Author's Note: The Yoga and Leadership Series are thoughts from my personal experience and realisation on how Yoga is relevant in our lives, now more so than ever before. This series explores the benefits of embracing this practice in our daily life and it's impact when incorporated WITHIN the workplace and time.
I felt it was important to set the stage for this series by first giving an Introduction to Yoga, sharing a Personal Journey in Yoga and how I came to realise the importance and relevance of Yoga and Leadership. This second post is the epiphany that started this series.
A Spiritual Journey or Leadership Training
For someone who had a hard time accepting anyone as a Guru/Master, I was fortunate to have been blessed with one who changed my life completely. I arrived at the beginning of this journey, somewhat arrogant and skeptical about having a third person get in the way of one's own spiritual pursuit.
Shouldn't we all be capable of sitting in introspection much like Buddha to find THE truth - and by virtue of it's name (truth), shouldn't we all come to the same TRUTH or logical conclusion? Well, as it turns out, the answer is Yes and No.
What I later realised, is that too much of our beliefs and conditioning have gotten in the way of realising our true potential, so NO, until we are able to "see" with clarity and wisdom, we will be searching for and painting our own version of truth.
But YES, ultimately a master will point you in the right direction to find the answers for yourself, WITHOUT ever telling you what to look for. There have been plenty of times I had hoped for a more direct answer, or even hint rather than a series of questions, or worse, long bouts of silence. Needless to say, the journey is an ongoing one. ;)
One of the most important lessons I learnt through the years, was how simple and down to earth spirituality truly is, and how inseparable it is from the basic life skills we learn growing up. It is as essential as getting dressed, and as important as breathing.
Sadly "spirituality" has come to be seen as somewhat of a convoluted and loaded word these days - what with all the esoteric literature and seemingly complicated practice that leave too much room for individual interpretation.
My personal understanding of spirituality falls closer to psychology, and a better phrase that suits me is simply living with greater awareness.
There were many gifts and lessons taught by my teacher, but the single most powerful tool I have received through the years is the patience to sit, introspect and discern with wisdom.
My beloved master did not teach Yoga or any fancy or ancient techniques of meditation. His approach was very practical, simple and with the least harm to oneself and others. In retrospect, it can best be described as a training in leadership, because the situations and life lessons he used to impart wisdom were right in front of us, in the form of our family, friends and colleagues - in improving these sometimes frayed relationships, achieving greater success in our chosen vocation and realising our highest potential.
This is not to discount the extraordinary experiences that happened along the way, but the implication of it all was to harness everything we gained on this journey, to live with greater agency; impacting change through our actions.
There are seven principles I learnt from this journey, they may not be the industry standards in terms of leadership skills, but these are the life skills that gave me the confidence to step forth with an anything-is-possible attitude in life.
The Seven Leadership Skills I Learnt
Humility and Understanding
It took a lot of ego breaking to see and accept the world as it is. Much of our disagreements and altercations come from strong notions of right and wrong, and often times, the finger wagging "right" is pointing to oneself whilst the finger wagging "wrong" is pointed externally.
It took a lot of accountability, awareness and non-judgement to step out of the small mindedness of right and wrong to view to embrace all points of view. It put me in a state of openness and willingness to listen and understand - very important skills when interacting with just about anybody in the world, not just clients or family members, NO?
Patience and Flowing with Grace
In this fast paced world, we are conditioned to move with speed and expect an equally quick response or return; failing which we become frustrated or start looking for another strategy. This sense of expectation kills our ability to enjoy the moment or even appreciate the effort we put with much love and care. This is a little hard at times, but I have to constantly remind myself to give full attention to the effort I put in, be able to let it go, and allow the action to create the intended ripple effect in the world. It then takes the practice of mindfulness to watch and observe the outcome without expectation and judgement. This allows me to receive, and process the returns with greater objectivity.
It creates breathing space for a creative solution in the next step, if there is need for one.
Faith and Fortitude
One of the first things we form in any spiritual practice is faith, which builds the foundation for fortitude, to withstand and face the challenges that come our way.
Each time we roll with the punches, we rise up realising we are greater than our suffering; and know that no matter how difficult or impossible a situation, there will always be a way, or solution.
Courage and Confidence
This is a continuation of the above, which gives us the courage and confidence to keep at it, or to strive for the seemingly impossible. Every entrepreneur out there knows how daunting this is.
Even through pounding hearts, we step forth because of what we believe in.
Empathy and Compassion
Be it compassion for ourselves, our clients, our vendors, our family or friends - this is essential for every relationship. Not just the notion of it, but in practicing it daily - such as when deadlines can't be met, orders are running late, meetings are running late or when someone just can't seem to understand the material being presented. It reminds us to take a break from our own internal momentum, agenda and senses; to temporarily put ourselves in someone else's shoe.
Seeing the world briefly from another perspective helps make a workshop/training a great success, forge unforgettable relationship with vendors or etch a lasting impression on a client.
