vulnerability

6 Lessons Learned From Running A Spiritual Business

 

I’m approaching the two year mark of running my own business and have been reflecting back on how I’ve grown, what challenges I’ve overcome and how I’ve been able to transform through service and doing what I love. 

It all started a few years ago when I asked myself, “What does success look like to me?”  For some it might mean reaching a certain number in their bank account, publishing a book, or receiving an award.  

For me, success is about the depth of the transformation I see in the women I serve, it’s about my ability to continue facing my fears even when I feel self-doubt or resistance, and to have a spaciousness in my schedule that allows me to truly take care of myself and follow my passions.

It hasn’t always been easy, but what I’ve found is if I can consistently come back to these six keys, I will always end my days feeling successful…

1. Vulnerability

We often want to see vulnerability in others but we are afraid to show it in ourselves. Being willing to be vulnerable is actually a courageous act, not a sign of weakness.

Brene Brown says, “You can’t experience the depth of joy and love without experiencing vulnerability…True belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world.  Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our own level of self-acceptance.”

Vulnerability creates greater connection and establishes a foundation of trust. 

People can relate to us when we share our whole selves.  I remember when I first started blogging, it was the times I chose to share about my struggles and fears and how I overcame them when students would come up to me after my yoga classes to tell me how much my story helped them. 

The world is craving vulnerable leaders.  Women want to relate to and understand the people they are going to follow.  

Where could you be more vulnerable and share more openly to create greater connection and trust in your life?

2. Generosity

Generosity didn’t always come naturally to me.  I grew up with a mindset of scarcity shown to me so often. But, I saw being in a state of scarcity blocked my flow to receive.

When I became generous, it came back to me in so many ways.  

Generosity also helped in my business.  Even though I didn’t start with a lot of financial resources, I knew I could be generous with my time and my knowledge.  When it came time to announce my first online program, people were ready and waiting to sign up.

Where could you be more generous?  Where may you be holding back your gifts, your time, knowledge or resources?

3.  Gratitude

It can be really easy to get caught up in achieving more, getting more and asking, “What’s in it for me?”  But what really opens us to our own desired feelings and attracting more of what we want, is gratitude.  

When we tap into the feeling of gratitude, and really feel it in our body, we raise our vibration and send signals out to the universe that actually send us more experiences that will create what we feel. 

Take a moment right now to think about three things you are grateful for.  Then say the affirmation, “I have everything I need and I welcome so much more.” 

When you really feel it in your body and make a daily practice of it, just watch the magic that will happen in your life.

4.  Service

When you tap into a vision that is larger than yourself, when you ask, “What kind of world do I want to live in?  How can I help and give back to others?” Fear becomes so much less important. 

When you are so focused onyour goal, that vision, there is no more room for fear.  

We cultivate courage is when the desire of what we do want is stronger than the fear of what we don’t want.  

Courage isn’t about winning or battling over fear, it is becoming very focused in our vision and then going for it.

When you ask, “How can I be of service?” You will be given everything you need to succeed.  

However, when the end goal is to make x amount of money, or get the new car, it’s going to be more of a struggle.  

When that vision has the potential to help so many more people, the universe is going to come in and give you support.

What can you be in service to?  What kind of world do you want to live in?  What is even more important to you than your fears?

5.  Connection to Spirit

When I feel afraid or unsure of what to do next, I go to my meditation practice.  My practice is where I connect to my body’s wisdom, and I become a vessel for where spirit would have me go and what spirit would have me say.  

When we establish a constant connection with our body's wisdom we don't need to look outside of ourselves for guidance or affirmation. We can then connect to a deeper, innate love within. Then we can begin to know our purpose and service in this life and share our gifts generously. Then we can find the courage to face our fears in service to what’s larger than ourselves. 

I do my meditations in a series of 40 days.  I get really clear on the vision I want to create in my life and in the world and I allow my meditation to be in devotion to that vision.

My greatest vision now is to see women all over the world finding this kind of connection and love within. That is where we find the courage to love and take care of ourselves, the courage to live our passions, and express ourselves in service to what we love. 

That is when we naturally inspire those around us and create beautiful change in the world. 

I’ve been creating this Vision by sharing my 40 day practice with others and creating a community of women around the world cultivating the courage to be fully devoted to themselves, to spirit and to sharing their light.

