"Doing a headstand can give you a new perspective in your next change project -Really?" -
Introduction to a series of 5 posts
In a series of 5 posts I would like to tell you how I have been experiencing the yogic mindset in my professional life, and how anyone else can benefit from it :)
The first post (this one) is for you to figure out why yoga or why not?
If yoga is for you, or you are at least interested in the topic… Make sure to follow my next 5 posts! In each post I will talk about a learning of the yogic mindset and how to put it into consulting and change management practice.
“Excuse me, headstand and consulting? How these two come together?”
Let me explain you what I discovered as a management consultant and an active yoga practitioner.
Intense projects, demanding clients, weeks away from home, business trips, new cities, new projects - new teams, exciting topics to work on, long working hours, etc… – just a few of the stereotypes that keep consultants in the flow. This is what I have been doing for the last 8 years.
Yoga, mindfulness, travel yoga mat, sunrise yoga in the hotel`s garden on a business trip, headstands on early morning classes in the yoga studio before work. This is what I have been doing for the last 3 years.
“Yoga? Hm… isn`t it too spiritual to get involved with your business life?”
No, and yes. You definitely don`t have to be a spiritual guru to kick start with yoga and experience the benefits. Just try it, choose your yoga style, practice some yoga poses which can be as demanding as a cross-fit training, and then “practice, practice, practice and all is coming” (quote from Shri K Pattabhi Jois, yoga teacher who developed Ashtanga yoga and opened his school in Mysore, India in 1948), and this “all” can mean many things, even some spiritual experience, it is up to you.
“Yoga? Well…, I am not flexible enough”
I constantly hear this from friends and colleagues. No worries! The good news is that the least flexible you are, the more benefits you get out of yoga. Flexibility requires a problem solving attitude, the problem is that you are not / do not feel flexible. The solutions to overcome this by doing more yoga; it depends on your attitude. Are you up for the challenge?
“Yoga? Uff, that is too boring for me”
This was me while I was busy with: climbing rocks, running half marathons, etc... – I have always been known among my friends for my active lifestyle and appetite for extreme sports.
June 2013, one of the hottest summerdays in our office in Budapest. My colleague, Zsani told me that I seemed to be seriously in the need of some flexiblity. Why was that? Well, this is worth a separate article post for another time. She invited me to try an Ashtanga yoga class. And I got hooked.
Yoga slowly became a lifestyle and I realized, beyond the physical benefits, how my mind became, calmer, stronger, and more present.
What I learn on the yoga mat, is reflected in my life off the yoga mat. This is how we will understand the headstand analogy from the title during the next 5 posts. I will focus on my professional experience as a consultant and how yoga ties to it without over-mystifying it.
About me:
I have been working as a management consultant since graduation, for 8 years while I gained an extensive experience in transformation and change projects. I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga since more than 3 years. Ashtanga is a dynamic type of yoga, “99% physical exercise and 1% theory”.
If you are interested in similar topics, yoga vs. professional life, etc… let me know and stay tuned.