I took a moment this morning to just sit and sip tea. I’d got caught in the rain whilst on my bike, I needed a second to warm up.

And my mind drifted, as it always seems to at the moment, to my business.

It’s no wonder it’s on my mind really.  I’m currently completely overhauling my website with a view to relaunching in August (incedentally, if you want a sneak peak of the logo – lovingly designed by Yoga Gypsy – you can like our new Facebook page) and this means the inevitable rewriting of content.

Self promotion and marketing are two of my least favourite things.  But I know the work I do is important, I know I need to reach out to those who I can help.  And I know the best way to do this is to be as authentic as possible in my marketing approach.

Hence the general obsession with my business right now.

Suddenly this morning though I was aware of how hard I cling to certain ideas about my work.  The number of clients I must have each week, the amount of money I must pay into the bank. There is no freedom there.  No space.

It’s like having tunnel vision.  So focussed am I on booking up all my appointments, filling up my classes, that when I have a quiet week (and they happen and that’s OK), rather then relish in a little bit of unstructured time off I feel as though the sky is falling in.

Yes, my business is important, yes it’s important that we earn money, pay the rent, pay the bills. But it’s also important that I make space for the other things in my life.  You see I am more than just a teacher and a therapist – even though that’s probably what I’d tell you if you asked.  I am someone who loves to read and write, someone who plays rock music too loud, who grows vegetables in pots and believes in fairies at the bottom of the garden, who laughs at dude movies and Woody Allen, who dreams of cocktails in New York and maybe one day actually getting to Seattle.

I am a mish-mash of a hundred different things, just like all of you, and yet this year I have been so focussed on my business that I have become a stereotype of who I think the owner of a yoga and massage business should be.

The truth is that on the whole my clients don’t mind that I have a possum tattoed on my back, they don’t mind what volume my stereo is set at, I don’t suppose they much mind about the crooked spine either. All they want is to feel cared for and to leave an appointment with me feeling better (hopefully) than when they arrived.

I don’t have children, I have never had any desire to, I’ve always felt that my work with pregnant women and new mums is my where my maternal instinct kicks in.  But maybe my business is my baby, and maybe I’m one of those mums who is scared to let go, scared to allow their baby to find out who they are for themselves.  If I grip too tightly, if I keep the apron strings tied, if I continue to dictate the terms on which my business is a success, I will never give it the freedom to flow, nor will I have the space to do much else than think about it.

My work is out there – after my long break in Australia and my almost-as-long break being sick I’m trying to put my energy back into the right place and allow myself to be me.

~~~~

To give myself some space this summer, Himself and I are taking part in Amy’s Summer Read-Along of The Time Traveller’s Wife.

Click the link to learn more and let me know if you’re joining in!

So how is your Spring into Yoga Challenge going? I’m really starting to allow myself to let go in Janu Sirsasana and Baddhu Konasana, probably more than I ever have done before. It just goes to show that sometimes you just have to streamline your practice and concentrate on weak spots and just observe what happens. Of course, now I’m aware of some progress in these two asanas, it’s time to start thinking about my nemesis posture – dhanurasana. But maybe more on that next week!

~~~~

Yesterday I looked at a very physical aspect of yoga, so today I thought I’d look at one of the ways yoga helps us emotionally. The other day Diane at the Everything Yoga Blog posted about using yoga to diffuse anger, so here is a practice to let go of frustration, anger and other negative emotions to help us stay calm and focussed.

All of us have a breaking point, when frustration takes over and we just want to scream. Even yoga teachers! Some of you may even have experienced frustration in a yoga class when somebody has taken what you believe to be “your” space in the studio. Persistent irritations and frustrations can lead to more serious stress. The trick is to deal with it as soon as you are aware of it, and to deal with it healthily.

When you reach your limit, be it at work or at home, rather than take it out on those around you try to let it go. It only takes a few minutes!

First try to find somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed – the copy room or the ladies bathroom (although I should point out that I did once have a male boss whose work he deemed so urgent as to follow me into the ladies), take a seat if you can and take a few deep breaths. Slowly become aware of your posture, release your shoulders, straighten your spine, open your chest.

As you begin to notice your breath slow down and lengthen start to imagine the breath moving through the body.

As you inhale, imagine the breath moving from the soles of the feet to the top of the head. As you exhale imagine the breath moving from the top of the head to the soles of the feet.

When you are ready start to visualise yourself letting go of all the tension stress and tiredness with each exhale, and with each inhale feel as though you are drawing in vitality and energy.

After a few minutes you should feel calmer, more relaxed and able to face the rest of the day! After a few practices, you will find you are able to do this practice anytime anywhere, letting go healthily.

We talk a lot in yoga classes about the concept of “letting go”, but what do we actually mean?

On a purely physical level we are talking about letting go of tension and tiredness in the muscles. I always start my classes by getting my students to scan their bodies, looking for areas of tension and tightness and breathing into those areas, releasing on an exhalation. Then continuing with the idea of letting go on each exhalation I get them to release any fatigue, worry, stress or fear that they are holding on to — let it go, allow the exhalation to take it away.

By letting go in this way we are preparing the body and centreing the mind for our yoga practice.

But we can let go on a much deeper level than this. As yogis we also need to let go of all the habitual behaviours that hold us back. We need to cut away the layers or koshas to find our true selves and relate properly with others. We need to let go of anxieties and fears that stop us looking at the world properly and at our true potential. We need to let go of all the unnecessary taks we do every day that we use as an excuse not to explore the new. Basically we need to let go of complexity to allow simplicity in.

I’m not pretending it’s easy. Personally I’m not sure it’s something I will achieve in this lifetime. But these things are worth bearing in mind, and when we spend time centreing and letting go of tension before our practice we should think about letting go on a deeper level. One little step at a time!