Desk Time Lobby Time-Yoga Community Experience-Podcast 674

If you practice yoga you’ve, heard talk about the yoga community. For me, it starts in the studio before and after class. We’ll talk about it in Desk Time Lobby Time-Yoga Community Experience-Podcast 674.

Working At Home Can Make You A Shut In

I run my own business and I work out of my home. I don’t know if it will always be this way, but the truth is, I kind of like working from home. For me, the most social point of the day is daily practice and the time at the yoga studio.

Emotional and Energetic High Point Of The Day

When I first started practicing I heard a lot of talk about the yoga community. Is the community something that can be activated to serve a purpose? I think it is a little more etherial than that. We come together for the joy of practicing yoga. People who probably would never socialize in any other venue turn out to be the best people you’d ever want to meet. In Desk Time Lobby Time-Yoga Community Experience-Podcast 674.

What’s Desk Time and Lobby Time

At my studio the teachers call it desk time and lobby time. That period of time before and after class when they check students in and after when they’re available to talk with students about their experience. Sometimes it is a lot more than just customer service. Teachers and students have great conversations about all kinds of things.

The Social Experience At Yoga

In Desk Time Lobby Time-Yoga Community Experience-Podcast 674 we’ll talk about how much socializing is too much at the studio. Especially relevant is the fact that sometimes I can’t shut up! Much has been written these days about teachers who talk too much. What about us students? Where is the line between getting in the way and having a good time?

A Young Business Delivering Great Customer Service

Finally the business of yoga is a young business. Most of the teachers and managers are younger. There’s a lot of talk these days about millennials and their approach to work. Much of that talk is negative. My experience is these younger adults are exceptional at delivering a consistent experience for their yoga students and great at customer service in this environment. We talk about it in Desk Time Lobby Time-Yoga Community Experience-Podcast 674.

Sponsored by Reliafund and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Desk Time Lobby Time-Yoga Community Experience-Podcast 674

Fear Anxiety Hope In A Time Of Fast Change-Podcast 643

In Fear Anxiety Hope In A Time Of Fast Change-Podcast 643 a look at coping with angst. Social media and instant coverage drives more worry and concern. How do we cope?

Fast Change

It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed in just ten years. Five years ago social media was in its infancy. Twitter is just 11 years old this year. The iPhone is only ten years old. Smart devices are getting smarter. Especially relevant is the truth that change is going to go faster. Drones. Cyber Terror. Driverless Cars. Autonomous Machines. Some of the effects will be good. Some will not be good.

Fear Anxiety Dread Anguish

Seems like we used to talk about robots disrupting traditional businesses. Now it’s happening. So, when Amazon buys Whole Foods, there is a reaction. Does this mean people will lose their jobs? Does cheaper food mean deflation? When there is a new development we’re immediately told what the effects will be before anyone has had a chance to soak it in. In In Fear Anxiety Hope In A Time Of Fast Change-Podcast 643.

Gonna Take More Than Just Love

What is the antidote to fear and loathing? Truth is, it would be easy to say love is the answer. What is love without knowledge? Remember how we learned to swim or ride a bike? There was fear at first, until we figured out step by step what we had to do to float, or balance. From knowledge and experience comes judgement.

Building A New World

New technology forms the cornerstones of the world we’re building, whether we want to build or not. Social media, constant coverage, blathering back and forth, isn’t going to stop. We need to learn more and fear less in order to make the right choices. Perspective comes from the combination of knowledge and life experience. The more we know about things we don’t understand the less we fear them. We’ll talk about it in In Fear Anxiety Hope In A Time Of Fast Change-Podcast 643.

Taking Charge

Human connections and real experiences are also important. Turning off the shouting back and forth. Taking a break from politics. Giving to and accepting help from those that come from different perspectives helps build a base of experience and knowledge. Reading a book about something not relevant to the day to day. Travel.

Try a Head Stand!

Finally, it helps to have some kind of physical practice. Whatever it is we like to do. Hiking, hunting, yoga, martial arts, camping, running. It all helps to get away from the natural inclination to check your twitter feed or post another selfie on Instagram.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

In Fear Anxiety Hope In A Time Of Fast Change-Podcast 643

Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society

Fighting and Arguing

A presidential press conference that had the look of a Dino De Laurentiis movie. Angry tweets. Arguments about whether the president is a narcissist or psychotic. These days the argument is the thing. Division. Confusion. Anger. Frustration with the fact that everything is political. A friend said recently, “When civil society breaks down everything becomes political”. The more we fight about politics the less we know. Argument and rhetoric have replaced substantive discourse. This idea forms the basis of Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society.

What is Civil Society

People think Civil Society these days is political action groups. Angry protests. Social media rants. Angry calls to talk radio. Everyone wants the silver bullet argument. We want to be the guy on TV that ‘takes it to them’. This is not civil society.  In Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society.

Stop Yelling and Start Building A Community

Civil Society is community. It is distinct from government and business. Civil Society is individuals working together to solve problems, build community and be good citizens. People who have learned from experience to build consensus to get things done. Civil Society is the core of your town, village, city, county and state.

Fighting and Arguing Does Not A Warrior Make

Do you show up to set the chairs up and make the coffee for the community meeting? Help your neighbors? Attend boring public meetings no one else cares about?  Are you one of those people who responds to calls for help in the community regardless of where they come from?. Are you willing to work with people you may not agree with politically? Show genuine concern for others through your actions? You’re the real warrior. Commentators and people who imitate them are not warriors and they are not leaders. We’ll talk about it in Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society

Eroding Civil Society

There are times when political action is called for. When people who have different points of view try to gather people to their cause. These can be bitter contests. Bitter feelings linger after contests that inevitably produce winners and losers. These days people won’t convene with anyone they don’t agree with. Discussions descend into bitter screaming matches on Social Media, Talk Radio, and Cable TV News. The media cultivates and encourages anti social behavior. Friendships are ended. Familial relationships are strained.

Don’t Argue

A true warrior doesn’t yell and scream. A leader is a good citizen people trust. These are people who understand people of like mind have to work to see that their ideas gain support. Protests and rallies serve a purpose but they are just a starting point. You don’t win in the rally. You win because you can work behind the scenes to build support for a concept, idea, or a solution to a problem.

It May Not Be Working Anymore

Recent studies show the stress levels of Americans increasing since the election. Not just the left. People on political right show the same kinds of intensifying stress levels. This kind of stress can’t be sustained. We might be seeing the end of the efficacy of rhetorical argument to fuel a movement. People may have just about had it with all the shouting and arguing regardless of where it is coming from. Maybe rebuilding civil society is a good first step.

Sponsored by Hydrus Performance and Brush Studio.