E25: 4 Unusual Benefits Of Yoga For Entrepreneurs

Let's be real: life and entrepreneurship can be crazy stressful sometimes, so we need all the help we can get. Which is EXATLY why I think every business owner should be practicing Yoga. 

So in honor of International Yoga Day I wanted to share 4 life changing benefits of Yoga that will help you be holisitcally healthy and sustainably successful.

Join me as we explore:

• The tools for inner transformation that will fast track your success
• Why I came for the Yoga booty and stuck around for 25 years
• The unexpected but very really gifts of this ancient practice for the crazy reality of our modern world.

Ready to put the incredible experience these powerful gifts for yourself? Put the practice of Yoga to work in your life and business by working with me 1 on 1 to Amplify Your Morning Routine! Save $100 when you apply here: https://forms.gle/wK1zpUavhTW5H9zw9

Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!

00:00:05:03 - 00:00:35:13
Speaker 1
Welcome back to another episode of the Purposeful Powerhouse Podcast. Today we're going to be talking about something that I love a lot. A lot, A lot, a lot of luxe yoga. Oh, yoga. How do I love. Let me count the ways. Well, I could talk about how it has been my solace in many seasons of storminess. I could talk about how I came to the yoga practice for the yoga booty, but I stayed for the inner peace.

00:00:35:15 - 00:01:12:21
Speaker 1
I could talk about how it has allowed me to understand myself and the world in a much deeper way. I can talk about how yoga has brought me into so many incredible places and so many encounters with lovely people that I probably wouldn't have met had it not been for the yoga practice. Sure. I could talk about all of those things, but since it's International Yoga Day this week, I wanted to talk about four incredible benefits of yoga for entrepreneurs that have nothing to do with flexibility.

00:01:12:24 - 00:01:58:19
Speaker 1
And although there is incredible research back because we all know I love my science and I love my research, but I also love spirituality and wisdom, traditions and ancient practices and diving deep into uncover everything more about self and our commonalities. There is an incredible amount of research that talks about how yoga helps us with increasing our bone density, increasing our flexibility, increasing our muscle mass, lowering our stress levels, by the way of trying to find the vagus nerve, helping to balance our hormones, helping us to sleep better, helping to lower mental health challenges, decrease rates of brain fog, helps you improve your posture.

00:01:58:20 - 00:02:21:02
Speaker 1
You know, there's a lot of like really incredible benefits that, you know, you probably hear about quite a bit. But I thought I would take a slightly different spin on this and look at it in terms of why it's really important, in my professional opinion, as someone who's been practicing yoga for 25 years and teaching yoga for 19.

00:02:21:04 - 00:02:43:07
Speaker 1
In my professional opinion, why it's important for entrepreneurs to have a yoga practice because of a all of those incredible benefits that I just mentioned. You are the driving force in your business. And in order for you to be sustainably successful, you do need a body and a mind and spirit and ideally ones that are functioning at the highest possible level.

00:02:43:14 - 00:03:18:05
Speaker 1
So there's that, but there's also, for reasons that I wanted to play with a little bit today, because why not? Why not take a different spin? We all know I like to do that. So number one, let's be real. Entrepreneurship in life in general can be a little bit stressful sometimes. As such, it's important that you have a space in your life and in yourself that you can come back to come and really, that's what yoga can be for you.

00:03:18:05 - 00:03:42:09
Speaker 1
And that's what that unification, which is what yoga is really at its core, is the unification of your mind. And your body and your spirit by way of the breath. And really, it's a breathing practice that helps us to connect to that inner knowing, connect back to your true self, that spark of divinity that you truly are. It gives you a place of peace in the crazy, busy, mile long to do list.

00:03:42:09 - 00:04:19:06
Speaker 1
Go, go, go! Hectic pace of our modern life so that you can have a solace amongst the wild ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Life can feel chaotic. And so yoga gives you that space and the place to cultivate that connection to yourself. And when you can use the so many incredible tools, the mantras, the move as they are seen as the lamas, so the chanting, the hand positions, the postures that we use, the breath work that we do, it gives you these different tools.

00:04:19:06 - 00:04:41:15
Speaker 1
And in my experience, myself and with other entrepreneurs I work with, we typically need the layers of things going on, you know, the subtleties of the poses, the intricacies of the breathwork in order to experience a sense of presence and peace and calm, because our brain is kind of being bingo, bingo all over the place. So when we can do those things, use those ancient tools.

00:04:41:17 - 00:05:10:28
Speaker 1
When you quiet the busy chatter of the mind, you go into the present moment, you are fully in your body, you are embodied. We get to experience that sense of peace and centeredness and calm, and not that we're doing it to get this, but a lot of times what happens is once we quiet the mind, you come back to a state of of present and you're in flow state, you're out of stress, you're in a calm centered awareness.

