Corporate Yogis

Aye, Nay or OM: Yoga's Place in the Mainstream

2010-04-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Unless you're a fairly engaged yoga teacher, you may not have noticed something is changing in yoga: we're being mainstreamed. It's not only evident from the number of people you can see bopping around any community with a yoga mat on their back, sporting sanskrit symbols on cars, t-shirts and jewelry. While mother India goes Bollywood, the proliferation of her timeless spiritual practices has almost half of the United States wrestling with how yoga should formally participate in the collective.

Most yogis will admit we've wanted it, talked about how we wish everyone had a yoga practice of some sort. Who within the yoga community hasn't sighed at the idea of the houses of the U.S. Congress "OM"ing to open session, Sri President Obamananda scuttling his Marlboro's in favor of nadi shodana pranayama, Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin checking in with supta baddha konasana/goddess pose before taking the stage, or held some other fantasy about yoga's ability to offer deeper connectedness and clarity to the folks who emerge as our loudspeakers and decisionmakers. As someone who adapts and shares the tools of yoga within corporate environments, I know beyond a doubt it would certainly be for the good.

Fantasies aside, and perhaps part and parcel to their ever becoming reality, the other side of mainstreaming is also happening. Yep. Just when yoga began to show numbers of participants that would make ANY business sit up and take notice, the states are taking notice and wondering what this means from many angles. As the American Bar Association Journal reports, twenty-one states are looking at yoga with an aim to regulate and somehow define this practice. Yoga proponents are on the scramble, responding with petitions, letters, hiring lobbyists, talking to senators, citing First Amendment rights and generally worrying over how a practice-turned-business that offers dubious profitability to all but a very small percentage of us can bear the increased cost to serve of meeting bureaucratic requirements that will no doubt result from the regulatory push.

What the states say they are worried about: mostly students buying trainings or memberships from organizations who vanish in the night without any path or recourse. What studios are worried about: registration fees in the thousands of dollars to qualify as a registered school, bureaucratic headaches of filings and paperwork, and being told what to do by the government.

Panic aside, this is an inevitable moment. Embedded in this moment are questions including: is yoga a religious practice, is it a therapeutic modality, is it simply a form of exercise, how is it valid, is it taxable, is it a vocation...and no doubt the list goes on. No matter how we define the "everything" tool that yoga fans know the practice to be, that yoga holds irresistable outcomes for so many of us and can be adapted to give benefit no matter the proclivities of the practitioner simply means this moment HAD to eventually arrive. With a capacity for ubiquitous relevance, our beloved Everything Tool has been destined to gather the popularity and prominence that the regulatory push signifies.

Sitting with this inevitability, I'm thinking of lots of pros and cons to this particularly sticky aspect of the mainstreaming of yoga. One cause for consideration: Yoga teachers have never been formally validated by the medical community - ask anyone in Donna Karan's Urban Zen Teacher Training and they'll attest to the frustrations of taking a training that was marketed as integrating yoga-based modalities into medical settings only to find out that any contact with real patients is actually not permitted. Another cause for consideration: Yoga teachers in many states are actually not legally permitted to touch students - that means hands-on adjustments or therapeutic touch of any kind is illegal unless the teacher is liscensed for some other profession such as Massage, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, etc. Sure, yoga teachers can study for thousands of hours with therapeutics masters of multiple lineages, but because they are not recognized by state & local governments that they exist at all is the result of being "under the radar" - that is until now.

So if this is an inevitable moment, if the question "what IS yoga" is finally coming to the crown chakra attention of the mainstream world, we need to be the yogis in this moment. We need to ask ourselves what this means at the mula/root, at the solar plexus, what yearning rises from our anahata and how our voices give this truth expression. We need to step with wisdom beyond the veils of illusion and separation that we were ever separate from this world and know that we have always been spiritual beings on a human journey - in this world if not of it. We need to consider ourselves Arjuna in the chariot hearing Krishna's admonishment that we cannot retreat from the power struggles or machinations of this world into a spiritual coccoon. Indeed, because we are yogis in this world we must thoughtfully find how we powerfully serve in relationship with it and negotiate terms that best allow us to do that.

What can change: everything. It always is anyway.

Happiness or something else?

2010-01-12T11:44:00.001-08:00

I've been watching the surge in happiness psychology offerings - the websites, the coaching programs, the university degrees. Seeing the proliferation of interest and academic intelligence about happiness raises questions around the measure of a life - is it happiness or is it meaning? Is it something else entirely? To the nihilists and even the tantrics, there may be nothing at all, no valuation differentiating between one lifetime and another. What would the likes of karma yogis such as Dr. King or Gandhi say? What do you think?

Counting down to the countdown...

2009-12-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

Tick tick tick - I never feel so aware of time as when I realize there's something time specific I want to say on this blog and right now is one of those times. From Nosara beach in Costa Rica on retreat with my teacher Shiva Rea, hanging with a bunch of amazing people from around the world, I've been thinking lots about all the little breakthrough moments that have made my year a little brighter than it might have been otherwise. While I'm sure lots of you write gratitude lists - after all, even Oprah writes and advocates gratitude lists - in honor of the kind of year and decade I'm hoping to have, this post is dedicated to those breakthrough moments...may there be many, many more.

1. Teaching 300 NYPD officers to meditate
2. Peacefully ending an unhealthy relationship
3. Getting a puppy after YEARS of wanting one (yes, this is perhaps related to #2)
4. Spending a week on a lake with no visitors, no TV, no radio - just silence
5. Learning to drive a motorbike
6. Winning clients on national and global levels
7. Leading workshops for Harvard Business Review
8. Growing my hair beneath my shouders for the first time since college
9. Learning to surf (related 100% to being in Costa Rica this week but not represented at all accurately by the amazing photo above)
and (after a year that if it were a song it would be sung to the blues including all the maladies we've all been reading about in the headlines this year)...
10. Recovering my belief in possibility and deep love for this very brief pageant we call life.

Thanks for giving me a place to share this, internet world, and thanks to whomever is reading this for following the journey.

Re-Birth Day

2009-12-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

Last night I threw my annual birthday-holiday fete. A bit of a challenge all these years not because of any primal experiences in the birth canal, but because with great hemispheric accuracy it falls in the middle of winter holidays (when I was little), final exams (in my teens and early twenties), and now competes with cold/flu and holiday party season. Among health, holiday challenges and the fact that I seem to send invites at the very very last minute, in the midst of regrets s'il vous plaît I take great comfort that I'm not alone in celebrating this day. In fact, the entire nation of Mexico and many other Catholic countries celebrate the day I was born.

No matter my intentions to live a remarkable life, they don't do this because of anything I did. By chance or grace, on December 12, 1531 the image of the Virgin Mary appeared in a little town in Mexico called Guadalupe. Lucky for me, I like religion in general and so whenever I get to hang around Mexicans here in NYC I love bragging that I am a "Lupita"- the nickname for anyone born on the day of the virgin - I love having a little extra zing in my birthday specialness.

You can probably tell that birthdays are important to me. Not for presents or hogging attention, but in a busy world they offer the potential for a ritual of recognition of all the life experiences that have combined in my life to make me the person I am, and to honor the many others who provide love and support for me to become the person I want to be.

