Tag: imperfection

Freedom In Imperfection

woman-570883_640Perfection comes up often in yoga classes. You want to be able to achieve the perfect pose. Many times all you get as a result is imperfection. You need to practice further… or be able to find the freedom in your imperfection.

The same is relevant at work. While we might strive for perfection in the office, we need to face that we are all imperfect human beings. We do our best, we develop ourselves, we grow. And all the while we must accept that not every presentation will be perfect and not every meeting will deliver the perfect results – but it is possible to improve.

“I am Me – Accept me as I am”.
It doesn’t mean that you won’t change detrimental habits because you are embracing who you are. It also doesn’t mean that you are promoting laziness or lack of ambition. What it does mean is that you have taken a look inside of yourself and seen who the person inside truly is. There are things that you like about yourself and also things that you don’t, but it all works together to become the person that you are today.

True change in your life is an act of love. You become a better presenter when you love who you are right now even if your last presentation was a bit heavy on PowerPoint slides. It means that your life, self-esteem and happiness are not tied to your last performance.
Anything done out of self-hate doesn’t usually last because you will be always criticizing your efforts. Nothing is ever good enough because you start off not liking yourself from the beginning.

Imperfection says that the only way through is with love on board. Accepting and embracing you by celebrating why you are unique. It is getting reacquainted with yourself through a few steps that show the value that was there all along.

Here are five ways to truly be free by letting yourself perform and be as you are.

1. Look at yourself honestly. Write down what you find positive and what is negative in your eyes. Find ways to change the wording of those negatives so they are now positives that you can embrace. If you believe that you cannot meditate, find the gift of awareness in the moment. Holding a yoga pose for a minute during your corporate yoga class gives you the gift of full concentration – use it to visualize your afternoon full of great interaction with your colleagues.

2. Say No. Become brave enough to say “no” to events or activities that don’t foster your interests just because it’s a “cool” or “acceptable” thing to do.

3. Bring new experiences in your life. Try new poses and yoga sequences. A new fitness trend? Why not give it a try? Experiment with new looks to accentuate your strength and give yourself a confidence boost.

4. Laugh more. Laughter promotes feel-good endorphin release. It is restorative and also promotes health. And works wonders at the office, too!

5. Explore your creativity. You might believe that you are not creative at all. Or find that your creative efforts are not up to par. So what? Enjoy any creative pursuits just for the fun of them without judging yourself or having expectations. Paint, write, sing to your hearts desires.
All in all, please allow yourself to be human, flawed and free by embracing your imperfect life.

4 Ways To Stop The Critic Inside

shame-799094_640Who is your biggest critic? Your partner or boss? No. Your critic is staring right back at you through the mirror. No one has more power to criticize you as that little voice inside.

We all know how it starts: “You are not good enough. You don’t know enough…. And it never stops, does it? No matter what happens there is always something that you find to criticize on yourself. Now what would happen if somebody else would give you the same treatment? Most probably you would stop them sooner or later!

Why is it that it is so much easier to stand up for ourselves when others criticize us but we keep listening to our own belittling voice inside?

Keep reading to find out four ways that you can send that cynical noisemaker packing.

4 Ways To Stop The Critic

Box up your negativity – literally. This is great exercise especially if you are deeply impacted by your own negative thoughts. In the grand scheme of our life, each problem holds only a small place overall. Seeing it as small minimizes its power over you. Get an empty box or buy a fancy box if you would like. The box needs to be small. Whenever you are plagued by a negative thought about yourself for the way you handled a problem or because you made a mistake, write it down on a piece of paper. Put it away in that small box. See your issue diminishing in size. Why not have a special, extra small box for the office so you can immediately deal with the “work critic”.

Treasure all the good in you. Now get a big box (can be a shoe box that you decorate nicely if you wish) to keep all your achievements, strength, wonderful experiences in one beautiful place. Write them all down and put it into your treasure trove. When you feel negativity bubbling up in you, just look at all the goodness your big box contains!

Accept your imperfections. Oh, yes, you are not perfect. Nobody is. You might procrastinate or forget about your yoga class. You might not be able to do a headstand. Or you might lack effective communication skills. First there is something you can do about these things. Act proactive and find ways how you can improve those imperfections! The baseline is that all the less than perfect parts are still a part of you – the good, the bad, the ugly and the peculiar. Love who you are and then move on to making changes in your life.

Talk to somebody you trust. Explain the situation that makes you feel so bad. Allow a friend or co-worker to console you, counsel you and challenge that negative thought pattern that is condemning you. Depending on the situation, you might think about getting a personal or success coach help you. Many companies offer coaching support to their employees.

Many times stepping away from a situation that triggers your inner critic is the smartest choice.

Why not take advantage of a corporate yoga class to create that distance between you and the mean voice inside? At St. Louis Corporate Yoga we would love to support you so just give us a call at 314-630-1677 to see how a corporate wellness program will benefit your company.