00:05:11:01 - 00:05:36:06
Speaker 1
We often will get these really beautiful downloads and ideas and inspirations, so we don't do it to get those. But that's just a beautiful byproduct, right? It's like you don't do tree pose or you stand on one leg to do a really mean flamingo impression. Maybe you do, but you can do that and you get incredible benefits like bone density and muscle mass and balance and proprioception, like awareness of your body in space, all of those things.

00:05:36:07 - 00:05:59:00
Speaker 1
Right? So that's number one, helping you tap into insight and ideas. Number two is it kind of flows off that. One is because when we quiet the survival stress state of the mind brain, that's where the saboteurs live, the patterns of self-sabotage and and the self-defeating chatter that tends to rain, rain, us and rain the mind, if you will like roll.

00:05:59:03 - 00:06:21:01
Speaker 1
What am I trying to say? Rule the mind. There we go. Reign supreme. There we go. I was in the royalty mind, but I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say. We are lowering our stress levels. We're shifting, requiring the amygdala, we're bringing the prefrontal cortex online, which is why we get into flow state. But it's helping you to come back into that really embodied, empowered presence that you are right.

00:06:21:02 - 00:06:43:20
Speaker 1
You know, when you get off the mat and you're like, Yes, I feel amazing, let's do this. And you have an energy about you that is your purposeful powerhouse energy, that is your leadership energy, right? It's not in that compromised, slouched over a defeated energy that we can get into if we're running amok with things and we're just overdoing over giving overwhelmed all the time.

00:06:43:23 - 00:07:02:12
Speaker 1
So what that's doing is helping you to tap into your true self, right? Really dropping into that empowered energy, the strong posture. Right. And so, of course, here's a little side benefit is when you're in strong posture and you're upright and you're confident, your body language is communicating that not only to yourself but to others, people are reading you differently.

00:07:02:12 - 00:07:36:11
Speaker 1
Your whole vibe is different, right? Your your tone of buying your nervous system. You're doing incredible things. You're lowering your stress levels, you're boosting your immunity. So, again, it's one of those incredible, you know, there's benefits and then there's deeper levels of benefits to that. So then when you're in strong posture, when you're in that purposeful powerhouse pose and you're tapped into that unlimited source of energy that's available to all of us, and we're out of that weak, slouched, compromised, slumped out slouchy posture, you know, we sit a lot.

00:07:36:11 - 00:07:57:27
Speaker 1
So that's wreaking havoc on us. And, you know, we've talked about Sleeping Beauty and all those things. So we'll not go down that thread. But when you're in that powerful pose and you're breathing deeply, you're oxygenating your system, you're oxygenating your brain, so you have less brain fog, you have higher, sharper function in your brain because you're getting oxygen and nutrients throughout your entire body.

00:07:57:29 - 00:08:27:19
Speaker 1
You're able to give yourself a natural boost of energy without slamming another cup of coffee and the tummy troubles and the jitters that can go along with it. You're tapped in right? You're tapped in, you're lit up. There's a vibrancy to people that practice yoga regularly. There's a glow that radiates out of you when you are a light, when you are in joy, right when you are tapped into that flow state.

00:08:27:21 - 00:08:50:13
Speaker 1
Tell me you have seen it in other people. I know you've seen it in classes. I'm sure you felt it in yourself. But there is that vibrancy, that radiance that comes. And again, it's because of everything that we have been speaking to. It's that that down regulating your nervous system. So you're in that stay in place state right You're not in fight or flight you're in stay in play you're in rest and digest.

00:08:50:13 - 00:09:16:13
Speaker 1
You get to a smooth cruise vibe to you. You're able to handle challenges like a leader. You're able to handle challenges gracefully and easily. And that's actually the last benefit that I wanted to talk to you is, you know, we put ourselves in these poses, like, think of Warrior Three, for example. Right? And you may have heard me talk about the story of fear, about dread, the warrior that inspired the poses and how he goes on a journey.

00:09:16:19 - 00:09:42:27
Speaker 1
And it's a metaphor for the yoga practice, and it's a metaphor for the journey of entrepreneurs. And, you know, that's the whole baseline for my book, The Warriors Journey Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Entrepreneur. But think about the post where you are standing on one leg. You you're active in your core. You keep your your spine nice and long as you hinge forward from the pelvis and your torso leans forward and your back leg goes out behind you and your arms are stretched out like the swords that the warrior was carrying.

00:09:42:29 - 00:10:11:15
Speaker 1
It's a lot. And you're holding all of that on a rock hurtling through space and you're doing it with an ease. You're doing it with a softness and elegance, but also a stability in strength. So in that and the way that you respond to it, it's showing you that you can do challenging things and stay centered. And if you wobble because inevitably, you know, in challenging poses, we wobble.