Each year I look for ways to make these day-of-birth parties special by having a theme on the hunch that when we create a context for connection we're more likely to authentically connect and have real fun. Past years themes have ranged from human scavenger hunts in my apartment to "show and tell" where people share something they have created. One year we did a dj competition and the next we karaoked until sunrise. This year I asked folks to offer their favorite quote - from Raising Arizona to Winston Churchill, I figured whatever inspires my friends has to be inspiring.

What better gift than inspiration? I got exactly what I asked for. In hopes it is equally a gift of inspiration for you, here's a sampling:

Fail again...fail better
-Samuel Beckett

It could be better, but it's good enough
-Chinese Fortune Cookie

There was never a king like Solomon
Not since the world began
Yet Solomon talked to a butterfly
As a man would talk to a man
-Rudyard Kipling

CLOUDS
All afternoon, Sir
your ambassadors have been turning
into lakes and rivers.
At first they were just clouds, like any other.
Then they swelled and swirled; then they hung very still;
then they broke open. This is, I suppose,
just one of the common miracles,
a transformation, not a vision,
not an answer, not a proof, but I put it
there, close against my heart, where the need is, and it serves the purpose. I go on, soaked through, my hair
slicked back;
like corn, or wheat, shining and useful.
- Mary Oliver

Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to killed me / and has failed.
~ Lucille Clifton

There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.
~ Washington Irving

And this one, too, from wondrous Rumi:

you suppose you are the trouble
but you are the cure
you suppose that you are the lock on the door
but you are the key that opens it
it’s too bad that you want to be someone else
you don’t see your own face, your own beauty
yet, no face is more beautiful than yours
~ Rumi

And of course my own favorite quote which ties this admittedly rambling post together. With my birthday patron saint Mary as a symbol of the mothers' loving compassion, in honoring the journey and beauty of my own life there's no greater cause to celebrate than the profound impact of my relationship with my own mother. As in any relationship, I certainly did not always understand her, and it took more than two decades for us begin to like much less really fall in love with eachother. With an ironic twist, its crossed my mind more than once that it took her fighting cancer for us to finally stop fighting eachother. But somehow through it we got to that place beyond rightdoing and wrongdoing and uncovered enough space in our relationship to hold eachother's beauty in the very brightest light. The connection we created is my reference in understanding what this lesson called "love" really is.

Years since her death, I will never forget the day when minutes after having just delighted in finding the following poem sitting on my floor reading in NYC, my phone rang as she excitedly called me from her home in Cincinnati to share it with me.

LATE FRAGMENT
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
- Raymond Carver

Wishing you re-birth every day,

With love,

Tevis

Gratitude List...because of the downturn I discovered...

2009-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

....
1. Cortados (latin lattes probably made with Cafe Bustelo) from bodegas and homemade lattes beat Starbucks any day
2. Rockstar haircuts from Chinatown
3. Levi's AWESOME skinny jeans
4. Selling a little stock to pay rent during a lean spot did not kill me
5. Drycleaning bags cut into squares make great doggy-curb plastics
6. Threading instead of waxing saves a LOT of money
7. Happy hour with friends at home is a lot more relaxing
8. QiGong from the little underground places is AMAZING and 1/3 the price of a spa massage
9. I can still paint my own toenails
10. Making birthday gifts always was and is still more fun
11. I don't miss frivolous shopping at all
12. Consignment shops in NYC are full of AMAZING stuff
13. Coconut oil is a FABULOUS deep conditioner
14. Theme parties beat lounges hands down
15. I have more music already than I could ever listen to in a year
16. My doggy likes broccoli more than doggy treats
17. This meditation/yoga stuff really works on managing stress and keeping peace of mind
...I have a feeling this could go on for a while...but I guess the thing I'm really happy about is recognizing how full and beautiful my life is at any given moment. I wouldn't trade the moments I remember to recognize that beauty for all the gold in Fort Knox...if there were any gold in Fort Knox...

Corporate Yogi Undercover - Finest Worksong

2009-11-09T06:40:00.000-08:00

There is an often-quoted study somewhere that the majority of heart attacks take place between Sunday night and Monday morning. If you know where I can find this study, send it right along. But from personal experience, I know even the sound of the stopwatch on 60 Minutes used to give me a sense that my night was ticking ticking ticking down to the demands of Monday morning.

So Sunday night, I ventured off the island of Manhattan to listen to live country music at a little place in Billyburg, Spike Hill. Uncle Leon and the Alibis were playing - I especially liked their country-fried version of "Baby Got Back" - anyway, here's the reason I'm sharing this: their rabble raising anthem is entitled "I Hate My Job", and a good 9 minutes of the hour long set was dedicated to explaining the song, singing the song, then getting the crowd to sing along through the refrain - once to get the words down, then again with more passion with lots of harping and harassing anyone who wasn't singing/likes their jobs.

Hearing this song called to mind a line from Drew Carey: "Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar." People, really? Really? Is this really the best thing to plant in your brain before you get up and go to work in the morning? Really? How does this make things any better?

Uncle Leon, you rock, and thanks for the reminder about "little in the middle but baby got back" - but wow, all things considered, from what I can tell not many of us are actually suffering. Sure we experience interpersonal brain-pattern clashes, but other than the fact we have a habit of THINKING we are suffering, most of us are doing just fine from one breath to the next...aren't we?

So here's the challenge: look through your Itunes and tell me what a positive Monday Morning Anthem might be - heck, I'd even accept a neutral one like Finest Worksong by REM only since I already have thought of that one, you have to come up with something else. Because here's the problem: most work songs (and most work movies) are negative. 60 Minutes stopwatch ticking notwithstanding, I promise to pick a winner from everyone who suggests a work song and buy them a leisurely Sunday night dinner. And if you're in a foreign country or something I'll paypal you the money to take yourself to dinner. So...suggestions?

Perspectives from a Party

2009-11-08T08:09:00.001-08:00

Life is a great storyteller - offering moments of insight into the mundane and the sublime, the tragedy, beauty and celebration of it all. The great storytellers all do this and it resonates for us because in their observations are embedded the very paradoxes that exist in our own lives.

Last night, life delivered one such a powerful response to conversations we've all been having about how short life is, and the mandate to overcome obstacles and put yourself fully into whatever you're doing no matter what, where, how or why.

Last night friend Sheena Mathieken threw a party to celebrate the six month mark of her really cool Uniform Project. In the Uniform Project, Sheena has pledged to wear the same dress every day for a year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. You can go onto her site and see the many ways she has injected creativity into it - looking, as she says, as if accessorized in the "Marquis de Sade's boudouir". She created this initiative as a fundraiser for educational initiatives for kids in slums in India. So far, the effort has won attention from the BBC, Elle, The New York Times, and The Times, London. Slightly over $28K later, with German press at the party and a room full of New York's creative influencers, it's clear Sheena is just getting her engines started.

Updating her about what's up in the world of corporate yogis, the focus on shifting consciousness she laughed, "if it were really about fitness or staying thin, my secret is following your passion AND keeping your dayjob - I have two full time jobs now and the energy alone is enough!". Even her boss acknowledged the energy this is demanding of her and that she is completly engaged and happy in what she is doing.

But last night after we left the party, someone in the building apparently fell down an elevator shaft and died. I'm not the first to report this - it's posted on Gothamist and ABC news. The tragedy to the deceased and his circle of loved ones is unimaginable. For the rest of us at the very least it is a powerful reminder to live our lives with passion and purpose, contribution and without complaint.

