How yoga made me a better entrepreneur

What does yoga have to do with business? Turns out a lot.

If you’re not into yoga, think about this in terms of whatever physical activity you do…running, crossfit etc. (If you do none, then read this).

I realized that it takes a certain mindset to both have a business of your own and to work out consistently. These are my takeaways from yoga:

Getting into difficult poses – Savasana is easy. Just lie there and be still. DONE! Crow on the other hand, not easy. Pigeon can be uncomfortable (any kind of hip work can be tough both emotionally and physically). And if your body is simply not limber, any yoga pose can be uncomfortable. The key is to get comfortable with the discomfort. This is also true for business. Get comfortable with the discomfort of selling, networking, putting yourself out there, discomfort, pushing past it. Knowing that in the end it will become easy.

Achievement once getting into the pose – I remember the first time I got into crow, then from crow to chaturanga. I was so damn proud of myself. I pushed past the discomfort, and practiced my ass off. Took me about a year. The same can be said for my business. I remember signing my first client and how amazing that felt. I remember raising my prices and earning enough money all by myself to support my family without needing a “paycheque”.  Each small step I take gets me closer to my goals.

Resistance – feeling into it, why is it there? – there are some reasons for resistance. Sometimes it’s fear, sometimes it’s to avoid injury. Tuning in and knowing the difference is key. As an entrepreneur I have to tune into myself a lot and figure out if what I’m resisting is because of fear (fear of going big, fear of being seen, fear of failure), or if it just doesn’t feel right (avoiding injury).

Type A people NEED to do yoga – You are probably an A-type, just like me, and may have even muttered to yourself about how you just can’t relax enough to get into yoga. You NEED to do yoga if you’ve said that to yourself. Us A-types like to go go go, but then we crash, hard. It’s how we like it. But as I see over and over again in my practice, our bodies do not like it and our bodies give up and fight back as a result (hello awful menopause, hello exhaustion and adrenal fatigue). To get to even greater heights in business, you have to have restorative points in your day/week/month or you will burn out.

Being present in yoga means you are less prone to injury – being present in your business means you are better for your clients and you make money with ease. Always worrying about what the yogi next to you is doing will lead you to comparisonitis and then you feel like shit. It’s the same thing with our businesses. Seriously, do you know how many health coaches there are out there? Literally thousands. THAOUSANDS! What would happen to me if I kept looking at them and stopped being mindful and present with my clients? First off, my clients would fire me very quickly, and I would go out of business very fast. So in the same way you need to be present in yoga (or any sports) to avoid injury, you need to bring that same mindfulness to your business and especially your clients/customers.

How can you use one of these yogic principles in your business? Tell me in the comments below.