Begin again, it’s a joy
Here I am again at the start of a new adventure. I’m launching my own yoga business, Yogidup, and it seems like a good time to reflect on the joys of new beginnings.
I used to run a PR agency. It was busy and impressive with lots of important clients, creative teammates and water coolers in expensive offices. For anyone old enough to remember the brilliant TV fiction “Absolutely Fabulous”, it was dangerously close to my reality. Fun as it was, that kind of high-octane work life can only last so long. The often-shallow waters it inhabits can leave a sensitive soul drained.
Like many frazzled corporate highflyers, I took solace in yoga. For that hour on the mat, I wasn’t thinking about anything else. While my frantic mind was getting rest, my body was repairing. The more yoga I did, the better I felt and my good intentions around being healthy got stronger. Corporate life can be savage and many inside it self-medicate with booze, or shopping, or any number of other coping mechanisms. Just ask Patsy and Eddie! I realised that, for me, yoga was removing the need for all kinds of junk in my life. I upped my weekly practice, discovered exciting new styles like Hot Yoga, Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra and then eventually enrolled on the first of many teacher training courses.
With each step forward on my yoga path, it has become abundantly clear that there is utter delight in fresh starts, in ditching what (and who) is not working and embracing new beginnings. It has much to do with learning to enjoy a “beginner’s mind”, an idea from Zen Buddhism which describes an attitude of openness, eagerness and lack of preconceptions when going about things. It stands in contrast to hubris, arrogance, thinking of oneself as ‘right’ or as an expert. These are the things which so often demean human exploits. They characterise much of business, politics, science, religion and academia. A quick look back at the fierce upsets of the past three years can see how hubris and ‘expertise’ have wrought havoc.
So I am thrilled and excited to be bringing Yogidup to life. I hope it inspires some people to find yoga and to play with its thoughtful gifts for mind, body and soul. I’ll be offering yoga classes, holidays and hand-picked items that fit a yogic life (more on that to come). I am also always open to just talk about this ancient, brilliant, life-enhancing practice, so feel free to give me a call.
Namaste,
Joy