What I learnt as a yoga practitioner who built and scaled a creative business

Tapas (discipline) will take you further than talent ever will

It means discipline, commitment, showing up even when you don't feel like it.

I have met many talented photographers who can't sustain a business because they only work when they're inspired. They wait for motivation, they post when they feel like it. They wait to feel ready.

I didn't build my business on talent, I built it on showing up.

Posting on Instagram three times a week when I had twelve followers and zero engagement. Reaching out to potential clients even though I felt like a fraud. Learning about SEO and email marketing even though it made me want to scream.

Discipline isn't sexy, but it pays your rent.

Svadhyaya (self study) means looking at the shit you don't want to see

Svadhyaya is examining your patterns, your reactivity, your shadows.

In business, it's looking at your finances when they're shit. Admitting you're undercharging because you're scared of rejection. Acknowledging that you're not posting because you're terrified of being visible, not because you're "too busy."

Every time my business has plateaued, it's because I've been avoiding something I didn't want to look at.

Your business will show you your shadow. And if you're willing to look at it instead of running away, you'll grow.

Aparigraha (non-attachment) doesn't mean not caring about results

Aparigraha is about non-attachment, not clinging. Letting go.

Non-attachment means doing the work without being destroyed if the outcome is not what one was expecting. It means showing up fully, trying your best, and then releasing your grip on how it has to go. Not attaching your sense of identity to the work (I’m still working on this lol bare with me)

Caring about your business and being at peace with uncertainty are not opposing forces.

Ahimsa (non-harming) applies to how you talk to yourself about your business

Ahimsa means non-violence, non-harming. Most people apply it outward. Be kind to others. Don't be a dick.

But what about the violence you're directing at yourself?

The way you talk to yourself when a launch doesn't go well. When someone doesn't book. When you compare yourself to other babes in your industry and decide you're shit.

I spent years being cruel to myself about my business. Calling myself a loser as recently as January. Telling myself I should just give up and get a real job.

You can't hate yourself into building your dream life.

Isvara pranidhana (surrender) means trusting the timing

Isvara pranidhana is about surrender and trusting something larger than yourself. Letting go of control.

In business, this looks like trusting that things will unfold in their own time.

I've had clients book six months after our initial conversation. I've had opportunities show up in the strangest ways at the strangest times.

I can do the work, show up, be consistent and put myself out there.

But I can't control the timing and I can't force things to happen faster than they're meant to.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is trust the process and stop trying to micromanage the universe.

Yoga is a practice that has no end. You don’t wake up one day and think “I am healed” (I mean, maybe ??). Building a business the yoga way is accepting there is no end point and it will shape itself with you. You need to pay attention to the signals your body and mind send. You need to trust the connection between you and your spirit.