Which is what Sheena was already doing and hopefully will continue to do. Stressors clear, I'm offering up a prayer that this accident doesn't take Sheena off course either in this project and all the incredible contributions she has yet to make. I'm urging you to go to her site and tell her to keep going and if you have an extra $5 in your bank account make a donation.

The world needs the Sheena's and the you's and the me's to look life in the eye and give all we got while we're here - as you live your own greatest story, don't let anything take that offering off track.

From my hOMe office...

2009-11-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

Whoa. I've heard and read about bloggers getting lots of responses to a post. Having inconspicuously posted for a few years on the yoga work connection both here and in my WebMD LifeWorks blog, I've always been delighted when people respond. But since yesterday, I've been blown away by the number of folks responding to the notion of me being back in the "working for the man" saddle was pretty mind-blowing. I got a total of 18 phone calls, 33 personal emails and 11 comments/messages on Facebook alone, not to mention the ones I haven't even looked at yet that are coming in through Linkedin.

Yahoo peeps are convinced I'm working for Yahoo. AOLers and former AOLers sent sympathy notes to hear I'm back with the walking man. In fact, the only folks who haven't voiced conviction that I've joined their ranks are the over 300 NYPD officers I taught to meditate last year. Although, you know, I was once in the Army so it's possible...

Given this morning's announcement about October jobless rates, anything is possible. The unemployment rate, calculated using a survey of households as opposed to companies, rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2%, the Labor Department said Friday. While I know I'm not alone in counting blessings that we've averted a 1930's crisis, these numbers served as a reminder that I'm also not alone in having to be crafty in order to keep my puppy fed, the cat litter fresh, and my own sweet self in new shoes when I have a Gala to go to.

So let's get a couple things out on the table:

First of all, NO, I'm not abandoning my passionate quest to champion mindfulness and mastery tools at work. In fact if anything I'm getting more fired up about it and thinking of a new offering I want to launch in January. Stay tuned on that...

Second of all, NO, it really doesn't suck. It never did. It never will. Even when co-workers come up and say "Gosh, isn't that stuff we have you doing just so AWFUL?" Truth be told, it doesn't even suck even a little - I can think of lots worse ways to spend the day.

Third, I wouldn't be much of a yogi if I let it suck - you know? This is where I get to see if I can really walk my talk satisfying a curiosity I've had for years. Sure it's easy to be "enlightenment girl" in a quiet room with drawstring pants on, a great sequence in mind and a killer quote to get the asana party going, but conjuring enlightenment while doing data entry I could have done as a freshman in college while folks around me are frustrated literally to the point of tears - NOW THAT'S PRACTICE!

Which brings me back to the central point about this recent turn of events in my life and similar challenges in the lives of so many others: it's no big deal. The reason I left corporate America so many years ago is that it was painfully obvious to me that most of the things people make themselves miserable about at work are really no big deal. Consider food lines and shanty towns of the 1930s, look at your own hardships and repeat after me: it's no big deal. Listen to global news and think about your worries and repeat: it's no big deal.

Because here's the takeaway I've learned in 13 years as a corporate executive, 8 years as a consultant and 4 days of a temporary stint in cubiclelandia: you must decide that "it's no big deal" AND work with complete focus, complete contribution. Sweep streets as Shakespeare wrote, MLK Jr exhorted. The Bhagavad Gita tells us to work with your heart singing, no matter what. Corporate yogis, it doesn't matter how many times you make it to practice this week, meditate, pour over the words of Eckart Tolle or other guru of the month, or eat right for your blood type. If you haven't put it all into the MLK/Bhagavad Gita perspective your practice is functioning an escape mechanism rather than mastery tool.

And that's what I was reminded of within the first hour of the first day by that coffee machine: whatever is bugging you at work is really no big deal. Get to work with that in mind. Don't wait for your the world to be perfect for to decide to remember it. Your real job in all you do is taking care of your state of being, and that's what I'm hoping you'll always find me doing no matter what job I happen to be doing.

Corporate Yogi Undercover

2009-11-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

It's happened: after 8 years motivating folks in conference rooms, ball rooms, cubicles, workstations and offices, I'm back in the ranks. Driven by the downturn, one of my clients approached me desperate for extra hands on a project, and I turned to her just as desperate for cash in my bank account. With things turning around economically, I was looking for something to get me through the gap until a few huge projects I'm pitching come in. Hard as it is on my ego, I packed up my yoga-teacher, Harvard-Business-Review-Events-presenter, international employee-engagement-expert self and hustled in to get an employee badge and be shown how to log-onto their systems.

Without naming names to protect the innocent and shield the not-so-innocent (and after all, aren't we all a bit of BOTH?), I'll just give you a topline of where I'm going everyday:

1. NYC HQ of a recognized media company
2. Notorious sweat shop working hard to change that
3. Global operations include every significant market on the planet
4. Former consumer of yoga/transformational workshops - like many organizations forced to choose between stretching dollars rather than employees, their programs have been dormant for a couple of years.
5. Like many companies, they've leveraged real estate downturn by moving office locations

This is the third day I'll be going in - and already the situation has been an amazing affirmation of all the reasons that led me exactly eight years ago to leave my job to start Balance Integration. My first day by the coffee machine, one of the guys said to me "oh, you're new, that must be why you're smiling". When something I said made him laugh - I pointed out that his face had not cracked.

I have to get to work in a few minutes, but check back here over the coming weeks for play-by-plays. So far, my meditation practice is still on track so all is well.

Side note about the awesomely appointed Wellness Room door in the picture above: It's a little 8x10 room with soft lights, a pillow and throw, a really great massage chair, some nice smelling stuff wafting out of a socket somewhere, and a cd player with spa sounds. When I first noticed it I wondered if anyone ever uses it given the 18 hour days people put in. I'm glad to announce that when I slipped in there while my computer was being worked on to take the chair for a little test-drive, another employee knocked to see if it was available.

Stay tuned...

Halloween & Savasana

2009-10-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

I've long suspected that any iconographic element that exists on one culture must exist in every culture. Halloween upon us, Corporate Yogis, I'm looking for that all-is-one connection in this literal meaning behind this weekend's festivities.

The notion of remembering that we all die and that we are literally here to experience life UNTIL we die is particularly salient for many of us this year. In the midst of survival concerns, the challenge of remaining connected to life, to this moment, this breath in, that breath out, no matter what our external situation has sometimes given way instead to connecting to concerns about our external situation. The triggers for survival fears have seemed ubiquitous, popping up in our work, home life, health, the environment, political change, and world power struggles.

Having spent a bunch of time in Latin America, I've admired how Latin cultures embrace the concept of the circle of life, of continuity of connection, and of remembering the old adage "dust to dust. In Buddhist countries you'll often see the lifeline of the buddha expresed as a progression from baby to corpse decay, or the inevitability of death expressed in the beautiful mandala sand drawings painstakingly created and destroyed in an instant. And in yoga we recognize the impermanence of all our earth-bound concerns by practicing Savasana, literally corpse pose, at the end of every practice.

While sussing out what I want my hallow'een observation to be, I'm going back to these roots. Much like the wisdom paths we study, I want to face my deepest earthbound fears, tangle with the trappings of my ego, and see if I can't live through my worst imagination tomorrow night.

