There seems to be a few hints that change isn’t quite finished with me yet. Something is bubbling away under the surface (and no, it’s not that curry I had last night), life is far from settled just yet. Does this scare me? Not really. I am actually very content to be a commitment-phobe at the moment, it suits me down to the ground.
The ridiculous schedule I was keeping has changed again!
I was working (freelance) a 40 hour week Monday to Friday, teaching 7ish 90 minute classes, and my personal practice 90 minutes every day (as part of my 101 challenge). Oh and add in actually having a personal life too(!), I think it left 5 hours a night for sleep? Burnout was going to be inevitable really, wasn’t it.
These last few days I’ve had some downtime, and it’s been fantastic to reconnect and think about what the next step is going to be. I’m planning to head to Brighton to hook up with the folks at Bikram In The Lanes and breathe in that glorious sea air.
Working in marketing was quite interesting. The people were delightful. Clients too. In the short time of this contract I feel like I learnt a bit about campaign marketing, and furthering in Account Management. It was an area completely new to me (I come from a more comms / tech side of the pool).
The thing that struck me most was the jargon. Endless marketing jargon. Oh my gosh, I didn’t think people used those actual phrases in the working world, but yes, they do.
So using my recently acquired skills from the hot room, I listened. I opened my ears to feed my mind. Pay attention – all you need is here if you just listen.
This got me thinking about the teaching dialogue used for Bikram yoga. Whether you think it should be English-ised or not (it reads in a kind of broken English way if taught properly), the words make sense. No jargon. Just simple commands, Indian-English style.
This is how beginners, first timers, experienced students, and champions alike, all understand the class and what to do with their various body parts. Yes a little teacher guidance is needed for some grips and corrections, but in general, the words are all that’s needed to instruct the class through the 90 minute moving meditation.
The biggest challenge, is to open your ears and mind, and listen. The answers are always there.
Taking those lessons and skills off your mat, and in to your daily life.
Does this mean we’ll lose you at Wimbledon? Dialogue is key if we open our ears, but it still needs to be delivered with warmth and intelligence – I’ve had teachers who can’t deliver on that score and I just get irritated (maybe a lesson there!). Anyhow very good luck to you, you’ll shine, Brighton rocks and you couldn’t be anything but happy down there.
Oh no, I just went down for the day. Might teach down there occasionally. Next classes at Wimbledon are a few weeks away, I’m picking up on classes where I can! Hope you’re keeping up with practising!
Jargon is just words. Any words are jargon if used without explanation. I talk about BMI and Basal Metabolic Rates – but these are just shorthand ways to talk about fairly easy concepts. It’s the same in all lines, of work, even professionally bending.