Analog hobbies are back, baby! But choose your adventure carefully
I can hear Nikki’s thoughts as she reads this: “Guys! This isn’t your personal journal. It’s supposed to help with our firm’s SEO. No one cares about your innermost thoughts!” And she’s right. Plus, I’m a rule follower – I always write my blogs on a PR topic, as assigned. But today, the earth is shaken to its core. I’m going to break the rules. I’m going to write a company blog on a personal topic.
I can’t help it - I was deeply affected by Matt’s recent near-fatal injury caused by reading and now everything is different. I am one of those people who feels like the world would be a better place if everyone just read a little more. Or to be clear: read a lot more. But then Matt almost died.* And so, as an avid lifelong reader I was forced to confront this ugly reality: there is a downside. To READING!
Anyway, Matt’s fine now, despite his dramatic account of life-threatening injury (I know, shocking since men never complain or embellish when they’re sick or injured). But what we are here today to talk about, as I break company rules** and all self-inflicted professional norms, is yoga.
If there’s something I’m terrible at, it’s self-promotion. Which is truly sad, when you consider I’m in a client-facing business that relies on, well, clients, in order to be a business.
The number of people who have said “I didn’t know you were a yoga teacher!” is … not shocking at all, because I don’t tell people. I don’t promote it on the socials, I don’t tell people: “You HAVE to come to my yoga class!” I’m a terrible evangelist, even when it comes to things I care deeply about. I HATE when people tell me what to do, or get pushy with me. So I don’t do it to others. It’s that simple.
I have traditionally kept my personal life and my professional world separate. But that changes today because I feel compelled to tell you: I’m a yoga teacher. Yoga is magical. And it has NO downside.***
What you’ll look like if you do yoga, demonstrated by AI Anna, and what you’ll look like if you don’t, modeled by AI Matt
Yoga is probably everything you think it is, but also many wonderful things you probably have no idea about - yet. Yes, it’s technically a workout, but there are multitudes within.
There are dozens of types of yoga classes. I’ll name a few:
Yin, which is essentially an organized nap in which you hold poses with props for extended periods of time to allow fascial tissue release;
Vinyasa, which literally means flow, in which you do several sun salutations and then a flow sequence, typically 3 times through;
Foundations or Basics, which tends to be a mix of foundational poses and flow;
Advanced or Power, which I will caution you is not for beginners, and as someone who has been practicing regularly for 15 years, is not for me either.
The mischaracterizations I hear about yoga, and the excuses for not doing it, range from the mundane to the bizarre:
“I’m not flexible enough!” - Duh. Why do you think we’re here? No one comes to yoga because they’re already flexible.
“I’m too old/It’s against my religion” - My uncle, who is a pastor, went to seminary school in what I can only assume was the 1600s. A professor told him that yoga was a threat to religion because in certain postures, the body opens in a manner that allows demons to enter. He was so excited! He thought that sounded fascinating and was devastated when this was later disproven. He is over 70 now and practices yoga weekly, yet still no demons have been unleashed.
“I don’t like the part at the end where you just lie still” – if you said this then you DEFINITELY need yoga
“The chanting is weird” – So, that’s called cultural appropriation. If you are looking for a studio with no “om” at the end, that’s a studio without a soul – it’s important to honor that this is a practice established in ancient times, in another culture, that has been passed on in the same form for literally centuries.
“Yoga is just stretching” – If you can find someone who has said this to me and you bring it up to them, they’ll probably run away. I am unassertive, diplomatic, and a generally kind person. But if you ever say this to me, it will be unpleasant for you.
As for my own yoga journey: I first walked into a yoga studio in 2008. I was lonely, and sad, and searching for something, and it was a horrific experience.**** First of all, it was Bikram yoga, which I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say because he got cancelled, but all you need to know is that it consists of advanced postures for 90 minutes done in a humid room heated to 105 degrees … and the room is carpeted. So not suited for beginners or really anyone with olfactory receptors. Despite that absolute disaster of a first class, I was called to yoga again and again, in different cities, different studios, to different types and teachers. Eleven years after that first class, I decided to go deeper by enrolling in teacher training. Again, I had found myself at a “searching” point in life. I had gone through some painful losses and I’m still not sure exactly what I was looking for: Distraction? Challenge? The meaning of life?
Here’s what I found: Yoga is the only action that links all the vital parts of life together, deliberately and intentionally. It connects the mind, breath and body and benefits all three.
Sure, it starts out like any other workout. You want to be able to do the cool poses – crow, stand on your head, bird of paradise. You get the gear – the grossly synthetic Lululemon leggings, a new mat, maybe throw in a few crystals. You get stronger and learn the names of the esoteric poses. You make yoga friends – like-minded people! And then what you realize is this: You’re more flexible. Your lower back hurts far less than it used to. Your overactive, anxious, stressed, occasionally obsessive-compulsive brain – little by little - is getting off the hamster wheel more often to find tiny pieces of stillness. You find you’re doing things more with intention, and less out of habit.
You learn the philosophies that have underpinned yoga for centuries: the universal moral codes (yamas and niyamas) and the hard work of self-study. You learn something critical – acceptance of what is, not what you wish it was. You learn not to be attached to the outcome. You endeavor to be a good person because that’s the whole point – not because you’re trying to get something out of it. To not work at something just for the achievement – you may never reach it.
We do not control anything external to ourselves. Even things we think we have control over – our families, our performance at work, our household, the health of our back after we read a book – we really don’t. The only thing we have control over in this whole life is within us.
You have to live in your body and your mind for the rest of your life. No one else can fix it for you. No one else inhabits it, understands it, knows what it’s really like in there, has to live in it and remain in it for decades. Don’t you want your body to be in the most pliable, flexible state it can be, well into old age? Don’t you want to be able to access the most still, soulful and peaceful place in your mind, whenever you need it?
I’ve never met someone who said they left a yoga class worse off. The BEST feeling I know is when someone tells me yoga has helped them. Helped alleviate their lower back pain, given them an hour of peace in their week, made them think more about acceptance and less about control. This isn’t about accolades as a teacher – I truly don’t care if I’m a popular teacher or not. I did once, when I was a newbie. Now I just care that students feel safe and welcomed, and that they find something beneficial from it.
And yes, I do believe yoga can truly change the world - because it changes us.
So go to class.
*He didn’t almost die but he kind of made it seem like he almost did
**We don’t have any company rules. See Exhibit C: Carly & Joe’s nuptials.
***Okay technically yes it is possible to be injured in yoga. It doesn’t happen frequently, but it does happen. Just don’t start with an Advanced/Power class and you’ll be fine. Also don’t sue me.
****You totally thought I was going to say something cliché about how it was a beautiful, transformative experience and I found my people and my salvation, etc. didn’t you? It was SO AWFUL. It actually took me years to try another class.