Having long ago befriended my inner sexy nurse, this means I'm going to have to set aside the fishnet stockings and reach a little deeper into my closet. Summoning the inner demons of failure, shame, poverty, homelessness, ugliness, aging and imperfection - I know I'll be facing the monsters that really keep me up at night.

I'm not sure how I'll bring it all together visually, but you know, in donning this costume, I'm honoring the worthiness, abundance, beauty, perfection and lifeforce within all of us no matter external circumstances.

Scared? Yes. But expressing these fears will make this the scariest and most liberating Halloween ever.

Are we ALL Microsoft Babies?

2009-10-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

INCUBATION from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

My brilliant counterpart of Balance Integration in Latin America, Clara Hori, sent me this a few weeks ago. I finally got around to watching it this morning and wow - did it resonate. In addition to the video embedded above, you can see seven more snapshots of Microsoft at work (and in childcare) at http://vimeo.com/channels/microsoftbabies , and I highly recommend you do so.

As a GenX-er and latchkey kid, I totally related to the little ones in daycare. As a corporate executive and yogi, I related to the struggles of the employees and found myself in a state of compassion with each and every one of them. As an observer of work culture, no doubt you will also recognize many of the themes and messages highlighted by the creator of the series.

Having just posted on my other blog, LifeWorks at WebMD another weekly installment about the importance of loving your job no matter what it is, these films reminded me that no matter where we go or what we do, there will be challenges each of us being tested in ways we may not immediately recognize. While many parents dream of having company sponsored childcare, no sooner was it established than for some was the question raised: will this impact how my child learns? Will my child become part of the corporate machine even sooner?

Relating so completely to every human appearing in this series, it reminded me that there are no easy answers indeed. Ironically, it is in the segment about one Microsoft man's depression that I find a glimmer of hope in his apt reminder about staying connected with ourselves. At one point he learned that being profoundly unhappy was simply depression and that his remedy is to make sure to take time out for himself, to connect and simply be with himself. Amen. Om. Inshallah. We all need a bit more of that.

Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.

Take A Walk On The Wild Side

2009-10-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

I did it. Today.

No, despite being in NYC and bucking the stereotype immortalized in Lou Reed's song, my walk didn't involve plucking my eyebrows or shifts in gender. My walk was the amazing, life-affirming, irrational choice to walk through the park to get home rather than catching a cab or subway after teaching this morning.

Some of you are experts at this. The concept of choosing leisure over efficiency, pleasure over productivity, and active choice over programmatic habit isn't a foreign one. Maybe you're one of the people who have normalized the atavistic function of connecting to ones-self, indulging in the generosity of this amazing planet, or making decisions based on what really serves your highest good. Or maybe not.

Either way, it was a moment of reconnecting to my own wild soul. Wandering the sinewy paths of Central Park, I followed and found my heart. Listening actively with each step I asked my heart what it wanted, which way to point my feet. The still-green of trees were a healing sight for monitor-wearied eyes. The white elk with amputated branches, thriving no less, was a powerful teacher. Weeping in that quiet will-o-the-whisp "will this deepen or will it go away" kind of way, I gave myself more than an hour of asking what felt good, what made me happy exactly in that moment.

Jazz to tin pan, dog walkers to kiddie fitness, I was reminded that sunrise to sunset, behind of the clouds of my worries life persists in all its beauty. If you haven't taken a walk lately, me and a couple billion people on the planet wish you would.

Reengage THIS!

2009-10-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

The US Department of Labor just announced huge gains in productivity despite what most employees and HR folks would agree is an unprecedented dip in corporate morale. That said, it's unlikely most companies are going to dig too deep in generating employee perks to put smiles back on our faces. With statistics showing rebound attrition to be a multiplier of 3x however many folks might have been laid off, it's unfortunate. No matter. Whether you're an HR person struggling to find low cost ways to rally the troops or a troop looking to rally yourself, check these ideas out:

1. Leadership Book Club - start a book club focusing on passion for work, leadership skills, etc. Meet once a month at lunch then go to someone or several senior someones who "get it" and ask them to commit to reviewing a chapter each month. Then send the word out establishing time/place - start with a hot new book, then begin to take suggestions as the club gets going.

2. Service Rocks! - look around your community for local fundraising activities that may be relevant to you and your coworkers - the American Diabetes Association Heart Association and Susan Komen all have fall activities around the country or you could pick something in support of a local organization. Ask coworkers to form a team with you for both fundraising and "training purposes". If it's a walk, do a weekly powerwalk together at lunch. If it's a ride or run, commit to weekly training goals.

3. Everyday Heroes - don't wait for HR to create a speaker series with high paid talking heads. Look around your community for people making a difference - the local papers are full of little snippets about folks from highschoolers to service workers whose contributions are somehow significant. Ask them to come in for a little informal brownbag and hear what they have to say - be prepared and think through some questions to ask them about how they came to do what they do and what inspires them. As you moderate know that this will be much more conversational than the usual "sponsored" event and potentially much more real and inspiring.

4. Desk Stretch Yourself - some workplaces block media transmittals over the internet, but you can go into YouTube and get instructions on how to record posted media files. Then burn a couple focusing on stress management through breath, stretching and meditation and bring them to work, putting a time each day on your calendar for you to revive and renew.

5. Potlunch - have a monthly lunch potluck for your group or others you work with. Eating together is primal and establishes our humanity in a very grounding way. If you give it an ethnic or other theme (TV shows, food from the 70s, etc.), you might help people with their planning and provide a natural non-work topic of conversation giving opportunity for people to learn about eachother.

6. Personal Passion Injection - chances are there is something you are passionate about that could make a difference at work. One woman I know is an office manager who noticed how many office supplies were thrown away each month so created a recycling table for employees to go to FIRST before going to the supply closet. Another friend decided to start a "worklife phone/email tree" helping eachother be mindful of eating lunch, leaving at a reasonable hour, drink enough water, and take a stretch from time to time. Whatever you most need/love, chances are others could benefit from it, too.

Got ideas? Practice engaging yourself by posting them here! I'll circulate them to my various communities spreading the creativity around a bit!

Harvard or Glamour?

2009-04-20T11:35:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or is there something really odd about getting an email from Harvard Medical School with a pitch around getting in shape for summer????

-----Original Message-----
From: Harvard Medical School [mailto:hhp_info@hms.harvard.edu]
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 2:32 PM
To: tevis@balanceintegration.com
Subject: Get in Shape for Summer and Save

Help us be sure this email newsletter isn’t filtered as spam. Add hhp_info@hms.harvard.edu to your address book to ‘whitelist’ us with your filter, helping future issues get to your inbox.

Dear Valued Customer,

It’s not too early to start getting in shape for the warm summer months ahead.
So for a limited time only, we’re offering a 25% discount on three of our
best-selling Harvard Special Health Reports.

Whether you want to lose a few pounds or need to start — or step up — your exercise routine, there’s a Harvard Special Health Report to help you do just that. The experts at Harvard Medical School provide sensible strategies to eat healthfully and still lose weight, plus exercise programs for mature adults, beginners, or those who want to try new workouts.

