Isn't Life Grand?!

“Isn’t Life Grand?” – my dear friend I've buddied up with since meeting in first grade exclaimed in her latest e-mail response to my birthday celebrations.  I was spoiled with a trip to the Grand Cayman Islands and still had five days at a beach house to look forward to after I returned from my tropical paradise.  Work in between was crazy but the escapes were worth every late night at the computer.  Yes, that month, life definitely was grand but sometimes it is harder to think that way. 

Such a positive attitude she exemplifies. In spite of all the common struggles we encounter with work and life, she chooses to respond to it with “isn’t life grand?!”  Her life has not been without troubles, true for all of us, but her attitude remains one of “isn’t life grand?” 

I was visiting my father at his assisted living facility in Michigan a few years back.  We were playing a game in the common area and a gentleman came dancing down the hall.  He was greeting everyone he came across with a cheerful attitude as he walked the halls without a cane or any type of assistance.  He was such a charming man and I am sure his attitude positively affected his health all these years.  It is amazing what perspective can do for you physically and mentally. 

A new member joined my yoga class recently.  I was talking with her after class the other morning and she commented about how hard some of the poses were for her.  "But," she said - "no matter how much I struggle in class when I get home it feels so wonderful - like I just got a total body massage".  "And that is a good thing".  Isn't yoga grand?!

I would like to suggest we try to adopt my dear friend's outlook.  When we think positively we focus on the positive and things turn out positive - it's just how it works.  Isn't Life Grand?!

Balancing Your Life - Yin-Yang

Yin-Yang - an ancient concept and symbol referring to complementary opposites, such as light/dark.

I am planning my next yoga class and have decided to do a little more Yin-Yang than usual. Some people like yoga slow and enjoying struggling to hang out in a pose for five or more breaths.  Other people like to speed flow through warm-up poses like a rock star on "Red Bull" (i.e. Mick Jagger comes to mind jumping all over the stage!). Some people like all instrumental music while many enjoy my classes because of the occasional rocking songs that flow with the moves like "Get Down On It" for squats.  We actually Yin-Yang through every class - whatever goes forward must go backward, whatever goes up must go down. I think I will just make it a little more obvious in the next session. Here's to five breath or more poses - we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

As you consider Yin-Yang - think about your life.  When you are running at top speed to get a million and one things done on your to-do list, do you also take time later that day or week to relish in your accomplishments and just sit back and relax?  Know that when you are down you will come back up, and when you are up - relish the experience. 

Relative levels of Yin-Yang are continuously changing. Normally this is a harmonious change.  Here's to keeping the sweet balance of Yin-Yang in our life!

Skipping Stones

I've always had Alaska on my bucket list and was fortunate enough to end up with a recent business trip to the state.  My husband and I were able to stay over after my work was done and participate in many adventures including bike riding, mountain and glacier hiking, a helicopter ride to the top of a glacier with a dog sled camp and a day long cruise.  The cruise was on a boat that held about 150 people and allowed us to see wildlife up close. We encountered killer and humpback whales, sea otters and sea lions, Dall's porpoise, and a variety of birds. We were also able to get up close and personal with a tidewater glacier as the glacier ice in the water clunked up and under the boat. We could hear the thunder and see the splash as part of the glacier slid into the water - "calving".  The scenic views were magnificent.  The tour ended on a private island called Fox Island for an all you can eat Alaskan salmon and prime rib meal. 

The beach near the shore was covered with millions of flat rocks perfect for skipping.  My husband was able to skip them like an expert getting a dozen or more skips per stone. Mine were a little less impressive.  A few managed four or five skips while the most of them just made a loud kerplunk as they hit the water and then sank.  I loved to watch not just the skipping (of my husband's work) but the reverberating waves that resulted from each skip.  They headed out to open water and toward the shore affecting more than the small spot where they initially hit. 

Just like the skipping stones, we affect those around us and that energy spreads like wildfire. 

In yoga class I try to spread peacefulness, fun, positive energy and delight in the moment. 

What are you spreading?

Passion Wins Over Living in the Past

Houston gets Super Bowl LI in 2017! 
Ric Campo, chairman of the Houston Super Bowl bid committee, and David Crane, another member of the committee, made a presentation to the Super Bowl committee that included a video with this theme: Texans love their football, and they love the NFL.  Houston won out over South Florida's focus on the past - the 10 Superbowls Miami has hosted.   I love that focusing on the people and our passion for the sport won over bragging about past efforts. 
I remember interviewing for a job several years back (which I was offered), and almost everyone I spoke with that day kept bringing up the awards the company had won over ten years back.  I was impressed with one executive that was real and down to earth and into the present moment of where the company was and where I could help take them into the future.
In yoga we work together to be present in the moment of class, to remove all distractions (cell phones, worry), and focus on our breath and the flow of poses.  The passion of every individual in the room shines through as they work hard and focus on every move.  There isn't any bragging about past accomplishments, or worry about not getting a pose - just enjoyment of where we are and where we are going.
Herein lies a great lesson for life and business proposals.

