Michelle Maue | St. Louis Corporate Yoga

Got Breath?

This blogpost offers an introduction to deep belly breathing at the office! For over ten years, St. Louis Corporate Yoga has offered more than 2,500 yoga classes to the corporate clientele in St. Louis, Missouri. Learn here in this wonderful blogpost why deep yoga breathing works and how easy it is to implement a daily deep breathing yoga practice.

Deep yoga breathing unlocks the diaphragm muscle, associated with courage. When we breathe correctly, we ignite the parasympathetic nervous system and calm the anxious mind. Breathing deeply massages all the internal organs, reconnects us to our lightness, strength and inner peace. When our mind is calm, the body is at peace. Widespread scientific evidence tells us that deep relaxation and breathing lowers blood pressure and causes a decrease in the bodies cortisol or stress hormone levels.

Breathing correctly reignites our natural presence and desire to be open, curious and explorative both in our thinking and discussion with others. Deep breathing ignites our courage, up levels of positive thinking, and increases feelings of trust, connection, motivation and appreciation. Breathing soothes the nervous system, helps us to remain grounded and seek out solution based practices. Shifting our focus onto the breath, wherever we go, we can find the natural ability to awaken and realize our natural state is joy!

Wayne Dyer once said, change the way you see something and what you will see changes. Friendly people live in a friendly world, hostile people live in a hostile world, same world.

Here is a beautiful yoga breathing exercise written by one of our favorite yoga teachers, Nicole Thompson, who currently teaches corporate onsite yoga for St. Louis Corporate Yoga.

Breathing Practice

“Lie flat on your back and close your eyes. Breathe naturally. In through the nose, and out through the nose.

Begin to deepen your breath. Inhale, 1,2,3,4. Exhale, 1,2,3,4. Feel the breath fill your lungs. Exhale slowly, completely. Inhale. Feel the space it creates between the ribs. Exhale slowly. Breathe into your side ribs. Notice how the chest expands, creating space from your collar bones down to your abdomen.

With each inhalation, scan your body. Notice any tightness or tenseness and breathe here and as you exhale, release the tension. With each breath in, locate some area where you’re gripping or holding tension, even just a little bit, and with each exhale, release that part of the body. You can start to cultivate Ujayii breath and ride the breath in and out of the body. We do this by slightly constricting the passageway in the back of the throat to create an audible hissing sound on the inhale and exhale. It can help throughout our practice to return to this breath when our mind begins to wander or we find ourselves struggling in a pose.

Place your hands on your belly and breathe into your belly. Let the inhale pour into the belly and fill the lungs. Exhale completely, getting rid of all of the old air to make space for fresh air. Feel your belly rise and fall slowly with each breath. The breath is a wave. Follow that wave in and out of the body slowly, consciously. Listen to the sound of the waves.”

If you are interested in reaping the tremendous benefits of onsite corporate yoga and joining the ranks of our many different corporate yoga clients, why not set up a personal consultation phone call to see how onsite yoga classes can bring positive change at your company. Just give us a call at 314-630-1677! Namaste.

Small Changes, Big Impact – Part Five

Enjoy the last installment of our “Small Changes, Big Impact” series!

Comparing yourself to others? Stop!

Do you indulge in this counter-productive behavior? It is natural to compare yourself to others and judge your life compared to other people’s destiny. Want to be seriously unhappy? Looking at ways how the grass is greener on the other side of the fence will deliver a sad life.

Life is not a competition. Who wins and who loses is just a matter of perspective sometimes. Even when you win, constantly competing with your co-workers or friends is just exhausting. All that energy wasted without any results to show for!

We all have good and bad points, strength and weaknesses. Good and bad things happen to us. We all win some days and lose some other days.

And the funny thing is? Next time you compare yourself to someone else, remember that they are likely comparing themselves to you too!

Yoga practice is perfect for teaching about unnecessary comparisons. Yoga is no competition. In yoga, you compare your progress today to your own performance yesterday. If your co-worker can a hold a posture longer than you, that is awesome. If you are more flexible – wonderful! Know that both of you work on realizing your full potential in that minute.

Help others to bring happiness to life

Did you know that performing random acts of kindness towards others could actually benefit your health? You will experience less stress and more happiness – both are very advantageous for your health!

Why not make an effort to unselfishly help a colleague or even a perfect stranger starting today? A few ideas: taking over a small task from a co-worker so he/she can leave the office on time to pick up the kids, bringing flowers for the office or having a stash of healthy snacks to share in the office for those uninspired afternoon hours.

