Yoga Intentions and the Job Search

As I have written before, I’m a strong advocate of benefits of yoga especially as it relates to focusing within my body, mind and spirit. I try to attend a class at least once a day and have found that it has not only strengthened my body but it has positively impacted my business in that I am more focused and energized.

One of the more meaningful parts of yoga is to set an intention at the beginning of the practice. An intention is something that you set in your heart and mind and hopefully carry with you after your practice. It is an aspiration that you can carry from the classroom into your life. I’ve used a variety of intentions in my yoga practice; and sometimes choose the same one day after day. One of those is the word, “Focus”. I tend to get distracted and my mind rushes non- stop. Sometimes it makes it difficult to concentrate or remember the words and phrases I need for writing a resume or giving job search coaching. On days that I feel that I am losing my edge I use the word “Focus” as my intention.

Today in yoga class I selected the word “Acceptance”. In my yoga poses or asanas I used my intention if I was hard on myself for not perfectly managing a pose. I then forgave myself and moved on. As we wound up the practice and came to our final pose or Savasana, I repeated my intention in my mind again. Acceptance. My mind then floated to the deeper life areas that I needed to Accept. 

Driving home I continued to think about Acceptance and came up with many examples within my family, friends, work and life. I thought of past and current relationships, I thought back to when I lost my job, I thought of things that frustrated me because I couldn’t change them. I thought of my clients who may be beating themselves up because they feel as if they screwed up an interviewing response or maybe turned down a position that they felt (at the time) wasn’t right for them. It happened, life happens… Acceptance.

Yoga isn’t for everyone but the process of thinking deeply about an intention, especially Acceptance is beneficial to everyone. If you are looking for a new job or career, think about what you have or haven’t done in the past to get you to that position. If you had a few mishaps along the way Accept them and think about what you might have said or done better. And move on.