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Sincerely,

Ed Coburn
Publishing Director
Harvard Health Publications

Spiritual Martinis

2009-02-27T12:47:00.001-08:00

I have to say this. There's just no two ways about it and it's driving me crazy. Yes, the work life woman is going crazy. WE HAVE GOT TO QUIT TREATING ATTENDING TO OUR WELLBEING AS A "SHOULD".

I'm observing this in so many venues - from corporate clients to my Linked In Corporate Yogis Group, there is a major consensus that attending to ourselves is a should - like shoveling mashed asparagus into the clamped lips of a three year old. Join the group then look at the comments, and if that's not enough for you email me and I'll forward a bunch of emails members have sent me lamenting meditation programs not well attended, yoga classes with a constantly rotating cast of characters, not to mention comments from employees who already have a yoga practice saying they want to keep their practice separate from their work.

I scratch my head in wonder. We KNOW we feel better when we treat ourselves well physically. We KNOW we perform better when we take actions in support of our clarity, restedness, and intention. We KNOW that we make better choices when we have done the other two. So why do we treat these actions as a grudging luxury, an indulgence for the weak, or something we would do if we weren't so martyred by the demands of our lives? Haven't we learned yet from successful people that tending to yourself is a discipline that breeds success? Don't you WANT to be successful?

And to those folks with a practice that want to keep it separate - bringing yoga into your life is the point of yoga! Ever read the Bhagavad-Gita? The whole thing is about how we cannot separate our spirit from our participation in our duties in the world. Ever think about the first Yoga Sutra - it's the cessation of fluctuations in the mind. And guess what makes those fluctuations happen? OUR TIME IN THE WORLD.

Look, as crazy as I am with this rant I'd be even more crazy to deny that yoga is a fantastic pressure valve and escape hatch. But people, look at the world around us. There are not enough blissful moments in the day for us to counterbalance the stress factors present. What's even more, if you can learn to feel yoga ANYWHERE, why the heck wouldn't you? What good is it really doing you in that studio with that nice lady cooing to you and telling you where to put your foot if you're resistant to having it be a part of your life and not just an escape from it??? As a yoga teacher, I can tell you what part of your body from which to remove your head.

If you don't have a practice of some sort - get one. Now. The sooner the better. I strongly believe that if more of us were using practices that foster intentionality and connection to the world, we might not be in the situation we are in right now. If you do have a practice - YIPPEE. But then you have to ask yourself - am I using this as a key aspect of how I conduct my life or is it really just a spiritual martini?

After all, drunk is drunk.

Work Life Expert???? WebMD???

2009-02-16T12:40:00.001-08:00

Get this widget!

Check out my new blog at WebMD - they asked me to be their new WorkLife Expert! http://www.blogs.webmd.com/life-works/

I'm obviously not really sure how to work this widget - maybe one of you can help me??

Visit the blog of the day

Thoughts Made Visible

2008-11-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

I taught yoga today at one very scrutinized company - no names to protect the innocent. Not suprisingly, the participants are all regulars . After all, it's a community-forming activity that participants quickly come to depend upon, so much so that even an ex-employee who is now a vendor is known to drop in from time to time.

While teaching I noticed one of them whom I'll transparently refer to by the psudonym "Bob" was more impatient and had less endurance than usual. Even in poses and sequences he knows easily, he'd give up, lose his balance, and otherwise huff and puff. Not normal for Bob.

I figured maybe it was from recently getting married. But even that didn't seem to explain his lack of tolerance. I observed and continued teaching, wondering what was up with him. It wasn't until after class when he made a joke about maybe "it would be great if I got reorged in my sleep more often" that the issue became clear. That explains it. Waking to a new boss, new organizational structure, new team members isn't an easy thing. His current boss didn't even know about the change.

Going through stuff? Don't wait to get on the mat to recognize just how destabilized you might be. Take a breath. Slow down. Nothing will put the world back together as it was, and NOW is always the time to make sure to put yourself back together moment by moment. After all, the one thing you can control is how you become present with yourself. And that, if attended to, is what can make the difference between poor reactions and grounded ones.

Freaky Friday

2008-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, corporate yogis. To get things off to a peaceful start, I'm posting one of our Digital Guru files. After all, even though we say there are 24 hours to each one, you never really know how long a day will be. And with a whole lot of witching to look forward to tonight, you might as well make sure you're off to a great start!

Enjoy!

Babble

2008-10-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

With the recent increase in reports of construction-related accidents and fatalities, the Tower of Babel has been on my mind. If you're rusty on your biblical allegories, this is what wikipedia has to say about the story:

According to the biblical account, Babel (Babylon meaning "gate of god") was a city that united humanity, all speaking a single language...The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens." (וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם). However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of God, but was dedicated to the glory of man, with a motive of making a 'name' for the builders: "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves'" (Genesis 11:4).

So the story ends that God gets pissed and makes it so that no one can understand eachother - hence the modern word "babble" which basically means speaking nonsense. The building fails and the great society scatters into factions all over the earth. Digging a little further, it turns out that just about every culture has some form of this story, all with the advisory that when we work or strive to achieve for the purpose of satisfying our ego, we cannot sustain connection or communicate with eachother and society fails.

Hmmm...Babylon. Affluence. Ego. Economic crisis. Disparate aims. Breakdowns in communication. Factionalism. Talking about nonsense, things that don't really matter.

Gives pause to think, doesn't it, or am I babbling?

Peace Keeper

2008-10-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

In 1993 there was a study conducted to measure the effectiveness of meditation in lowering the HRA (homicides, rapes and assaults) crime rate in Washington DC. The results: a 48% drop...in a direct quote from that report:

"Based on the results of the study, the steady state gain (long-term effect) associated with a permanent group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs was calculated as a 48% reduction in HRA crimes in the District of Columbia."

What can you do to change the world? Based on the findings of that study, it's not a bad idea to just sit there. But I mean REALLY just sit. There.

Or in the case of one humble everyday guy in New York City, remember that the world you have to change is the one within you. You may not be able to read the writing in that photo above, but it says "Peace in me, Peace in the world." The amazing thing isn't just that this ordinary guy took the time to draw this reminder on a little white board in his office. Let's face it, many of us do have little reminders of our greatest selves at work. What is so completely fantastic is that this little white board is sitting on his desk in a cubicle in the middle of what is the heart of the offices of the world's finest police force.

This humble everyday guy, a police officer, father and local-grown Queens boy, not only had the inspiration to draw this and the courage to put it on his desk in plain view of the officers with whom he works, but when asked what made a meditator and guy with the word "sangha" in his email address join the police force, you know what he says? "When the last government job I had ended, I asked myself 'what would be the ultimate place where I can serve?'".

What a yogi.

Sharing a Secret Garden

2008-10-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

The best surprises don't come in little velvet boxes or brightly colored paper. They are moments of grace, of presence in which we allow ourselves to be present to events unfolding without judgment, expectation or any other limiting thought. Visiting my family in DC this past weekend I was graced with exactly this experience in which doing a favor for my little sister meant going down to the Mall to check out some art for her Art History class. Imagine my delight to walk unexpectedly into an exhibit of Hindu art at the Sackler Gallery called Garden & Cosmos.