How about sending flowers to an old friend, complimenting a neighbor on their outfit, donating books to the school library or paying for the person behind you in the grocery queue? There are so many great ideas for making somebody else’s day a bit brighter.

Have you ever thought about gifting a family member or colleague with a yoga class card? It is a wonderful gift to experience “time out” from the usual stressful day! Maybe your act of kindness will start them on a lifelong yoga journey. You can purchase a yoga gift certificate through our secure shopping cart or just call us at 314-630-1677!

We hope our tips on small steps helped you to make a big change in your life! If so, please let us know in the Comments below!

Read all parts of this series! Here are the links to our recent series articles: Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. Enjoy!

Small Changes, Big Impact – Part Four

Discover more great tips on how small changes will influence your life deeply in our continued series.

Learn to say No

How many times do you say YES to new projects and tasks at your workplace even though you know you should say No instead? It might be clear from the beginning that you will not be able to finish said project on time. Or you miss resources that enable you to deliver great work. You might feel obligated to take up more work for whatever reason. The result? High level of stress, decreased performance and poorly delivered work. And you might even feel hostile against your job – all bad outcomes.

Just imagine: instead of saying automatically “yes”, take up a serious conversation with your boss or co-worker around the deliverables, time frame, etc. You discover all the important information around the new task, negotiate to find the best way to handle the project and then make a conscious decision to say Yes or No to it.

The same principles apply in your private life, too. If you are asked to organize a school event during a stressful time at the office – feel free to say No or negotiate it.

We often cause ourselves a lot of stress when we feel obligated to say yes to everyone all the time. We feel as though saying “no” is rude. But we all have a limited number of hours in the day and we can’t do everything we’re asked.

Try offering alternative solutions, or even just saying you can’t do it right now. Yes, it’s direct but you probably feel worse saying it than the recipient feels hearing it (as long as you say it nicely!)

Trying to be someone else?

Saying no is difficult as we learn early in life that we are supposed to say yes and take up more than we can handle.

Our whole life if full with these “supposed” behaviors. Our parents tell us early on how we are supposed to talk, play, sleep, eat, etc. Then school shows how we are supposed to learn and behave as part of groups. And it doesn’t stop until our last day.

It is so easy to forget who you are really. What true talents and strength do you have? How would you like to live? What is the best way to share your talents with the world? Maybe you have forgotten all the answers…

What if you began exploring your truth? What if you started being yourself?

Just tiny little steps of showing up as the real you will make you happier. If you always had a passion for fashion – why don’t you add a few fashionable accessories to your office attire? You don’t have to look like you just left the Milan runway and still make a statement about loving fashion. If you dream about writing short stories – why don’t you declare a 2-hour writing date every weekend?

We are all different, isn’t just beautiful? We’re not meant to be the same and we all have different destinies. Getting closer to yours might be challenging at first, but it will make you happier at the end.

Would you like to read all parts of this series? Here are the links to our recent series articles: Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3. Enjoy!

17 Lesser-Known Success Quotes To Inspire You

Do you love quotes and use them to inspire yourself? Mostly we read the same quotes everywhere which is no wonder as those “little bites of wisdom” are proven to positively influence most of us. Sometimes though, you might crave new expressions of wisdom to rejuvenate your motivation to take action step and become the best version of yourself.

We gathered 17 lesser-known success quotes to spark your commitment to success.

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn

“An object at rest tends to stay at rest, an object in motion tends to stay in motion.” Isaac Newton

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts breaks their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” – Patanjali

“Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action.” – William James

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”- Pablo Picasso

“Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do.” – John Wooden

“Action generates motivation; not the other way around.” – Mark Amend

“You may only succeed if you desire succeeding; you may only fail if you do not mind failing.”- Philippos

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”- Dale Carnegie

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee

“Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.” – Dr. APJ Kalam

“Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising to tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Weak people talk and do not act, strong people act and keep quiet.”- Eliphas Levi

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” – Nietzsche

“All success in life, whether material or spiritual, starts with the thoughts that you put into your mind every second of every minute of every day. Your outer world reflects the state of your inner world. By controlling the thoughts that you think and the way you respond to the events of your life, you begin to control your destiny.” – R. Sharma

“I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.” – Erica Jong

“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” – Ray Goforth

Small Changes, Big Impact – Part Three

Craving a positive change in your professional life? The easiest way is to take small but consistent steps every day! Let’s continue with our “Small Changes – Big Impact” series!

