10 Reasons why Yoga is a businesswoman’s best friend. Part 1
In this two part article we discuss the emotional, physical and spiritual reasons why and how Yoga benefits today’s businesswoman no matter your age.
Firstly, let’s clarify what Yoga is not. It’s not the impossible shapes demonstrated by svelte young things on Instagram. That’s the glamourous side of yoga, which of course is lovely to observe. Understandably a 50+ stressed body will look at that and think ‘if that’s yoga, it’s not for me’. I used to think that.
Yoga brings together body, mind and soul. Here’s how it can work for you and your business.
1. Nervous System. Much of the population operates in fight and flight mode which boosts stress creating inflammation in the body. Yoga trains your nervous system to come back down out of the ‘red’ zone into the ‘green’. A handy tool to have when dealing with difficult clients. Often when we find ourselves glued to the computer in deep concentration, it’s a great idea to get up every 20 minutes. Stretch, breathe deeply, focus into some quiet and refresh the mind and body. Those emails and other projects will often feel easier when approached with fresh brain.
2. Balance. As we age we can physically find it harder to balance, hence falls become more frequent. At the same time we can lose that sense of feeling emotionally balanced. The way yoga physically challenges the body to remain balanced on one leg, trains the whole system. And it’s not just the one legged balance. When ‘living yoga’ all kinds of refocus and rebalance is trained. Standing on one leg is a great habit to create. But the deep stretch and long holds of the yoga poses challenges our balance in so many ways.
3. Inner Strength. Many long term experienced yogis will tell you it’s not all about the movement. We actually ‘live yoga’. What I’ve found, with practice, yoga helps my outlook on life. I now observe my reactions. Any situation that normally would have previously raised my stress levels, can now be dealt with a level of calm rationale.
4. Mindfulness. The practice of yoga brings about a more intense level of awareness and observation. Your intuition becomes sharper, your clarity of mind toned, and your outer calm reflects the inner calm. Your sense of mindfulness with everything from work, to relationships, to food, family and your own health is heightened. I’ve always considered myself high energy. Sometimes it would get in the way and I’d find it hard to bring high emotions into perspective. My yoga training has helped me bring my nervous system more often into ‘rest and digest’ rather than have it living up in ‘fight and flight’.
5. Tension release. Yoga is more than just stretch. It focusses on the fascia, that collagenous webbing directly beneath the skin. Studies prove the fascia is more than just fatty connective tissue. It stores emotion and pain. Yoga works on releasing the knots that, as a result of stress, form in the fascia. When these knots form, they can become quite painful. Yoga releases much of the key tension storage from shoulders and hips. So imagine you know you have to have a difficult conversation with a potentially unhappy client. With a few deep breaths, deep stretch and holding into stillness before you go into battle, I guarantee it’ll have a different, calmer, outcome.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of how Yoga can benefit the businesswoman. If you’d like to try a free class head to www.annenoonan.com.au/virtual-yoga and see for yourself how you feel afterwards.