Like most yogis I am a sucker for any form of cosmic consciousness - art, music, plays, conversations. But even my stepmother who confesses having no love for Hindu art was really absorbed in the display and altogether we spent over two hours in the three gallery rooms. Uncovered in Jodhpur, the pieces date from the 17th century, and explore a lineage of three maharaj's - looking at their wealthy lifestyles, their political intrigue, and finally, their relationship to a group of tantric yogis called Naths who were very powerful in the Mahal region at that time. Whether you dig the exploration of deities, you are curious about architecture and design, or you love the artistic expression of the ineffable, all together it's a show not to be missed. The audio tour is a bargain at $5, as the current maharaj of Jodhpur shares family stories and observations pertaining to the collection.

You can catch it now through January 4th, with little interactive presentations, storytelling and music on most weekends.

Digital Guru Manifested!

2008-10-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Since we first fantasized of taking yoga into corporations we've dreamed of offering office-appropriate desk stretches and powerful clarity breaks. If it's true that timing is everything, I can't imagine a better time for such a toolkit to be available to professionals everywhere.

So Ta DAAAA...I am beyond thrilled to say we're finally launching our Digital Guru series of exactly that! We're kicking the series off with three short, effective files to help you feel better, and three to help you think better. Check out our media page to see what they're all about - and stay tuned for more as we are definitely just getting started!

Grace Rubs

2008-09-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

Whatever is going on right now for you, remember there's life afoot. And where there's life, there's change. Far from remote or esoteric, this is the key awareness through which to view any given moment. For me it's been the reminder that the being that I am is full of life amid community events such as miscarriage, mastectomy, divorce, a bedbug infestation, changes in staff, negotiating contracts, extensive travel, launching the Digital Guru download series, obtaining servicemarks for our ideas, watching the market, watching politics, watching my puppy, celebrating client successes, etc. Yes, yes, amid all that, all the maybes and maybe nots, there's a simple life form that is each of us and these twists and turns are all just scenery for the ride.

The image above of a plant managing to grow on a rocky surface says it perfectly. The yogis put it into their own words with the Mrityunjaya Mantra that says hey, look at the dance of creation and destruction, revealing, and concealing - it's all just a dance and how you think and respond to it influences your reality. If you ever doubted that thinking becomes action and influences reality, take a look at the current economic situation. Take a look at Palin's impact on the polls amongst the various populations. Look at how likely you are to postpone a big purchase right now.

The BBC Americas broadcast played dumb yesterday by reminding listeners that it's not as if there's less money in the world right now, and they're right: there's just less trust. There's just less confidence. There's just less focus on potential. And that emotional state drives actions which shape reality - both in terms of our individual lives and our collective situations.

In the Mritynjaya Mantra, the yogis pointed out that life persists no matter the constraints, and it is how we relate to the constraints that determines our experience of life itself. By remaining loyal to that awareness, loyal to life itself, we get out of the traps of fears of ruin or failure, fears of being unloved or lonely, and overcome attachment to outcomes of any sort - in all venues of life.

So what's your scenery? What's challenging your ability to remember that you are a living being navigating the changing terrain? Wherever you find the "rub" - that's where you are reminded to reconnect to life. Looking for grace in the midst of the most extreme challenges, you have already found it.

Live on KGNU - Work as Transformation!

2008-09-05T06:39:00.001-07:00

Tune in this morning as radio host Leilani Henry and I explore the concept of Work as Transformation.

Here's the blurb:

Work as Transformation: Connect Your Best to Work and Life

What is work? Is work another 4 letter word? Gallup poll reports that only 27% of employees express being "truly engaged" in their work. Your relationship to work impacts everything in your life. Do you integrate the best of who you are into work?
What would the workplace look and feel like if we integrated our higher purpose into everything we do? Organizations thrive when we take responsibility for who we are at work.

In spite of barriers we may face at work, we can influence the culture of our institutions by examining our relationship to work. Listen to gain tools and a new perspective about work and life!

If you miss it live, you can catch it later as a download by going to http://kgnu.org/cgi-bin/programinfo.py?time=1220625000

Redemption from Brazil

2008-09-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Never underestimate the power of a kind word. Today I was having a moment of what-the-*&)%^...you know, that form of ancient mantra that seems to express itself tonally no matter the language. Whatever the issue in life - sales, management, growth, trainings, clients, invoicing, bookkeeping, politics, family, friends - there's lots to be excited about and sometimes we confuse excitement with overwhelm, embracing possibility with analyzing probability, thrilling eagerness with chilling anxiety.

All of that was in high gear when the stroke of grace in the form of a kind word reminded me of everything that IS a constant for me: the qualities I am emit as a habit and expression of who I am capable of being. An old friend 20 years lost to me in the concrete wilds of Sao Paulo reached out to say,

I was just telling a friend of mine about you, how incredible and determined you were, and fun too. You look absolutely radiant!

With total props to Facebook for making this global reunion possible, it's more than just cherishing an old friend. Owning the fact that it feels completely braggy to share her accolades, the story here is much more about being invited to remember those things about myself. When I remember I AM THAT, I become that. Reminding allows recognition. In recognition, we are redeemed.

So what do you need to remember about yourself? Is there a heartfelt reminder you can share with someone else?

Special shout in to Erica D. in Brasil: I so love your playful spirit and ability to smile from your heart with anyone you meet. You've got some lucky kids to have a mom like you.

Pre-Labor Day HuffPO - You & Work - ENJOY!

2008-08-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

Click here! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tevis-gale/for-recent-grads-and-the_b_121180.html I wanted to call this post"Life Is a Tab of Acid" in homage to Ram Dass, but the PR divinity decided those days have passed. Check it out - just in time for a long, Labor Day weekend, so please forward and comment!

2008-08-28T05:34:00.001-07:00

Interestingly, our summons earlier this week for Labor Day reading suggestions with yogic philosophy mostly resulted in books drawing from Buddhist philosophy. This may be due to the fact that the Buddhists have been much more prolific in commenting actively on day to day challenges of life in a modern context while yoga seems to surface more as a physical practice than the operational philosophy it was designed as.

Granted, Gautama Buddha was raised Hindu so the concepts are very aligned in many ways. It all works, no pun intended, but we're doing our best to create a space for those beyond the list of usual suspects. After all, given the number of Yogis who go to work, think about work, and even coach, facilitate, consult and "guru" in organizations, and the fact that yoga is a set of practices to support us IN LIFE, where the heck are all the yogis? C'mon yogis - put your voices out there!

Here's the list we came up with - doing our best to keep it yogic, you'll see one exception.

1. The Highest Goal - Michael Ray
also
2. Creativity In Business - Michael Ray
3. The Bhaghavad Gita - you can get this online for free, just Google it. Sally Kempton suggests the Eknath Esarwan translation for language.
4. Management By Consciousness - Sri Aurobindo Society, their .org should have sources for it
5. Yoga Nidra - Swami Satyananda Saraswati. This is a GREAT way to achieve meditative clarity and reenergize in the midst of midday monkeymind.
6. Quiet Leadership - David Rock. I don't know if David Rock practices yoga, but his explanations of brain patterns using laymans terms for scientific insights are a modern explanation of the Vrittis.
7. The Office Sutras - Marcia Menter
8. Yoga For Suits - Edward Vilga. Basic stretches you probably know but always forget to do. Stay tuned as we'll be debuting the media downloads version of this under the name Digital Guru on our website balanceintegration.com next month.
9. Ten Zen Seconds - this came from my brilliant friend, writer Martha Garvey. It's written by Eric Maisel who I certified as a creativity coach with - yes, Buddhist, but with two personal connections we had to let it in the list.
10. Paths To God - Ram Dass. From a Harvard/Stanford professor who delved into psychedelics to learn about consciousness and landed solidly in the practice of yoga, this is a transcription of a course he taught one summer at Naropa Institute. Supposedly the course was on the Bhagavad Gita, but the main take away I found is the relationship between the heart and the intellect.

