So You Were the First Yoga Business Coach, eh? Well, We're All Very Impressed. Now, What Can You Do For Me and Why Should I Trust You?
Good questions. Practically nothing I can say will "convince" anyone to work with me... and luckily, that's never my intention. This is an intuitive decision. Just because I'm the first, most experienced and most fun to work with Yoga Business Coach doesn't mean someone else wouldn't be a better match for you.
My program is tailored specifically to your unique situation, regardless of whether your business is in start-up phase or already established, and we will look at your entire life as your yoga, with your business as an extension of who you are. Together, we will co-design projects, marketing campaigns, and implement systems that will make your venture grow and flow smoothly. We will fit your business into your life in a way that supports your highest goals, and your highest good. Basically, we'll rock your world and grow your business and have fun doing it. As to whether I can be trusted to do just that without hypnosis or any ulterior motive... well, don't take my word for it - grab a cup of Chai, sit in your favorite chair and read some of the over 70 pages of what clients around the world are saying about their experience. Just click here. Namasté. |
| And I Quote... Seen on Bumper Sticker in San Francisco:
"Lord help me become the man my dog thinks I am."
------------------------------------------------ Have a favorite quote? Write to me! |
Please Share this Newsletter, If You Dare...  | | "I can't believe you sent me that!" |
Want to subject your friends to my rants? Click the box above to test your friendship. By clicking you agree to not hold me responsible for their reaction.
|
| Subscribe to The Yoga Business Journal™
Your privacy is assured... Really, I can't stand spam either. I promise not to give your information to anyone, especially those selling cheap prescription drugs from overseas, alerting you to an inheritance from a long-lost uncle, or offering the enlargement of anything. And, if I ever bore you, just ask and ye shall not receive! (actually, you don't even need to ask, there's an unsubscribe link at the very bottom of each issue. So if someone forwarded this newsletter to you, go on, click the image for your very own subscription.
|
| Suggestion Box
 Have something brilliant that you believe will help the yoga business community prosper? I'm all ears! Click on the light bulb to send me an email. |
The Spirit of Yoga Sometimes, the thing we need to learn most is right in front of us. I certainly have been the Border Guard many times in my life... how about you? A Taoist Parable: There once was a poor man who lead a donkey every day across the border from one kingdom to another. The border guards suspected that he was smuggling something, so each day as the man passed the border they carefully searched the man and the donkey's saddlebags, but they never did find anything.
After a while the man starts to wear more expensive clothing and buys a large house. The border guards redouble their efforts to inspect the man and his donkey closely because they now are certain the man is smuggling something. But in their daily searches of the man and the saddlebags they never come up with anything but straw.
After 30 years of this daily routine, one of the border guards retires. One day when the retired border guard is walking across the street, he runs into the man and says "Listen, I am no longer a border guard and I can no longer hurt you. I promise I will never tell anyone, but just for my peace of mind, please tell me what you have been smuggling all those years." The man replies "Because I know that you can no longer arrest me, I will tell you. I was smuggling donkeys." |
| | Namasté david,
I trust this year-end newsletter finds you safe and warm and enjoying the holiday season. OK, that's enough chit-chat, let's dive in, there's a lot to cover. Once again, for the nth time, I've come to the conclusion that if the business we've created doesn't have us shedding an occasional tear of joy, we just might be in the wrong business. Seriously, how long can you stay excited and engaged in a venture that doesn't provide you with enough emotional reward to keep going? No business is right for everyone. But it's common to be in the right business but going about it in a way that is wrong for you. This usually includes working harder than you ever have at anything, which is rarely the solution. If this rings a bell, this entire issue is for you. Earlier today I was on the phone with a client who has had non-stop weekly sessions with me since 2006. She is about to close escrow on the purchase of a small, stunningly beautiful farm not far from the home she recently renovated. It was an emotional session for us since we are both so humbled by the grace that keeps on showing up in our lives. I'm so proud of her, not just for making our work together shine so brilliantly, but for joining me in staying out of the way and allowing abundance to find a welcome space to live inside of her. This is our birthright - all of us - yes, including you, whether you feel it as a core truth, or not. In this month's Client Spotlight, I celebrate my client Jason, who over the years has become a strong, quietly charismatic leader of a vibrant community of yogis in southern California. Reading his story this morning made me all glassy-eyed. I feel really honored to be a part of this remarkable man's life and business. Once again, I have to pinch myself, because after almost 10 years, I am still awed by the fact that I get to do this for a living. May this New Year of 2014 exceed your wildest dreams and permanently expand what you thought possible for your life, love and work. In total, flat-out, unabashed, tear-jerking gratitude... Enjoy.
