Our world changed overnight with COVID-19. As we move into unprecedented times, there isn’t a manual to show us where to go from here. Businesses that were going strong are suddenly hanging on by a thread. Leaders and entrepreneurs are scrambling to find anything that could give them the slight edge at this time. How can yoga help? There’s some little known secrets that yogis have known for centuries that can help our leaders right now.
Yoga Helps You Stay In The Present Moment
The past as we know it is gone…the future right now is uncertain. Where does that leave us? The present moment. Longing for the past and worrying about the future doesn’t help us right now. Yoga brings you into the here and now, the only place where you can do anything. Now is the time to get the creative juices flowing to push forward and persevere.
Yoga Helps You Focus and Concentrate
Yoga requires discipline and helps you to focus in new ways. Think that yoga poses are easy? Think again. The amazing thing is that the pose many new students find the most difficult is the final relaxation where we lie down for the last several minutes of class and let it all come together. Our anxious minds race and when we finally take a moment to slow down, we realize just how many directions we allow ourselves to get pulled in.
Right now, many leaders are working from home with distractions abounding. The focus and concentration learned on the mat in yoga are easily brought with you into your life off the mat. Focus can keep us working towards our goals instead of getting pulled away with distractions.
Yoga Helps You To Clear Your Mind and Find Inspiration
The calming breathing; the ebb and flow of movements. It’s no secret that yoga can help us to calm down and clear our minds. When we find a clear mind, we can find inspiration. Inspiration can help us to create the new world that we want to live in. While we’ve never lived through anything like this pandemic, there have certainly been times where business took a downturn and we found ourselves in recessions and depressions. Some of the most successful businesses were created during these times and the most successful leaders emerged, including Disney (started in 1929 during the Great Depression) and General Motors (started during the downturn of 1908).
There is a quote by Buckminster Fuller that is really appropriate for this time: “You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.” Find some inspiration in these times to build your new model.
Yoga Unites Us Together
Yoga is meant to unite and right now more than ever, we need to come together. At the end of our yoga classes, we say “Namaste” which loosely translates to “I see and honor the good in you.” When we can come together to create and collaborate instead of compete, that’s when we can all succeed. The economy isn’t based on one company doing well while everyone else suffers. How can you come together with your team, complementary businesses and even your so-called “competitors” to help everyone to succeed and get us through this time? During this crazy time, one thing that’s been beautiful to see is people coming together.
Yoga can certainly give you that slight edge you may be looking for and can help your leadership abilities in more ways than you might be aware.