Values, Yoga and Lifestyle Change

We are living in - you might say swimming in- a culture that has become so oriented around the physical, and around money as an exclusive measure of one's worth, that the conversation is rarely had. Our virtually exclusive acceptance of money as equivalent to self worth is inconsistent with a yogic understanding of life, and it is useful to break up this mindset. I especially enjoy finding examples of this 'breaking up' in action.

Since much of the practice of yoga is a 'freeing up' of this attachment, something we strive to do in the way we begin to relate to our physical body, as well as in the manner in which we start to use our mind to focus our attention.

I recently ran across these two guys - Graham and Graeme - talking about money and 'status'. Its a podcast that you can download for free. You can also read about it here.

Along the way towards making changes to bring the usefulness and power of a yogic perspective into your life you will likely begin to think through issues around money and status, so as to deconstruct this relationshio for yourself. I think you'll find this podcast useful.

Rich (Raghurai)

Non-Attachment - Are we making progress?

Here's an interesting post which seems to suggest a bit of 'push back' against that seemingly unstoppable consumerism in our culture. Its written by Andrea Learned, who writes about marketing to women, and this particular segment is at the Huffington Post. The post is entitled " Who Are the Joneses, Anyway, And Why Do We Keep Up With Them? Here's one of the key paragraphs:

Here's the thing from the business perspective: Society is at a consuming crossroads, but not every consumer is aware of it yet -- and businesses are really lagging behind. As more consumers do realize and change their buying habits toward a more sustainable lifestyle, brands have an opportunity to take the lead within their industries. They can be the first on their blocks to deliver and market around the idea that less, or smaller, can be more.

When I talk about the 'yogic edge' in our business lives, this is a great example. Here's a marketing concept that is very in tune with our values, with the yogic philosophy of letting go, not identifying with 'stuff'. Granted, it is just a step, but it is a step in the right direction, and it illuminates an approach that a creative business person could explore to stay true to their yogic values, and eminently competitive!

Rich (Raghurai)

Tom Peters, Yoga, and a Non-Linear World

Tom Peters has long been a favorite of mine, even in my pre-yogi days. Today, his blog is very accessible, he utilizes a very transparent style, and lets you in on what he is doing, thinking, and who he is talking to.

I just read this post on "100 Ways to Succeed #95: NON-LINEARITY RULES."

The post is about having leadership teams 'be' non-linear, start to think non-linearly, and to understand that most things do not happen linearly.

I have no tidy "tip" here, but rather an extraordinary plea that you implicitly put "non-linear" thinking atop your and your leadership team's agenda—permanently. This may mean hiring poets and astrologers and putting homeless folks on your advisory board. It may mean sabbaticals or yoga, sabbaticals and yoga.

In fact, the Yogic Edge in business includes this perspective. As we learn yoga, we learn the art of being in the present moment, breathing with our experience. This is vital for 'dancing' with non-linear life. One learns to respond 'in the moment' most effectively by practice, and that practice can be done on a mat, in meditation, and through study.

One other thought. This post by Tom got me to thinking how important it is for managers to learn the deeper aspects of yoga, not just the physical asana practice. It is here, in the philosophical learning that managers will really prepare themselves for 'battle with the non-linear'!

Yoga in Health Care - What is Possible?

Here's two different new articles about Health care - both provide some perspective on our society's choices. I wonder how limited the choices appear to our society at large, since yoga is so poorly offered as a real choice.

In this first article, we see a yoga instructor teaching yoga to Cancer patients. I'm impressed by the apparent intention of the instructor to provide a genuine experience. Here's a quote:

Dr. Maria Jorgensen, an oncologist with Memorial, said healing yoga is not about performing a variety of physical poses.

"It works at more profound levels than the body," she said. "It helps the patients learn techniques to put their minds at rest and not be caught in the emotion of the moment. We have a power of mind over our bodies that we tend to ignore."

Read the whole article, it is a fine example of a yoga instructor and a medical facility working together to serve.

The second article is about a new intervention which won an award at a Wharton business plan competition. The intervention is by NP Solutions, and is about injecting a hydrogel treatment into a disc that is degenerating, focusing on a 20-something marketplace. What caught my attention here is that our society is quite ready to fund this sort of research, but finding the money to fund research into a yogic resolution of this sort of level of chronic pain - even though it will likely cost less, and have other beneficial side effects (unlike the medical intervention) - is much more difficult, given the dynamics of the revenue and profit model associated with yoga practice versus medical intervention.

Here's a link to the article on the Wharton competition. Look for the section on NP Solutions, which starts this way:

NP Solutions: One of the largest potential markets in the world of biotechnology is treating lower back pain, since many people begin to suffer some form of degenerative disc disease in their late 20s, and the vast majority of sufferers are not disabled severely enough for highly invasive and risky treatments, such as spinal fusion.

As a society we have choices, and I believe we have a contribution to make by bringing a yogic perspective to solving these problems of allocating resources for health care.

The Urban Zen Initiative - Well-being Forum

So much great work is going on to bring the East and the West together. Here's one I just heard about today, brought into existence by Donna Karan.

Donna Karan Launches Urban Zen's First Initiative--The Well-being Forum

April 26, 2007

NEW YORK -- "Imagine if Eastern Philosophy harmonized with Western medical practice and if we treated the patient with the same passion with which we treat the disease ... When my husband Stephan, and best friend Lynn Kohlman were stricken with cancer, so much was missing from their care. They needed the powerful science from Western medicine, but they also needed the healing that can only be accessed from the heart, spirit and alternative approaches. Out of my frustration with the care they received at even the best medical facilities, a commitment was born. My mission is to create a working environment where the worlds of conventional and alternative medical practices unite to create new ways of healing, health and well being, focused on the total human and medical needs of the patient." Donna Karan

Read More....

And here is more from the Integrator Blog.

Raghurai

Yoga in Advertising - Great Piece

This is an interview from 2002, from On the Media, an NPR show. There is a text version

Here's an illustration of how yoga is being portrayed:

'when all is said and done, potential customers will flip a magazine page to find Andrea Brook assuming a dramatic asana [sp?] -- poised in the presence of M&K speakers.'

And here is some of the rationale:

STEVEN POWERS: What are the qualities that a person like Andrea or any talented yogi has? Balance -Power - Focus - Clarity.

We've lived for the last few years with this sort of imagery permiating our adveristing...for better or for worse. I do agree with the reporter, and the teacher portrayed in the piece....more awareness of yoga is good. Period.

Raghurai

Yoga Foundations

I'm very curious about this sort of foundation. A yoga center working to use the legal and tax system appropriately in order to be able to offer more service to their community.

The yoga center has decided to form a non-profit Show Me Yoga Education Foundation. According to SMYC Director Jan Harcourt, “forming the foundation will help us bring the health benefits of yoga to more teens as well as to seniors and others in our community, regardless of their ability to pay for classes.”

I'm on the hunt for more of these, I'm imagining that there are more?

Raghurai