As I am writing this, it’s a Moon day. That means no practice today, taking the day off to allow the body to rest, to reset and to simply acknowledge and tune into the natural cycles of life and nature.
Oftentimes, it takes only this one irregular day of conscious rest (irregular in the sense that the Moon day is always alternating in weekdays throughout the weeks) to get a fresh perspective, to undo non-beneficial patterns, to approach our practice in a new and cleaned-up way.
On a moon day you might reflect on your practice, and if you teach a daily early morning Mysore-class like I do, you can enjoy sleeping longer than 5 or 6 am. What a treat!
In the same way that we refrain from active doing and allow the body to take rest and reflect, we should also sit back and reflect in our work as a Yoga teacher and Yoga Business owner from time to time.
Successful people, no matter in what industry they are in, are usually hard-working and busy. They are very good at relentlessly creating and executing what needs to get done. And that makes them successful.
But if you’d ask them, most would tell you that they also make time to think and reflect. One of the great challenges of modern times is most of us are busy all the time, always engaged in doing. Sometimes we get so busy that we don’t even know what we are busy doing!
Peter Drucker, a management expert says: “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
I believe that the idea of moon-days is not just meant for practice, but for our business and life as well. What would happen if you would take some “moon-time” each day to reflect on what you are doing in your work and where you are heading with it?
Making time to think…
But what should you think about? Well, here are some suggestions:
You might analyze your current challenges, new ways to serve your Yoga community, new workshops that your students might benefit from.
You might think about your direction in life, what gives you fulfillment and meaning, what you want your work to stand for. You might ask yourself from time to time if you still feel like being on the right track.
You might just think of new ways to grow personally and professionally, gather ideas on areas you want to study more or dive deeper into. (As I never get tired of saying: We are and always will be students first.)
We are the creators of our lives, so we should take the time to get clear about where we want to go
I encourage you to take some time each day, starting today, to get clear about your priorities.
Reflect about if the way your are spending your time
- is the best way to express what is important to you
- helps in achieving your desired results and
- serves the people in your community and in your private life in a way that is meaningful to you.
photocredit: Sandra DB