6.  Do what you love - every single day

One day a new woman walked into my yoga class.  I asked her the usual question, “Do you have any injuries I should know about?”  She replied, “Yes, actually I am recovering from several rounds of cancer treatments and surgeries.  I am cancer free now, but I am just trying to get used to this new body I am in.”

As we talked, more people came into the room and laid out their mats, I asked her,  “Do you have any wisdom to share with us?" 

She said, ”I now do something that I love every single day.  Something that makes me happy.  That’s why I’m here at yoga class.” 

Because isn't that we are alive for anyway?  To be happy? To do what we love?  I thought of my own life, and all the little things I had been stressing about all week. 

Yes,I had chosen a career that was my passion, but was I really doing what I loved every singleday?  

I made a vow right then, to let go of all the little worries and fears and re-commit to my joy, my happiness and taking the time every day to do something I loved. 

We all have one precious life.  How are you going to live it?

Now, we all have different versions of success, so wherever you are in your business (or your life) I invite you to ask: What does success look like to me?  What does it feel like?  What is my wildest dream?  

I believe everything you want and desire for your life can be yours.  All you have to do is listen to your intuition and be willing to face your fears, again and again.  

Often the thing we want most in our lives also takes us face to face with what we are most afraid of.  

When you are willing to face those fears and be driven by service, gratitude, and a connection to spirit, we can all create a new vision and a new world. <3

 

My most vulnerable text message

 
women laughing-courage-sisterhood-personal growth

I just got back from a ten day trip in Puerto Rico.  It was beautiful, and great to connect with my partner's family while on vacation there, but it also had it's challenges. I got sick in the last few days, and arrived back home recovering from a cold.  Luckily my voice and body was strong for our beautiful Spring Equinox Retreat, but the next day, I lost my voice.

I struggled with losing my voice, feeling uncomfortable in my body, and trying to catch up on work from being away.

I began leaning on my partner a lot without realizing it - he was doing all the dishes, cooking, making teas and tinctures for me to get better, and providing emotional support as my body healed.

Then, last night he left the house to see a friend. Standing alone in my kitchen, I began to cry.  I was upset about how long my body was taking to heal and that I was suddenly all alone in my struggle.  My partner was doing what he could to help, but I realized I was putting a lot of my needs all on one person.

I then grabbed my phone and wrote one of the most vulnerable texts I had ever sent. It was to three of my local girlfriends, I wrote, "Hey sisters, I could use some support tonight, if you're available please come visit me, I'm struggling with being sick and feeling isolated."

At first, I heard no response, and I started to feel so vulnerable.  I worried, "Am I being too direct?  Am I being an inconvenience?  I hope they don't think I'm a burden."

Then I realized, it didn't matter if they came or not, but it actually felt so good just to reach out.  Just in my reaching out, I was giving them permission to reach out and do the same when they are in need.

Every time we reach out to a sister when we're in need, we give her permission to do the same.  tweet it

It turned out none of them were available to come over and help me, but I felt their presence and lots of love flooded in to me in the form of words and pictures as they held space for me.  They wrote things like, "I'm so glad you know you can reach out like this."  "I can come over first thing in the morning..." and "I made an altar for you and am sending love..." It was beautiful.  I wasn't an inconvenience at all.

I was inspired to reach out because other women have felt safe reaching out to me.  And in my sharing, I hope to inspire you to feel safe in doing the same.

A Course in Miracles teaches us to make our friendships more romantic, and our romances more friendly.  When we even the field of our relationships like this, we take the pressure off just having only one person to lean on in our life, making all of our relationships healthier.

Now, what about you:  Do you have any relationships in your life you may be leaning on too much?

How could you lighten the load and create more of a support structure around you in your life?

I'd love to hear in the comments below.

With love, Meredith

 

Why we should share our prayers

 
magic-prayers-meditation

At some point we stopped being able to express our needs to the world in order to portray a facade of perfection.  

Why are we hiding what is most true and needed in our life?

I've realized what is most authentic to us in any given moment, is also the most vulnerable to share.  Maybe we are experiencing a heartbreak, looking for a job, a home, or experiencing loss or grief.  These are usually the hardest things to share with the world around us, because it shows vulnerability - that we are not capable of figuring it all out on our own.

But what if vulnerability is what granted us what we wanted in the world?