Stop complaining!

We all engage a bit of complaining, right? And many times it is a totally OK way to connect to others. It is much easier to begin a small talk with a stranger when we start complaining about the weather. This is a topic that is not-threatening to engage in and a good basis for moving to other topics if both parties feel like it.

The problem is when you turn into a non-stop complaining machine. Have you ever met a chronic complainer? Griping about things to no end, complaining about the exact same thing for weeks, never having anything positive to say. Nothing screams louder that the person believes to be the victim of life. This being a “victim of life” stance irritates others deeply.

Chronic complainers love to share all the negativity but rarely ever listen to any feedback or advice they might get. You might spends hours listening to them. Try to give a tip to help with their bad fate but don’t expect them to take that tip seriously. A bad complainer will just find a new person to complain to.

If you feel you might be a bad complainer yourself, try to consciously listen to your conversations today. How many times did you complain today? To whom? What topics did you complain about? How did you feel after your griping session – better or even worse? Did you find any new ideas or solutions to deal with the thing you were kvetching about?

Listen to your own words

When you talk to some of your colleagues, you might just know exactly what they will say before they even open their mouth. Because they talk about the same things and use the same language all the time.

A few years ago I noticed that I use the word “terrible” all the time. Everything was terrible. I was talking to a co-worker about our jobs and the job market – and somehow began listening to my own sentences, speaking and hearing them at the same time. I was astonished to hear my non-stop “terrible-this-terrible-that” talk. I was shocked to hear my own negativity. It took some time and conscious effort on my part to change my pattern of “terrible” but was so worth it!

Awareness is always the first step! Make a conscious effort to listen to what you say in your conversations at the office. What are your themes? Which words do you use all the time? Look at the reaction of your co-workers! Do they look more hopeful and inspired? Or do they feel defeated and negative after talking to you?

You can change your patters! All you need is to switch off your automatic talking machine and choose your words with care and intention.

Remember:

Talk less but with a clear intention!

Listen more without the need to judge.

If you are willing to complain less and listen more, you will be pleasantly surprised to see the big impact this will bring to your life every day!

Would you like to read part one and two of this series? Here are the links to our recent series articles: Part 1 and Part 2.

Small Changes, Big Impact – Part Two

Does improving your personal and professional life have to be about making monumental changes? No. Even small steps in the right direction can often make a huge difference to your happiness. Plus taking things one step at a time will help avoid overwhelm. We are continuing with our “Small changes, big impact” series below:

1) Tame the email beast

How many times do you check your email account per day? Per hour? You might have noticed that checking email multiple times throughout the day can dramatically decrease your productivity.

Email is a major distraction to all of us. Feeling bored? Let’s see if there is anything interesting going on. Bad case of procrastination? Surely there is something else you can do before embarking on the project you are procrastinating on.

Email can get very addictive and you will find yourself in a loop of constantly checking private and office emails.

What if you decided to check your email 3 times per day only at the office? At the beginning of the workday, before lunch hour and in the afternoon. Let your co-workers know about your new system so they have a realistic expectation about you reading their emails. The good news is the world will not fall apart if you take a few hours to respond to an email! What if there’s any emergency? Your colleagues will find a better way to connect with you. Many times a personal discussion can help dealing with office emergencies.

2) Tech-free for a day

As much as we love technology, it is easy to get sick of it from time to time. We discussed the email beast above. Constant internet access, smart phones, messaging apps, social media and we become available to others all the time. And while it is nice to keep in touch… maybe we need some boundaries around our availability.

What if you switched off your phone as soon as you get home? Keeping it switched off is social situations? Simply saying “no” to constant availability.

Can you still remember the old days without mobile phones? We did survive and didn’t miss much, right?

Why don’t you consciously take time away from technology completely, for example for a day each week or month? Take Saturday or Sunday off from being online all the time. Who knows maybe you remember the activities you forgot you used to enjoy: reading a book, walking in the park or just daydreaming. Or you could use it as the perfect excuse to spend more time with your family.

3) Stop multitasking

Want to increase your productivity at the workplace? Stop multitasking immediately! It’s been proven time and time again that multitasking will not lead to better results or higher productivity. Especially women fall into believing that multitasking can be an answer to a more productive life. Well, it is not true. Some research suggested that multitasking actually can be unhealthy for your brain.