|
|
| The Power of Doing Nothing
It's December, and there's so much to do - aside from holiday responsibilities with your family, there are the ever-looming business tasks that need your attention so you can hit the ground running in January. So, do you find yourself wondering whether to spend the time reading this article? I mean, sure, the photo is adorable, but it doesn't seem to be about business at all - and there's so much else I could be doing!" Ah yes... rest - the bane of the entrepreneur.
Before we get started - yeah, that's my cat, Hobbes, reigning savasana champion and my personal napping hero. In this photo, he is completely out, doing his cute little snoring thing, and proving that he could find deep rest balanced on top of a telephone pole if he had to. He is a constant reminder of the importance of enough healing, replenishing rest to my life and business.
It's been a while since we've explored this subject, so let's just jump in, shall we? Chances are, if you're a business owner, you are ultimately responsible for running the business. Did you ever notice that we call it running a business? To a degree, that in itself points to the unbalanced work ethic that goes largely unquestioned in our western culture. We're always running here and there, planning, doing, putting out fires - taking care of the never-ending tasks demanded by this thing we've created that was actually meant to free us from working for someone else, so we could bring our gift to the world.
Does this sound familiar? Are the tasks and stresses dulling the enthusiasm you started your venture with? Are you running your business or has it started running you?
In yoga practice, if one's mind is racing through the "to do" list, it can be tempting to shorten or skip Savasana. This resistance to Corpse Pose is a sure sign that deep rest is what is actually needed. I've seen anxious students roll up their mats at the onset of this final asana and disturb the rest of the yogis when trying to tiptoe out of the room. Sometimes, the thing we need most is right in front of us.
Savasana is spoken of as the most difficult asana to master because it means taming the mind. Even for just a few minutes, it means truly letting go of the list, the worry, the fear... and resting. It gives our bodies and minds the opportunity to process and integrate all the new information received each time we do yoga -- making the minutes of Savasana far more valuable than equal minutes of sleep.
Skipping Savasana is missing the point of yoga. Not resting or replenishing so you can be your best, is missing the point of life.
To be your best in life, to deliver the great gift of yoga to your community in the clearest, most authentic and energetic way, you need to take care of yourself. Building up agitation and tension without enough deep rest does not serve us, or our businesses. When we don't take the time to rest, we become less effective in everything we do. Please do not attempt to make any important decisions when your tank is depleted and you're running on fumes.
Seriously, people... we are yogis, and conscious dancers, deep meditators, learned nutritionists or talented acupuncturists -- we teach this stuff. Therefore, we must live as an example of what we teach. If our students or clients see us exhausted, with dark circles under our eyes, looking like vultures will soon circle overhead, what message is that sending to those we encounter as they walk through the doors of our business for the first time? I'll just come out and say it: true rest is not a suggestion, or an option, or a luxury... it's essential to your success as a human being, as well as critical to the success of your business, which of course is just a reflection of you, anyway.
To prove my adamant stance on this issue, I splurged on the REST feature available in my little black convertible. Gotta love those Bavarian engineers, they think of everything. I push the button and feel immediately more relaxed, even in stop and go traffic. It's a helpful daily reminder for my type A personality to let go and just breathe. Cool, huh?
