Love, The Alchemist

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These CEOs Have One Secret for Success: Yoga

This article originally appeared on Yoganonymous.com.

Photo via Google Images

The amount of freedom that comes with running your own company comes with an equal amount of stress and tension.

You no longer rely on others to feed you, or manage your 401k, and benefits are a question, not a definitive answer. You are looking after yourself, your family, and the collection of hard workers who have put your dreams before their own. They believe in you, and chances are—during the bumpy road of having your own company, you may not believe in yourself.

Yes, these are hiccup moments, but they happen, and they happen regularly. For anyone who has started their own company, it’s the highest highs and the lowest lows. Stability is your best friend, and self-reliance is essential for your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. So what do you do when your hiccup moment lasts for a little bit longer than just a few minutes?

Apparently, you turn to yoga. Whether you’re a CEO or are killing it in your current role, it’s highly beneficial to turn to your yoga practice to help you grow and improve your success at work.

I sat down with two CEOs, Courtney Spritzer and Stephanie Abrams, who run one of the hottest, cutting-edge media agencies in New York. They started in their apartments, and they have worked their way up to be a reputable PR agency, with a fully staffed office, and full client roster. They say that their yoga practice is the string that keeps their business together.

Spritzer says, “Even just a one-hour session can center you and bring you back to balance. Running a business takes a lot of energy. If you don’t relax, even just for vacation, it’s not good for your business. You need to invest in yourself so that you can bring positivity back to your company.”   

Both CEOs are lifestyle oriented, and try to build a family spirit amongst their team. It’s an easy thing to say, but a tricky thing to do. How do you take the yoga mentality and bring it to your business practices? You breathe, you relax, and you take note of what your core values are as a leader—and you make sure you share those values with your working companions.

Abrams states that “when you have your own business, it’s go-go-go. Taking that one hour a day is very important for being an effective business leader.”

Yoga will help you sleep better, stay calm, be more confident, more self-aware, and will stop you from overreacting in stressful situations.

If you are running a yoga studio or sharing a product that targets the yoga market, it’s equally as important to remember your practice. Often when people are working in the industries they love, they forget to give back to themselves through self-awareness practices like yoga and meditation.

So make time for personal balance—it will help you, it will help your co-workers, and you will be able to help and empower so many more people when you are in a place of centered balance.

Yoga practice doesn’t just benefit the yogi, it also benefits the yogi’s potential earning power—so, take that cha-ching to the bank.

Do you think your yoga practice helps your work life?