5/5 Headstand vs Change Management

First of all I wish happy 2018 to all of you!

It has been a while since I posted the first of the "headstand" article series in the summer of 2017 and in the mean time we even started a new year. I could not wish a better timing for this last article than the current period when most of us set our new year's resolutions.

Did you know that about 80% of people fail to stick to their New Year's resolutions for longer than six weeks?

I recently bumped into a Business Insider article referring to a research which states that people who get IMMEDIATE rewards from their new habits, would be more likely to stick to their new year's resolutions. Based on this common human behavior, I suggest to consider the following:

We should to teach ourselves how to practice some patience in order to enjoy our non-immediate rewards.

You might agree or not with this interesting research result and ideas, and you will definitely ask the question at this point: okay, but how does all these connect to headstand and change management. You can start practicing the above described patience right now and start reading my previous articles either because you missed them or because you would like to have a recap. Or ... you can take a shortcut and jump directly to the middle of this article and read about "learning 5/5 - Develop by practice and patience" - right now:)

The purpose of this article is the same as before, to share my experience as a management consultant, yoga practitioner and teacher; and to show how everything that we learn on the yoga mat can be reflected and turned into something meaningful also in our life off the yoga mat, even @work. 

Why yoga? - Intro

Link to the intro post answering general questions about yoga

1/5 Be respectful

Link to the first of the five learnings. Sun salutation vs. Client salutation

2/5 Find your own voice

Link to the second of five learnings. Find your own voice

3/5 Be flexible

Link to the third of five learnings. Be flexible

4/5 Be open-minded

Link to the fourth of five learnings. Be open-minded

5/5 Develop by practice and patience

On the mat - Practice, practice, practice

The reason why I am fascinated especially by Ashtanga yoga amongst all the yoga types is because it was invented in a way to be attractive for Western people. What I really mean is that for the first sight it doesn't seem to be too spiritual and can be considered even only as a type of sport: 99% physical exercise and only 1% theory. However, as you start practicing it, you not only become able to do more advanced asanas (yoga poses) but unnoticed you start to experience some internal changes as well. How does this magic happen?

Practice, practice, practice … and all is coming.*

Headstand comes at the very end of the Ashtanga yoga class. Before that you warm up your body properly and you practice many other asanas. For most people headstand can be something scary that they just would like to skip. For others headstand can be a symbolic pose, a challenge that they are very keen to succeed in. Some people say (according to the Yoga Journal) that yoga without inversions e.g. headstand is like a lemonade without lemon :)

Only on the physical level headstand has several benefits including stimulating the immune and endocrine systems, thereby invigorating and nourishing the brain and the organs. 

Being upside down is an experience that gives you a new perspective of looking at not only your yoga mat but your whole life.

It might take months or years to learn headstand and the learning process itself is as important as the result because it teaches us patience which we take away into our off the mat lives as well.

Off the mat - Dealing with change requires experience and practice

"I will change the world" - this is what many of us thought during the lectures at the university. In general we tend to think that the younger generation is more open for change. Or are there rather certain personality types who can deal with change better than others? (see a great article in Psychology Today)

Why do the same "I will change the world" - people become later the ones in an organisation who resist the change?

Life and work experience acquired through many years can help us to become more open for change. Simply by practicing change.

I believe that positive attitude towards change is something that we can develop through life experience and practice. By going through changes, seeing our lives turning upside down and not only surviving it but mindfully observing the effects and then building up a new life based on the learnings. This is what makes us stronger and turns us into a good change practitioner!

How does this translate into corporate change? People might come and go at a company, however, everyone leaves a mark behind which integrates into the culture of the company. Leaders have the influence power and responsibility to recognize all these marks in a way that the company can practice and evolve to become better at change.

Yoga mat takeaway:

Do, fail, try again, succeed and restart: PRACTICE. To become a good PRACTITIONER we need PATIENCE towards others and mainly towards ourselves. We should keep this in mind when week six is approaching after starting our New Year's resolutions. Let's give it a try:)

I am looking forward to your thoughts and experience! Please share them in comments or PM! 

This was the last post of the "headstand" series at least for now:)

About me:

I am Reka, an experienced management consultant, a certified yoga teacher and a life-long yoga student experimenting how this puzzle fits together: an advocate of yogic / mindful mindset in professional life @work.

If you are interested in similar topics, yoga vs. professional life, change management, personal and leadership development, etc… , follow me on LinkedIn or like our page of MyMindFulOfYoga (website coming soon!), a project that I kicked off with Zsanett Czifrus.

Quote reference:

* from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois who developed and populized Ashtanga yoga