Focusing on one task and you will get more done in less time. Your quality of work increase, too! Decide to multitask less even if you feel the expectation to deal with more than one thing at one time. The myth of multitasking is still very apparent in our work culture so you might be challenged by others if you decide to stop this behavior.

Focus on one task and your productivity will increase automatically!

Find the 1st Part of this series here!

Small Changes, Big Impact – Part One

Big doors swing on little hinges – I am sure heard this old saying before. Small changes can result in big results in life. It is so easy to forget about how small steps we take influence the outcome of big things in life.

Are you looking to change your life on a personal and professional level? Are you waiting for a huge breakthrough to happen that brings about the desired change? Well, sometimes we are waiting and waiting and feel that nothing much happens, right?

Small steps and changes can build up to that big breakthrough we are dreaming about. Plus making little steps in the right direction might feel much easier and simpler.

Let’s look at small steps you can take in order to improve your work and personal life. This series will give you many suggestions for change. No, you don’t have to take all the steps we share – that would only result in major overwhelm. Take only one or two suggestions you like and find easy to integrate into your life – and leave the others.

Let’s begin!

1) Set Goals You Can Achieve

Setting goals can make the difference between just thinking about what we want to achieve and actually getting it done. Goals make your vision clearer and make you think of a pathway to achievement.

However, setting goals that are too difficult to achieve won’t be helping you. If you feel it is too much effort, you might never begin. If you feel it will take decades to reach that particular goal, you might procrastinate before you even start the 1^st step.

A big goal can put so much pressure on you that you might simply give up. Next time you make your goals, make sure they are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. But most importantly make sure that your goals are achievable!

2) Rise Early!

Waking up earlier consistently every day will bring many improvements to your life. Numerous studies have shown that early risers are more likely to exercise, get better sleep, be better at planning their day, and getting more done in a day.

Yes, you might feel it is impossible for you to wake up 30 minutes earlier. This usually means that you are not getting enough sleep! The secret to waking up earlier is to go to bed earlier on the previous night.

Try to cut back on meaningless activities in the evening. What if you cut back on the number of shows you watch? Or decide to NOT watch the news late at night? One thing is sure you will be able to fall asleep easier and have a calmer night. And be ready to jump out of your bed earlier the next day.

3) Practice Gratitude

Although many things in life are beyond our control, the way we choose to see things isn’t.

Do you feel like bad things just keep happening to you? Why don’t you start to practice daily gratitude to train your mind to focus on the positives?

You can be grateful for small things in life. In fact, the small good things are the easiest to take for granted. On cold winter nights having a warm bed to sleep in – what a wonderful thing to be grateful for!

Start small! Every night before you fall asleep, think of just one thing you are grateful for. Of course, feel free to add more than one thing if you feel like it.

Feeling grateful is not about writing up a compulsory list of 10 things you feel thankful about. It is about evoking the feeling of gratitude in your life every day.

Check back soon for the next part of this series of “Small changes – Big impact” articles!

Take Action For More Success

Your success at work depends on generating innovative ideas and taking action on them. If you master these skills you will be unstoppable. While idea creation seems to be the more difficult of the two skill sets, it is actually taking action that presents a huge challenge to most of us.

Here are our favorite 22 inspirational quotes to help you master taking action!

“Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes the difference.” – Nolan Bushnell

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

“In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

“Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it” – Leonardo da Vinci

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do. – Leonardo da Vinci

“Ideas come from everywhere” Alfred Hitchcock

“Our aspirations are our possibilities.” Samuel Johnson

“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” Aristotle

“The realization of the self is only possible if one is productive, if one can give birth to one’s own potentialities. “ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I expect the gift of good and industrious hours.” Rainer Maria Rilke

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” Friedrich Engels

“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” Samuel Johnson

“Genius is mainly an affair of energy.” Matthew Arnold

“It is better to ask some questions than to know all the answers.” James Thurber

“Many small maken a great.” Geoffrey Chaucer

“It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.” Publilius Syrus

“I am still learning” Michelangelo

“Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.” Erica Jong

“Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

“The way to get ahead is to start now. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know and that you would not have known next year if you had waited.” William Feather

“Action may not always bring happiness… but there’s no happiness without action.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Take action, even a tiny step today!

Fall Asleep Without The Struggle

There is nothing that influences your day more deeply than your sleep quality. How many times do you just drag through the day having no energy or inspiration after a bad night’s sleep? This happens all too often. Of course you can actively support yourself to get a better quality sleep. It all begins with falling asleep without the struggle.

