The Practice of Yoga and Finance

| December 14, 2016

yoga and financeMost of us adopt yoga teacher training practice as an opportunity to center ourselves and calm the mind. We practice it by focusing on the breath; lengthening our inhale and exhale cycles and stretching our limbs.

We set a goal for our practice – be it to cultivate a spirit of abundance, gratitude, acceptance, or peacefulness. At other times, we might be looking to alleviate some stress – mental, physical, or spiritual.

We go through our asanas paying due attention to coordinating the breath with our movements, honing our physical capabilities, adjusting our bodies for proper alignment, and finding challenge in achieving balance.

Face it, most of us consider maintaining a calm mind and equal breath during a complex pose like the Eka-Pada-Rajakapotasana (Pigeon) to be “challenging.”

Then as we wind up our practice session with spinal twists, seated postures, and meditation through savasana – getting back our normal breath, returning to our earthly purposes, all the while honoring the space that we’ve created in our life.

We return to the same comfortable position where we started out from, and salute and wish each other honoring the energy that each of us have contributed to the world.

All this sounds great. And does it sound like it probably has anything to do with financial balance?

After I went through first 30-day yoga class that I began to realize how interconnected yoga practice was to my lowly career as a Financial Advisor. At the same time I began to gradually incline toward that I would pursue my long duration yoga teacher training.

The peace and quiet that I achieved over the 30-days session over consistent practice, most of which was at home, matched the dedication and effort that I practice with my clients.

Normally, when I first meet with a client to talk about financial strategies, we take the opportunity to get to know each other, and uncover any concerns or doubts that they may wish to address.

Similar to how we start our yoga practice, we discuss how my guidance can help better align their financial decisions with their mindset of how they would like their financial goals to be achieved.

They, not me set timelines and objectives for the work that we will do together; sharing goals and dreams while providing a “holistic and all encompassing view” of their current financial status.

It is important that we start out with a clear, concise view of their personal balance sheet. More so that we can appreciate and measure growth as we move toward achieving greater balance on their path toward amassing of wealth.

And as in the financial world, we partner with other like-hearted professionals. We have to deal together with bankers, brokers, insurance and realty agents etc. In the yoga world, we have an amazing health coach, an aromatherapist etc.

And your dream clients are probably already working with multiple health + wellness providers (chiropractor, massage therapist, naturopathic doctor… the list goes on!) who they interact with regularly. The similarities are endless.

 

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Category: Health

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