Get out of your own way

During my yoga class this lunchtime my yoga instructor (the wise and wonderful Tovah Rich) told us to 'get out of our own way'. This statement had a huge impact on me and I have been thinking about it all day. She was referring to the idea of our mind being the obstruction to us being able to sink deep into the posture. We were encouraged to remove this barrier and allow the muscle tissue to open up to its own degree rather than to where we think it should be. In effect, get our minds out of the way of our muscle tissue.

My mind went to my martial arts practice and to the 'no-mind' approach of not trying to overthink your movements, trusting your body to move in response to all the training. Similarly, as a beginner - you see people that have been training for years moving their bodies with such flexibility, speed and precision and tell yourself that you will never be able to do that. Your mind in this case is actively preventing you from moving like that, we need to get our minds out of the way, focus on the movements we are trying to master as a beginner and trust that you are on the road to that flying, spinning 360 killer kick.

I have also been thinking about this lesson in terms of corporate America. My organization has put up so many self-imposed restrictions and processes to prevent agility, innovation and free-thinking. Imagine how productive we could be if we could break through the precious "process" and get out of our own way.

Take a look at your life, your family, your community, your organization and think about all the ways in which you could apply this to. All the unnecessary self-imposed barriers to success.

Nick
Green stripe sash