What if by sharing our truest prayers to our community they would manifest that much faster?  

The universe needs us to express our needs in order to fulfill them.

When a baby is hungry and is not fed, the baby cries louder.  But when we are having trouble - at home, in our career, or in our relationships, we hide it to the world around us because we want to put up a facade that everything is going well.

At what point did it no longer become safe to share our needs?

My friend went on a vision quest last month without food or water for three days.  He told a group of people to pray with him, to eat and drink for him, and send him their support in their thoughts for those three days.  And what he found, was that he wasn't hungry, and it wasn't as hard as he thought to be without water.  He felt the presence of those people with him on his quest, and he says their prayers helped him through.

When we share our prayers, they are spread out into a larger consciousness to raise their vibration.  When people are praying with you and for you and your needs - it's like the baby crying louder to eat - it is more likely to be picked up in the universal consciousness.

This week at my Yoga Sangha group we each brought an object to place on an altar with a prayer to send out.  We all shared something true to us in this time in our life, and in doing so raised the consciousness on our prayers.

When it comes to prayers, and what is most true and vulnerable to us in our life, sometimes all we need is a friend to connect us to the right path, a next step, or simply hold us in their prayers as well, so the universe can hear loud and clear what it is we need.

 

10 ways you know the yoga is working

 
yoga and meditation-clarity-compassion

There are so many lessons yoga has brought to my daily life.

I taught a yoga class recently on this idea: How to Know the Yoga is Working” and was surprised when more and more reasons just came to me on the spot. I decided to make a list for all the yogis out there to remember just how much value our practice has in our lives, both on and off the mat.

1.  You’re less reactive.

Say somebody says a mean word to you and you tighten. In the past it may have turned into low self-esteem, blame or anger, but now you breathe. You notice what is happening in your body. You give yourself a moment.

Before, you may have attacked back, but now you’re able to see the whole situation from the outside. You realize the person may not have even meant that word in a mean way.  You notice the trigger that arises and you let it out with the breath. You choose to act and speak from a calm, centered place.

2.  You let go of your “story.”

You may have been triggered because of a story you carry about yourself. You check in with the people close to you about what your mind is making up. You realize most of it is not even real. It’s made up. With this awareness, you can let it go.

3.  You face your fears.

You begin to see your fears as some kind of karmic inheritance,

“These are the places for me to grow.”

Now you ask yourself,

“What do I stand to gain by not doing this thing?”

You decide to face your fears. Each little fear you face gives you more courage to live as your full self.

4.  You accept yourself as you are.

Your yoga class becomes the place to stop comparing yourself. You stop looking around at all the other people, and start looking within for acceptance.

5.  You take care of your body.

Once you start doing yoga, it’s not too long before you start buying organic produce and drinking green juices. I think healthy eating and yoga go hand-in-hand. When you spend time being so close to yourself, listening to your body, it is more likely you will treat it with care. Your body becomes something you are only given once in this life, so you decide to take care of it.

6.  You stop avoiding discomfort.

It was probably in my first sitting forward bend, Paschimottanasana, that I learned to breathe into my discomfort. I learned that it wasn’t so bad when I used my breath and as soon as I came out of the pose, I felt lighter, more open and flexible. Life is kind of like that. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable in the moment, but we can breathe through it and as soon as we get through the discomfort, we feel lighter and more open. Yoga reminds you to face your discomforts in order to grow.

7.  You embrace vulnerability.

You realize that when you allow yourself to be vulnerable, you create greater connections and more authentic relationships. You let down your guards and allow yourself to be fully seen.

8.  You hold yourself with compassion.

You don’t get down on yourself when you make a mistake. You let go of your ideas of perfection. You allow yourself to feel exactly what you need to feel and allow a great sense of love and compassion for yourself to arise.

9.  You’re grateful, everyday.

Yoga opens you to gratitude. You stop focusing on the negative all the time, and ask,

“What am I grateful for? What is going right in my life?”

When we open ourselves to gratitude, we attract more of that good.

10.  You come back for more.

When you first start yoga, you may just move through your poses waiting for that sweet savasana. But eventually, your body grows stronger, you tune into your breath and you begin to enjoy your practice.  You wait for that time when you have full permission to let go of the past and future and be fully present with yourself.

This article was also published on Elephant Journal !