Always looking for more - feel free to send anytime and I'll help spread the word.

Now, how about MOVIES??? Got any movies you particularly like to raise insight into work/self? Again, send me your faves and if you get me your address, I'll send you a little blue balance stone - they rock!

Balancing Action

2008-08-24T15:38:00.003-07:00

Just a few minutes ago I sat down to do crank out some ideas for my blog. Let's be clear about the situation: here I am, Balance Integration founder, and after a nice weekend in the mountains with family, the sun is setting over beautiful Chelsea NYC, and at my feet is a sweet puppy I KNOW would love a walk - what am I doing? About to crank out ideas for my BLOG?????

Luckily our new branding gimmies came last week and I gotta say, these little blue glass stone balance reminders actually WORK! With a big bowl of them strategically placed by my laptop, one caught my eye and reminded me to be conscious of my choices and the actions I take and to do so in this very moment.

So damming the idea vesuvius from erupting into a molten mass of hours immersed in writing, I'm going to ask a question instead: what books do you LOVE that relate work to yoga or apply the concepts of the practice of yoga to the workplace? I have a couple in mind - so in honor of Labor Day quickly approaching I can't think of a cooler list of books to take to the 'zon or bn.com in prep for the long weekend than ones that reinforce yoga as a householder (ie. regular folks like you and me) practice and everyday ticket to blissful being.

Send me your suggestions and if you take a moment to email me your name/address, I'll send you one of these blue balance stones with a big huge karmic hug sprinkled in for good measure.

You never know - strategically placed it could just save you from a beautiful night lost in the cool glow of pixelated images.

With that, I'm OFF!

The Belly of Balance

2008-08-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

People always ask how we keep the good vibe going, how we manage to connect with such a broad spectrum of clients, students and workshop participants, and how we find the time to really be what we teach others. Not a secret, nothing serves the ability to connect and feel good and respect priorities quite so much as serving others.

Suann Polverari, our director of client relationships in NY shimmies the talk by teaching bellydancing to physically impaired women in her own time outside of her work with Balance...and though it is of her own choice and has nothing to do with our work in corporations, I can't think of a better portrayal of the values we strive to represent.

http://www.ny1news.com/content/ny1_living/health/84878/mobility-impaired-women-discover-joy-of-belly-dancing/Default.aspx

Rockin' the OM on NPR

2008-08-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Our whip smart corporate yogini and Director of Programs Sonia Wilczewski in Miami gave me the heads up on this great story that was featured on NPR.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93796200

The story explains the science of why breath and meditation techniques WORK in managing stress related dysfunctions and diseases - even for the doubters among us.

THANK YOU NPR!

Lesson from the Mat - Falling Free

2008-08-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

A lesson from practicing yoga: when people fall or fail, they smile. Really. In seven years as a teacher, with very few exceptions the moments of greatest levity and human playfulness in practice follow those in which a difficult pose is suggested and people FAIL to accomplish them.

Forearm stand, scorpion, kundiniasana, astavakrasana, handstand without the wall, bird of paradise, vishvamitrasana, tripod headstand. Calling the names of these positions has the power to furrow brows and harden the breathing of even hearty practitioners. More timid yogins may find an urgent need for the bathroom as excuse to slip from the room and flee their knee-jerk fear response.

Here's the secret I've discovered: in attempting the impossible it is those who try but fail that convey pleasure, humility and even a sense of renewal - a sense of YOGA or union with the moment, themselves and life itself. Those who actually somewhat achieve the shape tend to emerge with fretful expressions perhaps questioning their performance, resisting the natural urge to celebrate, or worrying if they will ever get into the shape again.

That picture above of me frowning in an "okay" version of astavakrasana is a great example of joyless, critical execution, ie. asana performed as an exacting technician, devoid of the experiential fruit of the practice of yoga. In comparing the faces and energetic bearing of those who give these more challenging shapes a try and find themselves humbled by failure to those who actually come close to achieving them, there's no second guessing the instances where grace is present and where grace has been evicted by the critic. Let's face it - if we're moving through what we do totally in our heads, locked in constant analysis, chances are we're not fully present or enjoying it much.

As a lesson from the mat, this suggests that ALLOWING oneself to humbly try the "impossible" and fail (gracefully or not) is the renewing or regenerating act. That you are not done evolving or acquiring new skills allows you to be small and humble in such a way that allows for your greatness to emerge. Be radical. Know you do not and cannot possibly have all the answers. Let yourself off the hook from pretending as much. The permission you give yourself to be a student and not be perfect requires your acceptance that there is growth at hand, and invites you to consider all the wonderful possibilities growth may bring. It reorients us towards the experience of the attempt rather than the evaluation of the outcome.

Where do you need to give yourself a little freedom to fall?

UPWARD FACING CEO!

2008-08-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Check out our appearance commenting on Corporate Yoga on CNBC!

Corporate Yogis UNITE! - in the flesh!

2008-08-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hey there corporate yogis - if you've got a passion to get a little more OM into the office by teaching yoga in corporations, come check out our Corporate Yoga Teacher Training at Omega next month! Check out http://www.eomega.org/omega/workshops/1c5610e7d504b5c82faf0ee4c5c8758b/

and come join us for autumn leaves, yoga, passion for work, and lots of like minded folks! We can't wait!

Doggybloggy

2008-08-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

That impossible cuteness above - it's Ruby, my new puppy. The whole rearranging of life thing is true, in case you're wondering. Lamentation of such rearranging doesn't seem to be an issue, although I am really eager to be done with Nature's Miracle - every puppy owner's first line of defence against accidents. A month into this, it's been a great practice is to allow "dog culture" to provide a couple worklife lessons.

1. "Friendly?" This is the first word exchanged between two people walking dogs on the streets of NYC. This one-word indicator tells us how close to pass, if we should linger or if we should hurry by. Humbled by the fact that dogs are just as they are and efforts at changing their personality is a total waste of energy, you become very accepting and at one with the reality that there are friendly dogs and their are unfriendly dogs. It's not personal. There are dogs who love dogs, and dogs who love people and dogs, and dogs who seem to love no one at all. And still, there they go down the sidewalk. With the human at the other end of the leash, or any other human for that matter, how liberating that wisdom.

2. Even for dogs, focus matters. Currently enjoying some of her cutest moments, getting her to do what she needs to do outside is really hard with passersby oohing and aahing. Sound like sour grapes? Try planning an hour extra prep time before a long awaited pitch meeting at Yahoo to get a quiet moment alone on the sidewalk for her to pee. Makes me not so yogic, and reminds me of working under deadline to get something done only to be interrupted incessantly at work. Also calls to mind studies done by Kings College in London where IQ performance declined by 10 points with interruptions.

3. Bodily functions require attention. Hers result in little spots on the floor if not attended to. This one may not make sense to you, guys, but female incontinence is at an all time high specifically because of what great multitaskers we are. Women tend to ignore the need to pee for hours on end. Because of this, companies like Johnson & Johnson have entire divisions related to developing devices for women to re-learn bladder control because the truth of the matter is, if you abuse it, you lose it. Ladies, have a pitstop.