Talk Yourself Into It

We can talk ourselves into a lot of things and talk ourselves out of them just as quickly. 

I am intrigued by the difference between the person that comes to yoga class for the first time and not only stays for the entire class but returns another day in spite of the fact they were obviously struggling a bit during the session - and another person that comes to class once but never steps over the yoga class threshold again.

If you can catch them at the right time you are able to turn the "once in class and running as fast as they can away from the door" person into a regular attendee.  It involves bringing that internal voice outside for a discussion. 

A few years ago a girlfriend joined me for a flying trapeze adventure in a city a few hours away.  We were both terrified of jumping off the platform as we stood on the ground watching the other flyers, but when I reached the top and it was time to go - I listened carefully to the trainer's instructions and jumped - screaming all the way.  When it came to my friend's turn, she seemed paralyzed.  Each time after several minutes of building anxiety, she would finally exit the platform. But since she hesitated, she missed the opportunity to fly through the air with the greatest of ease. She would swing back and forth through half swings and drop to the net below.  When we were discussing the adventure over a margarita later that evening - she was agonizing over the conversations she had with herself at the top of the platform. Why was she telling herself negative things? -
that she hated it, that she wouldn't be able to do it, that it wasn't fun. She admitted that if she had a different discussion with herself before climbing up the narrow ladder to the platform the first time the outcome would have been so much more successful and fun.  Ah - next time...

I believe the people that enter the yoga room and return have already had a few conversations with themselves. Maybe they said - this is good for you, you always wanted to try something new, this will be fun, I will take it one day at a time. Whatever they said, it keeps them coming back again and again. I believe those that run are saying - "I can't do this so I am never coming back" - instead of "I can't do this so I need to come back".

Catching them outside the room later allows for a conversation to turn those inner thoughts around.  Encouraging them at the beginning of class and throughout (reminding them everyone is struggling and if they want - they are welcome to "become one with their mat") helps too. 

What are you talking yourself out of?

Stop Making It So Hard Because ISS - It's So Simple

I show my yoga students ways to modify poses so they will work more effectively for them. They are also very creative and find ways to change the poses knowing their own limitations. They don't typically try to find a way to make things harder to do - but sometimes they manage to.  In one pose where we balance on our forearms with our legs up in the air, the yoga practitioner can make it harder by pushing their shoulders forward.  Then they really have to use their strength to hold the pose and many of them can.  But they are making it so much harder than it would be if they lined their shoulders up with their elbows.  I don't think they are consciously trying to make it harder, it just happens as they work the pose, but sometimes they can really complicate the simplest of positions.  They do adjust when I show them the alternative way - unlike some corporations.

When a high performing employee suddenly starts performing at a less than stellar level the discipline process typically kicks in.  Why don't we just talk to them and see what is going on in their life that might have caused a change and offer to help? 

When employees are overwhelmed with work and bosses don't have time to sort through the urgent and non-urgent tasks when delegating - they get pushed harder to work longer hours and get more done in less time. Why don't we take a step back and evaluate what we are asking people to do - to see if it is necessary, important, needs to be done at all or could be accomplished in a more productive way?

When the business is experiencing a dip in sales, we jump to see what our competitors are doing and try to follow along. Why don't we pay better attention to our customers and give them valuable products and services?

A tragic event results in government intervention and more cumbersome rules and regulations that don't really address the problem, but look great politically.  Why don't we pause and examine the root of the problem and make changes that will be lasting and effective?

ISS - It's So Simple - stop trying to make things so difficult. Relax your thinking and look for the real cause behind the situation.  Then make a plan to move forward. 

Feet Planted Firmly In the Air

I loved to watch them as they squealed, shouted, clapped, flipped, jumped and made it all look so easy.  When I was a young girl I shied away from trying out for cheerleading.  The cartwheels and splits eluded me and those were two defining talents cheerleaders were required to perform. I did end up on the modern dance squad and performed at football and basketball games, but those splits and cartwheels remained on my bucket list.  (Maybe if I had practiced them they would have eventually come to me!)

A few years ago, while teaching a yoga class, I was able to make it completely to the floor in the splits for the first time in my life. I squealed with delight and shouted that "now, I could try out for cheerleading!".  A joke transformed into a reality and the next year I found myself in line at tryouts with a young waitress friend less than half my age trying out for the Houston Texan cheerleaders. I was able to make it through the second round while my young friend had to drop out because of neck and back problems. All of that day long hair flippin' and hip shakin' had taken a toll.  I really think the yoga kept me free from injury.  The second round was my last round but the memories of a day filled with excitement and dancing dreams was sure to last forever.

I still struggle with the cartwheel half of the bucket dream. I have been able to fly up into a handstand but rounding it out as a cartwheel will take some time.  I recently showed my yoga class my cartwheel for entertainment purposes only - and it was entertaining in its feebleness!  Why are my feet planted so firmly on the ground - afraid to fly freely in the air?

What are we really afraid of?  The worst thing that could happen is a little butt bounce on the floor.  I'm going to keep practicing until my feet are planted firmly in the air.  Join me.