From #ASAPs To #ASANAs, The Modern CEO Turned Yogi

“Please send me the report ASAP” “The team needs the plan ASAP.” Do these sentences sound familiar? Do sentences like these invoke the inner anxious employee within you? Does this ordeal only end when the task is done? Well, you’re not alone. You are but one person in a sea of anxious employees who fear the most used acronym in corporate culture.

Let’s take a moment and deconstruct what the ASAP does to a regular person like you and me. When one sees the ASAP, we tend to REACT to the words without processing the words. We jump to conclusions and we hurriedly make decisions which come back in the future to haunt us. 

Before I jump into why we react the way we do, it’s important I tell you the difference between how we normally revert and how we should be. Reacting to a situation is easy. It’s based on the initial emotion you feel when you see something that has an effect on you. So, maybe let’s just call it a biological response to stimuli, you jump when someone sneaks up on you and you get irritated at the word ASAP. The other way to deal with this is based on a psychological concept called transference. Sigmund Freud, the well-known, ever hailed psychology guru says we react to something due to “transference”. Drawing from this, we allow the stress from someone else’s stimuli transfer itself to us through a conversation and in turn we pass it on to someone else by putting undue pressure on them. 

The more human, more malleable way of dealing with an ASAP is to RESPOND. Instead of REACTING to the stimuli with transference in effect, you RESPOND by disregarding the transference. Simply put, centre yourself, and consider the words ASAP, which means as soon as possible. And the key word here is possible. Taking the cue from the word possible, ask yourself “What are the steps to make this possible?”. Can I make this possible today? Or tomorrow? The human brain can be trained to think in the most logical manners when overpowering emotions don’t play a big role in these responses. 

We REACT because we are overloaded. Our daily lives are full of stressful situations, more so in urban life than rural. Waking up early mornings with that nagging neck pain, getting ready for the long commutes, fighting our way into public transport and pulling a muscle in the process, alighting to find rainfall waiting to welcome you as you make a beeline for the share cab to work, sitting in that crunched space drenched in a mix of rainwater and sweat innocuous nonetheless and finally reaching the office to an ASAP! 

Just imagine, if there were a magical wand that you could just wave and let all of this stress disappear in one swish! THERE IS NONE!

But can we change the way we respond to these, of course! That's where the art of mindfulness begins. That’s where Yoga begins. It’s not an overestimation to say that Yoga gives you the ability to deal with all of this and more. Within a day of starting to meditate mindfully, you’ll observe that the stress, those little fluttering heartbeats and the raised breathing patterns begin to slightly change. 

Stress reduces endorphins which in turn pushes the body in further disequilibrium. 

While it's no secret that yoga is notably beneficial to your mental and physical health, there are few changes that aren’t immediately visible but can be sensed as you progress. Like, Yoga is known to be a great game changer in energizing and invigorating the system with a detox which in turn makes you productive, focussed, and stress-free in a corporate setting. 

First, let’s take care of that nagging neck pain and muscle pull. Which are simple stretches and a couple of ASANAS that are easy to perform even for a novice. Next, let’s take care of the anger you feel which is nothing but you REACTING to the stress around. If you respond with a mindful affirmation, “I will not let this affect my mental peace, I will strive and I will survive”, it will slowly condition your mind to ‘go with the flow’. 

Yogic movement combined with breathwork acts like a charm to bring you clarity of thought and attain complete awareness of yourself & your surroundings. It allows you to experience a host of other emotions like sympathy, compassion and affability. This drives out anger and anxiety, which in turn makes you empathetic allowing you to RESPOND with a compassionate “Sure, I will take care of this!” instead of the unspeakable phrases that might come to mind!

ASANAs synonymous for YOGA are built to consider your emotional, mental and physical well-being of the body. In fact, yoga is the union of mind, body and soul which allows perfect work life harmony.

3 to 5 minutes of mindful meditation along with peaceful music or 20 minutes of a refreshing yoga routine should be a must in all routines. 

As the CEO of a start-up, it’s an “all hands-on deck” situation almost every day, with ASAPs flying around in every second email. If we lose our cools, we would bring down the ship in no time. Yoga gives us the fitting perspective to look at the positives in any circumstance and take on the role of a problem solver if the situation demands so. The thing we must value the most is mental wellness and happiness; yoga is the key to enabling just that by helping you realize what you truly want, being productive at it and succeeding. This turns ASAPs into a piece of cake!

So, the next time you sit at work, give yourself a 5-minute routine that helps you get organized internally and then let ASANA’s seamlessly turn your ASAP’s into an easy game. Just breathe in and breathe out, it’s that easy.