 So, getting back to it. Right now, close your eyes and... wait, no, open your eyes and finish reading first, then close your eyes and think about this for a moment: what have you been skipping for the sake of your business? Has your practice suffered because "there's just no time?" What do you love to do - something that truly nourishes you - that you've hardly done, if at all, since starting your business? OK, that's your homework for the rest of the year (so to speak): commit right now to indulging in some deep, rejuvenating, replenishing, decadent, hedonistic, luxurious, unreasonable and very needed rest. Fine. I'll go first. By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to a yoga, dance and surfing retreat on a tropical beach that can only be accessed by boat. Your turn.
|
Client Spotlight
Jason Wilkerson I opened my studio in 2003 and started working with Alón in October of 2009 at the suggestion of three of his clients who are great friends of mine: Robin Duffy - Being Yoga, Marit Strathum - Inner Fire Yoga and Carrie Bain - Bikram Yoga Elk Grove. They all rave about Alón and how he has helped them grow their businesses. I never thought I would need a "coach," but the timing could not have been any better, not only for my business, but personally as well. A month after beginning our weekly talks, I went through a very difficult divorce, at the same time as I was helping my mother battle cancer. Both my former wife and mother used to help me so much with my business and I no longer had their involvement. I needed help. Alón became that person - and still is today. Alón spent the next months talking me through both of these losses and it was his emotional support that kept me from completely breaking. I had a business to run and a 1-½ year old son to raise and I was lost. Alón would say, "Jason, first we have to get you well...your business will follow." He intuitively knew what I needed more than I did and I grew to trust him. I will always be grateful, because at the time, I wanted Alón to be spending his time on growing my business and instead it was spent on growing me. Since 2009, Alón has helped grow the studio into a thriving yoga community. In the beginning I felt I could not afford Alón and it was too much money to spend. Now, he is the cornerstone to the success of it all. I don't take a step without his guidance. I take his direction and apply what he teaches me. Any and all success I have experienced I give 100% to Alón. Last year, in anticipation of the studio's tenth anniversary, we decided it was time for a change. I decided to lease the space next to our studio and build another yoga room to grow and diversify our programs. During the process, it became apparent that it was time to do a re-brand. With the help of Alón, we have now changed the name from Huntington Beach Hot Yoga to Yoga Tribe. Alón came up with the name, as it represents not our style of yoga, but the people who make up our community. Alón helped me realize that I don't run a business anymore, I lead a community of people. His constant direction of keeping the focus on celebrating the students has resulted in our studio being awarded BEST YOGA STUDIO in Orange County by Los Angeles KTTV FOX Television, for the last three years in a row! I no longer look at the studio just in dollars and cents, but more in how can I help someone today improve the quality of their life? Teaching yoga is service and Alón has helped me realize that I am deeply connected to this community and the more I give to it, the better my life becomes. I can hardly put down in words the gratitude I have for Alón and our relationship. It has become very special to me and I thank GOD for him because there is no way Yoga Tribe would be what it is today without his care, love and support. I can't say enough about him as human being, because his friendship far exceeds his responsibilities as a yoga business coach. Sincerely, Jason Wilkerson Yoga Tribe | Director Huntington Beach, CA www.yoga-tribe.com |
Et Cetera...
Dog Responds to Soldier's return from War I could go away for three years and when I returned home, my cat would sit there smugly and say "where've you been, dude? You may feed me now."
Click on the photo for a big dose of total euphoric love. |
Movie Recommendation
My Life As A Turkey No, I'm not kidding. This remarkable PBS show chronicles a true and at the same time unbelievable story. You'll be taken to a place and community you've never experienced before and if you respond like I did, you'll not want to leave. It's hard to imagine someone not being moved by this. Click on the image to watch it on PBS online, or if you have Netflix, invite family and friends and watch it together (highly recommended). It's just under an hour long and I wished it was longer. Enjoy. |
| | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment