy escape; the ability to cancel an appointment, or the means to search for a better option via social media. Dedicating yourself to your yoga practice is self-confirmation that you can be relied onto show up, confront the unknown and work through the challenges that may come your way.
- Be present
We spend so much of our time reliving the past or planning the future when life is actually occurring in the present. Yoga is a vehicle that allows us to feel more in control of our minds and our lives. The series of postures requires our unwavering attention, teaching us to open our minds and bodies, to balance, to flip things upside down, to reverse, to be still, to find inner strength, and to let go. If you do not focus on the pose you are trying to master than you will not be triumphant. The same could be said for completing a task at work, you may already be stretched for time, or asked to change course but if you do not focus your attention to what is being asked of you, and instead allow yourself to become distracted by thoughts than you will not complete it to the standard you are capable of.
- Overcome obstacles
Yoga is the opportunity to overcome a series of obstacles in the form of asanas (poses) that will allow you to overcome adversity in life. To overcome a difficult yoga pose (or situation at work) focus on the positives, what you can achieve, instead of the negatives of what you can’t accomplish at this time. Challenge yourself to try new things; don’t be afraid to try a new pose or learn a new skill you are not a failure because you can not instantly master it. Don’t compare yourself to others; this is your unique journey. Finally don’t give up; instead take rest, (child’s pose in yoga is very restorative or at work, go for a walk around the block) and rebuild your strength to try again.
- Everything is temporary
The sensations you experience during yoga may be intense, they could last a minute, your whole practice, or continue after you finish your yoga but eventually they will subside and be replaced by a new feeling. By bringing your awareness to what you are experiencing, you become an observer without judgement. At this time you neither become overwhelmed by the experience nor do you find the need to fight it or escape.
When you experience intense feelings or emotions in your everyday life bring your attention to what you are feeling and where you are feeling it in your body e.g. anxiety and feeling sick in the stomach. Use your breath as you would in yoga to breathe into the sensation and breathe out to relax and let it go.
- Practice compassion
The emotions that you are experiencing on your yoga mat may be manifestations of experiences and emotions that your friends, family, colleagues or everyday individuals you interact with are experiencing in their life. Practice self-compassion, listen to your body, if it doesn’t want to be pulled and pushed into a position then don’t force it. At the same time allow yourself to fully experience and let go of your emotions (don’t be afraid to cry or smile during your yoga practice or at the office) and allow this empathy to extend to those around you. An act of kindness (starting with a smile) has the ability to transform someone’s day, including yours.