About 8 months to this date, I resumed working again after years of nothing but mommy-hood.
In one post back in August 2007, I blogged about a sense that came to me looking at the stressful nature of work in my office as well as seeing stressed people on the streets of Makati. At that time I was wondering whether there was some mission for me to bring my love for yoga to my workplace.
Just today, as I was talking to some of them, it suddenly dawned on me. 2 of them have already gone to yoga class (a studio conveniently right behind our office); I joined another one on her 2nd class a few weeks ago; another one (a senior executive of one of our companies) plans to go next week with me; and another one seems interested in joining us. Note: Except for 1, NONE of them have ever, ever tried yoga before!
Whoa!
It is exciting to be able to do yoga with officemates and interact with them on another level. It also makes me happy that they are taking positive steps towards a healthier lifestyle. There’s just so much stress around us during the day!
And it is something to hear them enthusiastically talk about their yoga experiences. Unlike the first few months in the office when I would talk about yoga and wonder whether they were getting it, now testimonies of feeling better afterwards comes from them.
So….was my former sense of this being a yogic mission coming true? Maybe, maybe not. It does not really matter. I just know that I will not stop talking about yoga and health and keeping fit. It also reminds me to stay healthy and fit during times when stress becomes overwhelming too. After all, I cannot keep bringing people to try yoga if they see me always getting sick, right?
I have a few realizations now.
Getting people to yoga is not easy. Initial resistance is STRONG!!!!
Just live a healthy lifestyle, look fit, be at peace, keep talking about yoga even when you think they’re not listening or absorbing it, and eventually some of them will come around to trying it.
Be willing to spend time to bring them along to their first class. There’s nothing like safety in numbers for newbies.
Use your goodwill to allay their initial fears and questions:
– I’m not flexible? (yoga will get you there; it’s not a prerequisite to starting yoga!)
– I have no mat (The studio has a lot of mats. Or I can lend you one.)
– I have <hypertension, scoliosis, asthma, etc> (Yoga has been known to relieve <name of condition> …. and share what you know about its benefits, blah blah.)
– Is it expensive? (Would you rather spend thousands in a hospital if you’re not healthy?)
– I have no time! (C’mon! It’s just right behind our office! And if you want to feel better, you can come back to the office and resume working. *laugh heartily* — and you can both joke about being workaholics)
So I guess I will just continue doing what I have been doing. This time though, the multiplier effect will be working because several of us can be talking about yoga and its benefits. Convincing others in our office will be easier if several of us are singing the same tune.
I would have wanted to bring them over to my teacher Pio but for now, anything close to office should be good for starters. Who knows? Later, I might be able to convince them to go further away and try my teacher! And by that time…
RESISTANCE WILL BE FUTILE!!!! *
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