First blog post . . .
A new beginning
3/23/20262 min read
Who would have thought that I'd be writing a blog post on a yoga-based website? Just a few years ago, I was caught up in the daily grind of corporate Treasury, cash management, risk management and events in capital markets. Interest rates, FX rates, bond issuances, bank accounts and accounting reports. The daily turn of the hamster wheel, monthly cycles, quarterly reporting, annual reviews and planning. Again, again and again. The work seemed valuable and important and I was good at it, but there is so much more to a fulfilling life than having a job.
Exercise was always something I tried to do, but there never seemed to be enough time with work and family. Late in my career I finally focused on the importance of making time for work/life balance. I learned that time away from the desk made me fresher and able to be more productive. Exercise is great for the body: running, tennis, weight lifting, but when I began a yoga practice, the results were different, better, something other than just exercise. Maybe you felt this the first few times you practiced yoga? Yoga moves the body like other forms of exercise, but it has a mindful component that clears the mind better than a 3 mile run. Moving into a shape, then moving mindfully from pose to pose, trains the mind into the present moment. Now I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with running, but the mind tends to wander and ruminate after the first mile or so. The mind does not clear out the way it does in a mindful practice like yoga.
I learned that yoga is more than just moving the physical body into poses. Yoga has a long history of philosophy and wisdom. I learned that yoga philosophy provides a guide into a way of living - the yamas and the niyamas as a starting point. Live honestly, live cleanly, live with integrity, live with devotion. Find a truer version of yourself buried among all the "hats" we wear, the "faces" we put on toward others.
Teaching others was always a passion of mine. Teaching about finance, bank accounts and how derivative markets work helped others grow professionally and made me feel good about their growth. But what about my own growth? Finding yoga as a new passion, to enrich myself and eventually becoming a yoga teacher to enrich others and share yoga's rich lessons has been a joy the past few year in my retirement.
This blog will feature occasional articles about what I'm learning and teaching. Let's all learn together!