Strength in Coming Together
When I first stepped out on my own, I did not think about how one person could handle so much. My strength came from my faith that, HELP WILL COME. And that's exactly how it has been. In every moment, finding the right person who shared useful information or directed me to it, arriving in a place and finding out about an interesting event, or meeting people who can support me in various parts of the business. My strength does not come from an individual sense of "me", but from embracing a collective community that connects us with each other - in a sense of togetherness.
It creates a trusting gratitude-mindset and confidence that opens us up to more possibilities and opportunities.
Service
"The higher your position in an organisation, the greater a servant you become" - Hari
Of the many conversations we've had, this is one of the few that stuck with me, especially in my present journey as an "entrepreneur", sharpening my leadership skills. (I don't usually care much for labels, but some are useful in creating context and moving conversations along)
Being instilled with the notion to serve all, I do try to extend this to literally everybody. So clients, vendors, peers and charges - are an opportunity for service - be it in training, consultation, completing an assignment, teaching or showing the ropes to someone. Seeing it in this light, puts me right back into a state of humility and better yet, gives me the motivation to keep going. It is easier to serve when we are working for something greater than ourselves - it's simply in our nature.
So, when wokring with website builders for SoulArist, I documented the content and comments in ways that would make their workflow easier, which required a few extra steps, but ultimately made the development process a breeze.
An attitude to serve creates a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship as it is invariably reciprocated (for the most part at least).
How is this related to Yoga? Upon embarking on my teacher's training course in Yoga, much of what I learnt in the course (especially the theoretical part) had striking similarities with lessons from my spiritual journey.
The ancient texts and teaching of the Yoga Sutras were a visually relatable text, with explanations of the experiential learning imparted by my guru. The fact that the lessons were learnt experientially first, made it easier to relate and apply the ancient scriptures to real world situations.
It wasn't an immediate epiphany, but the more I studied the tenets of Yoga and recalled my own spiritual journey, the clearer the pattern emerged. As a result, all the knowledge and experience amassed was used to put together a Corporate Yoga and Leadership program for adults and a Yoga Enrichment Program for children. Simple daily practices, with profound life changing effects - should one choose to commit that is. After all, everything worthwhile takes a little due diligence on our part.
How can these simple practices develop a leader? Leadership is a rather extensive topic, but at the core of it, is the ability to stay focused, find creative solutions, make tough decisions, communicate well with all stakeholders and empower a group of individuals to work together towards a common goal.
Imagine a heated meeting in a boardroom with high stake decisions to be made, millions of dollars or lives at stake. Having a level and clear head is absolutely essential. Especially when we look at the sate of our union today, governments and high profile discourse are hardly high intellectual interactions. Instead, we see emotionally charged statements receiving retaliatory reactions rather than a response based on respect, understanding and compassion.
Looking with some forethought to the future; adults these days are faced with increasing levels of responsibilities and expenses, making it more challenging to be emotionally, and physically available for their children. Children who depend on parents, teachers and adults in the community to form their thoughts, ideas and opinions in how they navigate in the world; and an increasingly complex one it is at that. To top this off, adults have very little left to offer children, creating a serious shortage of good model behaviour to emulate.
It is important to empower children with the ability to slow down and learn to observe their behaviour and thought processes, practice delayed gratification, self-regulate with basic rules and tasks, ask questions and creatively problem solve. All of which are possible when we teach children how to control their breath and mind which ultimately shapes their childhood learning experiences; impacting the choices they make as adults of the future.
In short, we need a major re-boot in our way of life - a gentler, compassionate, accepting and open way of life.
Previous Posts of Interest:
- On leadership and yoga: Yoga and Leadership Series - #1 Introduction - A Brief History of Yoga
- On yoga and creativity: How to Relieve Writer's Block using Backbends and Downward Facing Dogs!
MY Ikigai:
What I LOVE: Writing about life, poetry, haiku, short stories and motivational quips. Practicing yoga and internal reflections, walks in nature, compassionate acts towards nature, animals and humanity.
What I OFFER the world: A passion for Creativity, Innovation, Integrity and Authenticity in thoughts, words, and deeds.
What I am/can be PAID FOR: Writing, teaching yoga, books (in the making), training, facilitating. And hopefully to sit and spin out creative ideas/solutions at whim!
What I'm GOOD at: Hypnotising my Yoga students apparently! Writing, occasional witty retorts, being a hopeless romantic, passionate utopian, innovator and creator of all things fun and uplifting.
The IKIGAI - SoulArist
- To find out more, please visit our webpage
- For event listings/past activities visit our Facebook page
- Snippets of SoulArist can be found on Instagram
- Read about the founder on LinkedIn
Upcoming Posts:
Blogs and podcasts on meditation/awareness practices.
Yoga and Leadership Series - 3-Part Introduction
I was going to use the website to publish these materials, however, with the discovery of Steemit, I will be redirecting the flow of these posts to start here at Steemit and then to the website. I am new to this whole program, so please bear with me as I find my footing on this platform, with the help of all my fellow steemians here no doubt ;)
I am very grateful for the support and encouragement from @maverickfoo @elizacheng @bitrocker2020 @curie.
Thank you for introducing me to a revolutionary world of self-expression. One that is mutually beneficial, engenders greater awareness and provides entertaining intelligent banter #awesome