Striking a Peak Pose – CEO of our Mind
by Grace Ueng, CEO Savvy Growth
I rarely miss my heated Vinyasa Monday night yoga as this hour provides a vital start to each week, preparing me to do my best work. I also figure the regular practice will add another decade to my running years. The meditative quieting of the voices in my head and the encouraging and gracious style of my teacher have become a staple of my Happiness Journey.
Last Monday night, I was invited at the last minute to join a Dinner Club by a fellow business school friend I hadn’t seen in ages and that night’s guest of honor was a woman I’ve been wanting to meet. So I made an exception and accepted the invitation. I thought I could “make-up” my yoga time that Wednesday in a class taught by a colleague of my teacher. So Wednesday comes around and I join what I realize is a Vinyasa Flow Level 2 class. I had to focus hard to keep up and was unable to get far in the flow of a few poses.
Today, I looked forward to going back to my usual Monday night class where we struck a few of the poses that I had trouble with last Wednesday. I asked my teacher for clarifying direction after class and realized I could indeed do the pose after being provided the proper instruction and technique. Then I learned from classmates that indeed last Wednesday’s class was filled with “Peak Poses” that were much more difficult than our Monday flow. After all, it was a Level 2 class. Given my “Project Peak” work, my antennae went up to research these challenge or “peak” poses.
I came home and found online an interesting yoga class: “Become the CEO of Your Mind” – an hour designed to get one’s blood pumping and challenge a student into different depths and “Peak Poses.” By striking these peak poses, we control the voices in our head. Outside of the peak poses, these voices can sometimes be supportive while at other times be our worst critic. When we work intensely to strike peak poses, our minds must focus, if even for just a moment, entirely on the attainment of reaching that pose.
This reminds me of entrepreneurial mountaineers who climb the 7 Summits telling me that in exerting all they’ve got to reach the top, their minds have to be singularly focused. There is no room for outside distractions. In striking peak yoga poses, the mind must also visualize entirely on the end goal.
When we become “CEO of our mind,” we chose how we will show up in different situations, whether it be coming around with diligent practice to striking a peak yoga pose, or showing grace under pressure in intense business dealings. Each requires experience, practice, and singularly focused, calm and positive mindset.
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Grace Ueng is a business advisor, executive coach, author, and speaker. She is the CEO of Savvy Growth. View her TED Talk. Follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.