Here a few true and tested tips for easily falling asleep

Turn off your buzzing mind. Do you have a problem falling asleep as your mind cannot stop thinking about the million things you supposed to be doing the next day? Worried about forgetting the most important tasks? Get out a piece of paper and make a to-do list! Then make a priority list. Separate the most important and the most urgent things to get done tomorrow. Make a plan to get those urgent and/or important things first thing in the morning.

Get off the worry train. Do you constantly worry about the many things that can go wrong? Puts those worries on paper – this will help you put them into perspective. You might even find solutions as a result of seeing your worries on paper. If it is outside of your control, saying a prayer might help.

Get an old fashioned alarm clock. You don’t need all those digital gadgets in your bedroom. Ban the TV and all mobile devices if possible. No, you will not miss out on anything, I promise.

Yoga breathing to the rescue. Take a few deep yoga breaths. You don’t even have to get out of bed. Breathe in slowly to the count of 4, then exhale slowly to the same count. Did you know that exhaling really slow helps you relax even more? Try to exhale to the count of 8… don’t rush those numbers! You might need some practice to exhale twice as long as you inhale.

A warm bubble bath might be what you need to help with relaxation. Take a soothing bubble bath or add a few drops of essential oils to your bath water. (Don’t put the essential oils on your skin and don’t overdose them as they can lead to allergic reaction.) Enjoy up to 15-20 minutes of your bath. Add soothing music, a few candles for perfect relaxation.

Prepare for the morning rush the night before. “What to wear to the meeting tomorrow? How about breakfast? What about the weather? Will there be a traffic jam on the way to the office?” – you might be asking a thousand questions silently as you try to fall asleep. Take 10-15 minutes every evening to prepare for the next morning. Check the weather forecast to help you what to wear and plan for traffic jams. Put out the clothes and shoes you want to wear to avoid any surprise early tomorrow. Prep your breakfast if possible. You can gather all ingredients for a healthy smoothie or prepare a sandwich the night before.

Give in. If you still find impossible to fall asleep, instead of getting angry as you waste precious time, just give in to being awake a bit longer. Listen to some relaxing music you like or read a good book. Poems, quotes or inspirational stories are great choices. Reading thrillers or mystery novels might not be a good choice obviously. Let yourself being taken to sleep on the wings of quality entertainment.

Which of these tips will you try tonight?

5 Tips For Better Communication At The Workplace

Nothing kills our enthusiasm to go to work more than having conflicts with colleagues and the lack of cooperation at the office. As in any relationship good communication is paramount.

We gathered 5 better communication tips for you:

People remember how you made them feel. What you say is not as important as how you say it and how the communication influences the other party. So pay extra attention to make people feel good when you talk to them. Just a smile on your face will do the trick. If you talk to somebody on the phone, put a smile on your face, too. They will notice the “smile in your voice”, they really do!

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Self-image to protect. We all have a certain image of ourselves in our heads (if it has anything to do with the reality is another question). What you need to know is that people will fight tooth and nail to cling to this image. Don’t attack their self-image if you don’t want them to seriously dislike you. On the other hand you don’t have to actively build a false self-image, either.

The magic of the name. People love being referred to by their name, there no doubt about this. It signals trust and friendship. Use the name of the person you talk to often – but not in every sentence as that feels phony. The best is to include their names at the beginning and at the end of the conversation.

The power of silence. Sometimes you just need to shut up. How many times do you have the feeling that your questions are not getting answers? Or you suspect that you only get part of the story? Use the power of silence! Just wait, don’t say anything but keep the eye contact with your partner. The silence will help them continue talking.

Feet talk attention. Do you want to know if your co-worker is actually paying attention to what you say? Just look at their feet. It might be that their torso is turned into your direction and you think they must be listening to you… but wait till you check out which direction their feet is facing. If the feet are facing in any other direction than you… well, their attention might be totally somewhere else. Want to know where? Just follow the direction of their feet….

Are you welcome? You can use the above feet direction test to see if you are welcome to join a conversation. If the people involved in the conversation only turn their torso but not their feet towards you, they don’t want you to join in. You’d better set up a separate meeting for a meaningful discussion.

Would you like to learn more about building better communication in the workplace? We recommend this classic: “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. There is even an updated version available for the digital age: “How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age” by Dale Carnegie & Associates. Both are available on Amazon.com.

Corporate yoga classes are also a great way to foster better cooperation in the workplace. Would you like to know how? Michelle will be happy to answer your questions! Just call 314-630-1677!