4. Food is fuel. Measuring food means having the right amount of food. With all due respect to the awe-inspiring practices of culinary artistry, the purpose of food is to fuel our bodies, nothing more. You see lots of fat dachsunds out there so the vet told us immediately that we have to measure her food and feed her three times a day and give her lots of exercise. Funny, that's EXACTLY what the nutritionist told me. Got the 10lb. cubicle or corner office spread? Go back to a utilitarian look at food. And just a bonus: a couple short walks every day has already made me feel lighter and even more connected to nature and my neighborhood.

5. Coercion brings compliance, enthusiasm brings engagement. I can't make this dog do anything. Try making her walk when she doesn't want to - I'm the jerk dragging the cute little doggy down the sidewalk. Sure, I can lock her in her cage, but the only way I'll teach her to walk when I want her to, stop when I need her to, or void her bladder when the time is right for me is if I study her actions and reactions and encourage the ones that are in line with my wishes. And oh, to respond to the "digging in heels"? Enthusiasm and delight for walking forward are the only thing that will get her moving.

The last lesson is accepting what IS. In the picture, Ruby is standing under the desk of the founder of Balance Integration (me) at our world headquarters in NYC. A plush executive suite, painstakingly renovated with a Hermann-Miller chair, some plants, bookshelves and internet access from the dining room it was six years ago, just when I think she's fast asleep and won't make a peep, every so often mid-conference call she'll lift her head and chime in with an idea or two. The first time it happened, I wanted to die. On the phone with the VP of Marketing of one of our client companies, pitching a Business Creativity initiative for her entire team, the voice of judgement inside of me reared up, my heart pounding. The VP, Michelle's delighted response: "Is that a PUPPY?", reinforcing my belief that for Balance to be what it stands for, we have to work with people whose outer corporate rock star is enhanced by their inner humanity.

So yes, we are moving forward with Michelle, and yes, we are putting Ruby on our team as Director of Friendly Relations.

In The Arena

2008-08-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it seem like the messages we get are impeccably timed? Like the whispers and shouts of the world around us have somehow magically set themselves to exactly the wisdom we most need to listen to?

Lately I've heard and read many friends express the need to "get through it" - whatever "it" is for each of us. Jen Groover referenced this in her Ladies Who Launch profile yesterday. My Krishna Cab driver nudged me with his playful approach in that same direction. Wandering through LinkedIn this morning, I noticed that my old boss' boss, Fernando Espuelas of StarMedia and now VOY, seems to look to this form of counsel to keep himself going. Given his tenacity through brilliant venture to debacle and now back to brilliant venture, no doubt he is.

Teddy Roosevelt said this:

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach the highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph...It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who errs and comes short again…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at least knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while doing greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Keepin' on keepin' on isn't glamorous, fer sure. And what a powerful truth to remember. Be it reading words of wisdom from the greats or simply watching my own friends like Fernando, Jen or Beth Schoenfeldt - alternately revelling in their success as readily as I take counsel from observing their process of lifting themselves up again and again and again, it becomes easier to realize that my current "it's" are okay. That it's completely okay to not know what to do next. That it's completely okay that in running Balance Integration I am challenged to the core by staff, sales, training, finances, growth. That it's okay to not be sure how things are going to unfold. That it's okay to have my own quiet moments where in spite of my conviction that yoga-based tools have a huge contribution to make to the quality of our lives at work and the quality of our work - I feel in my core what Gandhi said about being first ignored/ridiculed/fought and truly praying through doubt to win. That all the things that make my heart tremble with fear and my mind seek ways to find new courage are nothing but reminders that I am in the arena, getting dirty and sweaty, and earning my way to the next round of play.

Krishna Cab

2008-08-05T06:36:00.001-07:00

Practicing inspiration everywhere - today offered a "Life IS the Baghavad Gita " moment. Rushing to a meeting at Sony, I told my cab driver I was late. He lamented the same.

I said , "What are you late for - shift change?"

"No," he replied. "I gotta go fight a ticket."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that", I said, thinking about how his job depends on his ability to drive.

He said, "Don't be sorry, it's just PLAYING THE GAME. You gotta just love playing the game."

Right on, brother. I thought about all the little games at play in my life, and suddenly none of them seemed so onerous, nor were their outcomes so meaningful. Carrying a notion of playing them feels so much better than the vauge sense of getting played.

Passion Plays

2008-07-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

I went to see the band "Supergrass" at Webster Hall in NYC last night. Admittedly it's been a while since I've gone to a concert and having just taught yoga I showed up a little blissed and very sweaty. What was cool about this show was that there were so many people MY AGE there, and somehow it didn't feel like a roomfull of people hanging onto the fading glory days of youth.

One of my practices is to look for inspiration anywhere and everywhere - because when I do look I DO always find. In this case the inspiration came in the form of a guy my age, longhairish, wearing a concert tshirt, singing every word, jumping up and down, even drumming on his sedate buddy's shoulders to the beat of the drums. One glance said he is a musician and that being at that show was his equivalent of sitting with a master and having a religious experience.
Of course, it's easy to disregard a 40ish guy squealing for a band like a 15 year old girl in the presence of Justin Timberlake. When I observed him with my heart - I thought "DARN! Look at this guy's passion and excitement! How often do most of us feel that way? Do I cultivate an ability in myself to feel that excited and alive?"

Yeah, I think it does come down to cultivation, to consciously allowing ourselves to have a predisposition towards excitement and passion. Even a casual student of human nature or even pets will tell you that there is clearly a shift that happens over time away from excitement or "gung HO" and towards "ho hum". Granted, this anonymous fan could be a total cumudgeon outside of that venue, but the inner mechanism in him that allows for excitement and expression is still very much alive and kicking and drumming and singing. Is yours?

It seems to be that keeping that mechanism or permission for being fully present, joyful and expressed has lots to do with deciding to do so. Mindfulness gets pretty dry treatment in most descriptions, so think about how great it is to be totally present with your morning latte, to really listen to the crescendo on your iPod, or to really taste a great dessert. Sitting here in my office with my new puppy, Ruby, on my lap, cultivating this ability for me means delighting in writing these words and the meaning they hold, pausing to really feel the sweet pleasure of her warm belly moving with breath upon my legs, or maybe even shifting from those awarenesses and really feeling the sweetness of my own breath.

In a few minutes I have a sales call with the global team and we'll all talk about things like numbers, networking, sales goals, PR and relationship building - things that all have the power to excite but also trigger fear. I think I'll go make a cappucinno and let savoring the flavor teach me how to be fully present on that call.

Nine Minutes till my conference call...

2008-07-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

...and even after 19 years in corporate America, anytime I lead a conference call I get jittery. Mostly, I am humbled just knowing that this is a rare moment where people give their time and hopefully attention to a single topic, and that the next hour will be basically me spilling my heart and attempts at wisdom into a silent void of muted listeners.

Isn't it so that even over fiber optic we have an opportunity to really be present with eachother?
Because the topic of the call is leadership and fostering it in other people, I'm reaching for my favorite hindu coloring book, Dancing with Shiva and flipping to the explanation of Dharma. After all, can there be true leadership without dharma?