The Yogic word for Marketing is SEVA
Quite some years ago I decided to leave London and unable to take all my yoga students far from the capital I wondered how I might help them transition into a learning environment that would help their yogic path.
Putting the thriving yoga business up for sale was the most likely outcome. if I was to feel they could benefit from the person or people that took over the classes.
When I marketed this opportunity I was amazed by the response to offering a going concern, and a profitable one it has to be said, to likely candidates. The response came in two parts:
Those that felt I was betraying some kind of Yogic Law that business was not a yogic pursuit. The other was a resounding - "At last someone has recognised that all is one".
Now you can imagine which approach I tended toward, however I pursued with interest those that seemed to feel there was no place in yoga for marketing, business etc.
As always it was an attitude of purist thinking. Yet nowhere can I find in all the yogic teachings any reprimand to NOT include trade as a valid path of yoga. Karma Yoga must surely encompass that. What you sow you shall surely reap.
You see, when we embrace a path, we fall onto it with passion, devotion and enthusiasm and sometimes that has a tendency to proclaim to ourselves (through others) that this is THE path. Excitement and enthusiasm can have this dribble down effect. Yet what it also highlights is the magnificence of imbalance we have harboured within.
Give and take, moderation and balance are quintessential aspects of the yogic life. Becoming a Go Giver is the trade mark of any one in pursuit of success. None more true than the yoga aspirant.....
So Seva (selfless service) can be considered the very best marketing tool as we incorporate our business life into our overall yoga based living.
Ah!, would it not be blissful for all those corporate greed machines to get the message and comprehend how much abundance there is in giving. Well hardened rocks take more time to dissolve in the river than salt crystals, so let us send them enlightened living and attend to our own home base.
Yes it is true, everything starts from home. Are we Go Givers or Go Getters?
Swami Rama said it beautifully...." The path of meditation and spirituality is not a withdrawal from the world based on frustration or fear, but a skillful process of learning to be in the world and yet not of the world. You can live in the world and yet be spiritual. It is not necessary for you to renounce the world."
The secret is to give. Give what you have, give what you think you do not have and when that runs dry, give more.
A shopkeeper understanding this principle will always give of herself to each customer, despite whatever may be going on outside of that moment. She will make that person the sole and important focus. For another recognising an unspoken need may elicit a gift, of time, product or service. For someone offering services, the extra mile is a giving process. The over delivery is understood as being as important as the product itself.
So as we go about our daily lives we maybe can ask ourselves.
"Am I giving all I can in this moment?"
We will mostly always answer no, and that is where the fun starts. Giving is fun, it is enjoyable to see the smile of pleasure arrive on someone's features. The little thought that may become the change of attitude, direction for someone feeling inloved, uncared for, angry or disappointed.
We may never know the repurcussions our actions have on others. So it is tantamount to imperative we make sure our actions uplift, expand and enthuse others to become even more than they have ever considered themselves to be in that moment.
This costs us merely a little more time, a little more consideration and a lot more empathy.
The acorn is merely a seed. Yet watered, tended, loved and cherished becomes a magnificent sentinel that outlives us and many of our generations that follow. Yet all the time inspiring an awe and wonder of its eternal beauty, strength and shelter to many many more than we shall ever encounter.
Amazing what can become a simple act of love and service......
Go Market yourself with awareness and see the returns flood in!
Read "The Essence of Spiritual Life" by Swami Rama
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea
Putting the thriving yoga business up for sale was the most likely outcome. if I was to feel they could benefit from the person or people that took over the classes.
When I marketed this opportunity I was amazed by the response to offering a going concern, and a profitable one it has to be said, to likely candidates. The response came in two parts:
Those that felt I was betraying some kind of Yogic Law that business was not a yogic pursuit. The other was a resounding - "At last someone has recognised that all is one".
Now you can imagine which approach I tended toward, however I pursued with interest those that seemed to feel there was no place in yoga for marketing, business etc.
As always it was an attitude of purist thinking. Yet nowhere can I find in all the yogic teachings any reprimand to NOT include trade as a valid path of yoga. Karma Yoga must surely encompass that. What you sow you shall surely reap.
You see, when we embrace a path, we fall onto it with passion, devotion and enthusiasm and sometimes that has a tendency to proclaim to ourselves (through others) that this is THE path. Excitement and enthusiasm can have this dribble down effect. Yet what it also highlights is the magnificence of imbalance we have harboured within.
Give and take, moderation and balance are quintessential aspects of the yogic life. Becoming a Go Giver is the trade mark of any one in pursuit of success. None more true than the yoga aspirant.....
So Seva (selfless service) can be considered the very best marketing tool as we incorporate our business life into our overall yoga based living.
Ah!, would it not be blissful for all those corporate greed machines to get the message and comprehend how much abundance there is in giving. Well hardened rocks take more time to dissolve in the river than salt crystals, so let us send them enlightened living and attend to our own home base.
Yes it is true, everything starts from home. Are we Go Givers or Go Getters?
Swami Rama said it beautifully...." The path of meditation and spirituality is not a withdrawal from the world based on frustration or fear, but a skillful process of learning to be in the world and yet not of the world. You can live in the world and yet be spiritual. It is not necessary for you to renounce the world."
The secret is to give. Give what you have, give what you think you do not have and when that runs dry, give more.
A shopkeeper understanding this principle will always give of herself to each customer, despite whatever may be going on outside of that moment. She will make that person the sole and important focus. For another recognising an unspoken need may elicit a gift, of time, product or service. For someone offering services, the extra mile is a giving process. The over delivery is understood as being as important as the product itself.
So as we go about our daily lives we maybe can ask ourselves.
"Am I giving all I can in this moment?"
We will mostly always answer no, and that is where the fun starts. Giving is fun, it is enjoyable to see the smile of pleasure arrive on someone's features. The little thought that may become the change of attitude, direction for someone feeling inloved, uncared for, angry or disappointed.
We may never know the repurcussions our actions have on others. So it is tantamount to imperative we make sure our actions uplift, expand and enthuse others to become even more than they have ever considered themselves to be in that moment.
This costs us merely a little more time, a little more consideration and a lot more empathy.
The acorn is merely a seed. Yet watered, tended, loved and cherished becomes a magnificent sentinel that outlives us and many of our generations that follow. Yet all the time inspiring an awe and wonder of its eternal beauty, strength and shelter to many many more than we shall ever encounter.
Amazing what can become a simple act of love and service......
Go Market yourself with awareness and see the returns flood in!
Read "The Essence of Spiritual Life" by Swami Rama
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea
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