Roxtar Yoga

have mac, will travel January 26, 2010

I’m getting ready to head to San Francisco tomorrow afternoon for the 7th Annual SF  Yoga Journal Conference. I will be presenting Online Marketing at the Business of Yoga part of the conference on behalf of MINDBODY, taking a few yoga classes, and manning the MINDBODY tradeshow booth.  I updated my presentation with the lots of options for creating an online presence these days, from Facebook to Twitter to E-Mail Marketing to Online Advertising, the options are getting endless.  There are lots of options for the yogis of the world to get themselves out there, create community, and share the wonderful practice of yoga.  I crossed my t’s, dotted my i’s, and even figured out how to get my powerpoint presentation to work on my new, sexy macbook pro.  I’m so proud of my technical prowess.

I spent a fair amount of the last few days plotting my travels. How much of our yoga practice can we bring with us while traveling, especially when it’s for work or not for leisure exactly. This trip is not a long nor far one, but I’ll be working long days and I have learned lately that a little planning helps make me a little healthier and more sane when outside of my routine. There are many things I love about traveling for work: exploring new cities, great food, reading, bonding with travel friends, a break from the routine, new yoga teachers. Yet, I am becoming more and more of a home body these days and stepping outside of my home base often leaves me exhausted and sick. Things that suck about traveling for work: too little sleep, not enough down time, less than ideal food and not-so-regular meal times, exhausting amounts of work, travel lonliness. I have made an effort to be prepared for this trip and have packed quite the epic bag of snacks and supplies. I know for a fact that I won’t eat it all, but I’d rather be over prepared rather than under prepared. The last time I was in New York City I remember multiple moments of “oh my god if I don’t eat right now I might kill someone” so here I am. It is my goal to practice yoga and meditate daily, if only for 5-10 minutes each, and eat one meal on my own each day. It would also be nice if I could get 7 hours of sleep per night and limit alcohol intake, it’s oh so difficult when having fun with friends in a new place. You’d think yoga conferences would be pretty chill, but it’s not always the case. I got some of my plotting and planning ideas from Good to Go, an article from Yoga Journal on eating well when on the road. I now bring a hot plate so I can even cook some kitcheree for at least one meal. I’ve also packed trail mix, larabars, fruit, kitcheree ingredients, tea, and vitamin c. I have a lot of travel supplies I travel with in fact, I suggest bringing any and all of the following: pain killers, ear plugs, eye mask, ipod player, laptop, camera, technology plugs/cords, business cards, good book, plenty of good food supplies, a good toiletry bag, netty pot, journal.

I will report on the conference and my healthy travel mission here.  I am looking forward to taking classes and getting a little yoga infusion from my favorite teachers. I am still battling my man friend for weight loss as a percentage of body weight in the new year.  I’m still not sure how much weight loss will be practical or achievable for me, I haven’t checked my body weight in a few weeks, but I’m making an effort still and feeling pretty good, so we shall see. Last weekend I rebelled quite a bit and it felt freaking good! Sometimes a little down time is just what the doctor ordered. When it comes to health, I sure as hell don’t believe in absolutes and I’ve been giving myself one free day a week while trying to moderate every other day. Easy enough so far. Lets see how things go in SF.

pride and not-so-prejudice January 13, 2010

Prideful. When I looked up the definition of the word I got the following definition: Having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; “some economists are disdainful of their colleagues in other social disciplines”; “haughty aristocrats”; “his lordly manners were offensive”; “walked with a prideful swagger”; “very sniffy about breaches of etiquette”; “his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air”; “a more swaggering mood than usual.”

We at MINDBODY have been coming up with our Company’s Core Values and one aspect that we included in version 1.1 was that we aim to be a humble and helpful company. Rick, the CEO says, “Proud of MINDBODY’s culture and success, but not prideful, as pride alone prevents future growth”. I am going through some changes at work, namely my title is changing from “Director” to “Manager”. I have to admit when I first discussed the change with my supervisor I felt mildly attacked, hurt, and most of all like it was a reflection that I hadn’t done a good job over the last year or so. At the time, I had some residual stress brewing around in my body and heart leftover from other difficult situations at work over the last few weeks and looking back I see how easily our reactions are colored by so much more than the situation at hand. It’s amazing how sometimes you know how you want to react to situations, but sometimes the emotional side of yourself just goes where it wants. I often waiver during these situations between doing a pretty good job being present and honest with my feelings and yet burying them a little bit in an effort to be more cool and yogi than I really am able to be. I am happy to report that my emotional reaction was pretty short and mild considering what it might have been like for me in the past. I was very quickly able to think. “I love MINDBODY. I’m thankful for MINDBODY. I love myself. I want what’s best for us both. Sometimes changes need to happen that are no fault of mine.” I am reminded today to not get too prideful of my work, roles, or life situations and not to take it all so personally.

Overall, I am really enjoying my present moments being part of a company that provides technology solutions to the yoga community. I am able to combine my great passions: technology, teaching, and yoga.

In the February 2010 edition of Yoga Journal they have a great article (Aim High by Hillari Dowdle) on studying the purusharthas, or four aims of life, to create balance and happiness this year. Ah the word balance immediately brings peace to my mind. The aims are dharma (duty, ethics), artha (prosperity, wealth), kama (pleasure, sensual gratification), and moksha (the pursuit of liberation). I enjoyed this quote on kama: “Focusing on the right kinds of pleasure can lead you toward your dharma (your life’s purpose) – and help you fulfill it with passion. Passion is never the problem. It’s the solution.” There is more in the on them from Rod Stryker.  If that beautiful photo of a little artha in action made you hungry, it’s from the cafe at the Smiling Dog cafe recently. PS. I am going to ride my bike out of my way right now to try to get a leg up on the 2010 healthy roxtar challenge at 8:20pm. Man-friend is going down!