You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Money is not the be-all and end-all for scoring life”.
Similar Articles You May Enjoy
- Tossing aside the familiarity of struggle for the mantle of success
A friend asked me this week (and I'm paraphrasing and editing for dramatic effect): How come you always write/talk about your struggles with life? Does your life suck that bad? And I explained that I had to write that way... that I loved writing about life, and only had my…
- Tossing aside the familiarity of struggle for the mantle of success
A friend asked me this week (and I'm paraphrasing and editing for dramatic effect): How come you always write/talk about your struggles with life? Does your life suck that bad? And I explained that I had to write that way... that I loved writing about life, and only had my…
- On the Magic of Yoga Practice to Bring You Back to Presence
by Kara-Leah Grant I've had a rough few weeks, since moving into my new house with my three wonderful flatmates. First I caught a 12 hour vomiting bug that saw me curled up on my sister-in-law's bathroom for seven hours in child's pose, just moving to lift my head and…
Jenifer Parker says
On the topic of energetic exchange and the like, I had a post published over at Nadine’s blog that dealt with some of this a bit. How do you ethically make a living teaching yoga?
I love the quote from Dharma Mittra, which speaks directly to energetic exchange and in terms of money/business.
Honestly, for me, the business side of things is a good lithmus test for me to see how well I’m doing energetically with my business. Am I staying in touch with my core values? Am I divesting (usually through supervision and it’s attendant processes) the ideas and beliefs which do not best serve me?
Just as my body is a manifestation of my energy body and how I care for that, so also is my business a manifestation of the energy that I put there. So, the money coming in and going out, the amount of “free effort” that I put in, or what have you, and whether or not I’m getting an exchange on that (doesn’t have to be money — can be emotional in some other way), is a good quantifier to if I’m “being healthy” energetically.
I find that the more clear I am in my values/thoughts/beliefs/ideas — or that energy that I put into this area of my life — then the business is healthier.
It’s still a lot of work. That is the Dharma. Taking care of business — which provides opportunity not only for others (practitioners, students to learn, etc) but also for you by taking care of yourself and your family through it. That’s the spiritual path. That’s yoga, too.
So hours-wise, we put in a lot of energy/time, which isn’t always showing up in “money” but it is always showing up in health, joy, reflection from our students and practitioners (their happiness and excitement about the work we do, the business in general, the classes, etc), as well as in the health and joy of living your Dharma, walking your path, and being that provider.
It’s a joyous thing, really. And the money — among other elements — gives us a good sense of. . . are we doing this path? are we doing ok on it? Am I correct in it?
Kara-Leah Grant says
Hey Jenifer,
As always, a thoughtful and long comment! I love your added wisdom on the YLB. I’d distill down the essence of your comment to:
Is there a healthy exchange happening? Am I facilitating a healthy exchange? If not, why not?
Brilliant!
Gisele Lupi says
Hi KL..I am sure i used to pay 12 bux a year! for the YLB…when it was called something else? and then one day, I got a message from Paypal (?) to say you’d stopped it….well, I would be quite happy to pay $12 monthly for the wonderful articles, and contact with your columnists-some of who I have been lucky to meet in real life…
It really sounds like you are ‘agonizing” over every little detail…I remember reading about your struggles with money vs value quite some time ago…then you were going to work for an ideas crew in Wgtn….now your at Mum’s in Queenstown….In some ways, I feel like a voyeur into your struggle as a writer/publisher/yogi…and as someone else already pointed out, maybe YOU need to step out of the way ..as in “your” personal dilemmas being so public…and allow the YLB to be what it originally was….. don’t get me wrong, I feel totally privilledged that I get to relate to you personally, almost accidentally, through my sub to YLB…but there’s definitely a conflict or cross- expectation of what it provides the reader, as opposed to its creator.
Hope this feedback makes sense to you, and helps towards some clarity? With love, Gisele
Kara-Leah Grant says
Hey Gisele,
Yes, you remember correctly. I used to run a manual subscription service called “Super Subscribers’ where people volunteered to pay. However, the cost of running the system out-weighed the money brought in, which is why I stopped it awhile ago.
Originally The YLB was exactly this – my yoga blog about living life through a yoga lens… so it’s the same as it’s always been. Recently I was wondering if it was too much of this, but the overwhelming feedback I received from everyone was that my honesty about life is what makes the website so valuable, and what everyone comes here to read.
It has been a long, convoluted ride over the last two years or so as I’ve looked at ways to earn a living while being a single parent, producing YLB, writing and teaching yoga. However, clarity is emerging, and the end is in sight… of this particular journey anyway.
No doubt, some new adventure will arise for me to share with everyone… you may not remember, but the first two years of this website were all about my struggles within relationship. I transcended that one awhile ago…. now I’m transcending this one.
So thank you for the comment, I feel the clarity already. Just being down here in the mountains has been amazing. I’m writing again, every day, and practicing every day too…. Ah!
Much love,
KLx