00:10:11:18 - 00:10:40:03
Speaker 1
But we recognize that we cultivate awareness of our alignment and we come back, we place our attention back on our intention, and we activate the architecture of the pose structurally, but also mentally. These are the key pillars of the yoga practice. And so we are able to hold that steady center, the even breath amidst the challenges of the pose, amidst the challenges of life, amidst the challenges of entrepreneurship.

00:10:40:06 - 00:11:04:16
Speaker 1
So really, your mat, your yoga practice is a training ground for all of these core characteristics, all of these beautiful benefits, all of these strengths and attributes that you you practice on the mat, but you take with you wherever you go. Yoga doesn't just change the way we look at things. It changes the person who sees all of that, right?

00:11:04:16 - 00:11:26:23
Speaker 1
So that's a remix of a bks Iyengar quote, but he talks about that, how yoga changes us at our core. And so when we're able to hold our focus, we we train your ability to stay focused on the goal. In yoga, we use adversity a focal point for our vision, and it's your vision that you're focusing on or the direction that you're headed right?

00:11:26:23 - 00:12:12:13
Speaker 1
So it trains us to keep our eyes. Focus is when we can keep our eyes focused, we keep our mind focused, we keep our energy directed on it. It really trains the ability to stay in alignment. Right? And so yoga sees you as a multi-layered multi level being mind body, spirit, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. And it treats you that way because in every pose and everything we were doing on the mat, it really brings you back into that awareness of there's so much more to you than you can just see when you look in the mirror, when you look into your own eyes, there's that energy, that essence, that unchanging essence.

00:12:12:13 - 00:12:32:09
Speaker 1
That is who you are, your soul, your spirit, whatever word you like. There. That's who we truly are and that's who you truly are. Right. And yoga teaches us that. That we use these tools to reconnect to that. We use these tools to stay connected to the universe, to the divine. And we're always connected, right? We can never sever that connection.

00:12:32:12 - 00:13:14:15
Speaker 1
But there's things that distract us and we get upset and there's patterns and habits and old self conscious, subconscious beliefs, all of that, right? All of that. And so that's really there's so many deep benefits to it. And we can, you know, we can go into that and we understand that aside from the way you walk off the mat feeling is that you you take these beautiful tools of the practice, these ancient nuggets of wisdom into your life, and it truly becomes a a toolset for inner transformation to achieve and receive all of those beautiful outer results and goals that you're looking for.

00:13:14:18 - 00:13:37:27
Speaker 1
It allows you to evolve into the person that your vision is calling you to be. And when we stay connected to the truth, right, we see connected to the knowing that you are given everything you need to bring your big vision to life. It's a matter of energizing and embodying and expressing that version of yourself through the practice, both on the mat and off.

00:13:37:27 - 00:14:03:05
Speaker 1
And really life becomes an opportunity to practice these tools and embody these lessons of this incredible ancient practice, I believe is essential for all of us, in particular for entrepreneurs who are dealing with challenges of life, dealing with challenges of business ownership, dealing with challenges of being a human in our crazy modern world. And these ancient tools are so incredibly powerful for that.

00:14:03:08 - 00:14:33:14
Speaker 1
So that's what I wanted to share. Happy International Yoga Day Yogis and Purposeful Powerhouses. I would love to be able to share more of these tools with you. And so I am actually running a special on my Amplify Your Morning, which is a four week energy elevator working together one on one so that you can integrate and implement these tools into your morning routine and working together to create customized morning routines that are designed just for you and for your goals.

00:14:33:14 - 00:14:59:24
Speaker 1
Integrating things that support you and your body. And so if you're interested in that higher level of support inside that energy elevator, so it's a four week, one on one experience where you and I will work together. We will design and I will record sessions for you to do will do one on one sessions together. It's an incredible opportunity to really integrate these tools and have them customized to you, because traditionally yoga was taught one on one because we're all so different, right?

00:14:59:27 - 00:15:23:09
Speaker 1
There's a lot of underlying similarities, but you have unique attributes to you and that's why it's really beneficial to work together one on one, especially me as a personal trainer, yoga instructor, mental fitness coach. I bring all of those beautiful gifts into the mix. So if you are interested in that, I will post the application for that in the show notes.

00:15:23:09 - 00:15:40:13
Speaker 1
So it's limited spots available because it's one on one. And so I only have a few spots available on my calendar, but you can apply because I want to know if it's the right fit for both of us to work together one on one. And in honor of International Yoga Day, I am offering it at a $100 off the usual investment to celebrate that.

00:15:40:13 - 00:16:01:13
Speaker 1
So if you're interested, check it out. There's an application in the show notes or if you have questions, reach out to me. I would love to connect with you. And until next time, thank you so much for using your mind like a powerful tool, using the incredible tools of yoga and movement to keep your body strong and healthy so that you can show up on purpose as the purposeful powerhouse that you truly are sending you.

00:16:01:13 - 00:16:03:28
Speaker 1
Lots of love and aloha. Take care. Bye bye.