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Episode 137: What is more important your entity or its mission?

 Veterans Yoga Project is on a mission to support recovery and resilience among our veterans, families, and our communities. Daniel Libby, Ph.D., R.Y.T., founder and executive director of the Veterans Yoga Project says, the mission, in his case, takes precedent over the entity. Why does he say this?

How do you answer the question: “What is more important: Your entity or its mission?” Does it make a difference whether the entity is a for-profit business or non-profit organization? Tune in to our conversation to discover why revisiting your mission and its connection with your entity can make a difference in how you grow your business.

How often do we go after our vision and then are surprised with all it entails? You can hear Daniel’s surprise as he describes founding the Veterans Yoga Project and how he acquired new leadership skills. 

He has grown his mission organically within an entity set-up to support the work. He envisions a future where veterans, their families, and our communities have access to a full range of mind-body practices that facilitate recovery and resilience.

Daniel’s original vision is the only thing that has stayed the same. The results of a survey of 170 treatment centers identified greater needs they now address at the Veterans Yoga Project. Identifying gaps in the marketplace is where innovation is sparked and where entrepreneurial leadership begins. How has the landscape changed in providing yoga to veterans? How does Daniel’s journey mimic or differ from your journey with your business? How are you adapting and adjusting to a changing landscape as you fill gaps in the marketplace?

The government recently started implementing yoga offerings for veterans as a whole health initiative. Yeh! Daniel’s vision is catching on. This has created another opportunity for serving veterans which will shift where funding is invested. Daniel has ideas for adjusting their business model to support veterans through all stages of recovery. The services they provide have expanded and so have the challenges in running the entity. Which brings us full circle with our first podcast conversation. The opposite of leadership is ‘burnout.’ Yoga strategies for self-regulation ‘in the moment’ is part of self-mastery (the power to control one’s actions, impulses, or emotions). Consciously processing stress as you experience it ‘in the moment’ is a condition you create that leads to success.

Daniel says, “If you haven’t served in the military, Veterans Yoga Project is an opportunity for you to give to those who have served.” Consider how you can get involved. Daniel has embraced the phrase, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

[shadowbox] More about mindfulness and yoga. Jon Kabat-Zinn, in Wherever You Go There You Are, defines mindfulness “as an ancient Buddhist practice which has profound relevance for our present-day lives. This relevance has nothing to do with Buddhism per se or with becoming a Buddhist, but it has everything to do with waking up and living in harmony with oneself and with the world. It has to do with examining who we are, with questioning our view of the world and our place in it, and with cultivating some appreciation for the fullness of each moment we are alive.” (1994, p.3)

B.K.S. Iyengar, the author of Light on Yoga (1976) which is considered the Bible of Modern Yoga, writes, “Yoga is a timeless pragmatic science evolved over thousands of years dealing with the physical, moral, mental and spiritual well-being of man as a whole.” The qualities demanded from an aspirant are discipline, faith, tenacity, and perseverance to practice regularly without interruptions.

The practice of Yoga predates written history; the specific time is unknown. Archeologists have found stone carvings with yoga pose figures in the Indus Valley dating back 5,000 years or more. A common misconception is that Yoga is rooted in Hinduism. Hinduism’s religious structures evolved much later and incorporated various practices of Yoga. Other religions throughout the world have also incorporated practices and ideas related to Yoga. The first book to systematize this practice was the classic treatise the Yoga Sutras (or Aphorisms) of Patanjali dating from 200 BC.

I have integrated yoga in my entrepreneurial leadership and mentoring labs because yoga and mindfulness practices fit with mentoring, one of the oldest forms of human development. Rapid experimentation and financial risk taking is part of the entrepreneurial landscape. We need, as entrepreneurial leaders to be able to recover quickly, remain agile, and make ongoing course corrections as the market shifts.

We need proven practices to calm our mind, tame the external distractions, drama, and financial pressures, and breathe through the emotions by breathing in and out to capture the internal rhythms of our body. Calm our nervous system. Release the stagnant energy that no longer can serve us and breathe in fresh air to revitalize our internal system, replenish our energy, and energize your ability to think clearly and creatively. [/shadowbox]

Mentoring Tips

After listening to our conversation:

  • Sit quietly for 3-minutes. Notice the inhale and the exhale of your breath. Close your eyes and seal your lips. Keep coming back to your breath while letting thoughts flow by.
  • Check out or pay for a woman veteran to attend the September 21-25, 2018: Rest Restore & Reintegrate Healing Retreat (for women veterans only, who are recovering from PTS(D) and other trauma-related challenges) Healing Retreats
  • Check out November 2018 Veterans Gratitude Week
  • JOIN a September 2018 WeMentor E.L.M. LAB
  • If you haven’t, subscribe to this podcast. Subscribe Here

What is more important your entity or its mission? Episode 137  Veterans Yoga Project

Podcast Guest Mentor

Daniel Libby, Ph.D., R.Y.T. Dan is the founder and Executive Director of Veterans Yoga Project. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and yoga teacher specializing in the mindful integration of evidence-based psychotherapies and complementary and alternative medicine practices for the treatment of PTS(D) and other psychological and emotional distress in active-duty military and veterans.

As a Postdoctoral Fellow with Yale University’s Department of Psychiatry and the VA’s Mental Illness Research and Education Clinical Center, Dan conducted research investigating the physiological correlates of mindfulness meditation as well as the first epidemiological investigation of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in VA PTSD treatment programs. He is also former Director of Clinical Services for the Starlight Military Rehabilitation Program and has taught mindfulness and yoga to hundreds of veterans and active-duty service members.

Daniel is currently a psychologist at the Oakland Vet Center in Oakland, California, where he teaches several yoga and meditation classes weekly. A graduate of the 200-hour Embodyoga® Teacher Training, Dan learned everything he ever needed to know at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, the renowned nonprofit educational foundation and yoga retreat center.
Veterans Yoga Project (2014) is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of military veterans. Working in partnership with veterans, active-duty military personnel, student veterans’ organizations, and other non-profit organizations, VYP-trained instructors teach over 100 free yoga classes each week for veterans and their families. By providing support to all veterans, whether they are currently struggling with severe symptoms, or they are focused on increasing resilience and giving back to others, Veterans Yoga Project is doing its part to serve those who have served. 

Episode 137: What is more important your entity or its mission?

Nancy A. Meyer, M.A.
Author: Nancy A. Meyer, M.A.

Nancy A. Meyer, M.A., is a seasoned entrepreneurial leader, business and life mentor/coach/teacher, podcaster, author, and certified mindfulness yoga and meditation integrator (she integrates those skill sets into everything). Nancy’s compassionate and collaborative approach reinforces resilience while maintaining accountable conversations supporting how you redefine your lead while redesigning your business. Nancy calls this “Dual Innovation Leadership.”   Nancy founded WeMentor, inc. in 1992 to change the leadership in our country by providing emerging and existing business owners with mentoring in Dual Innovation Leadership. She has mentored thousands and is eager to work with you! Assert self-leadership and get started today! Clients say, “Nancy is a compelling, engaging, and ‘decipher the trees from the forest’ kind of mentor, speaker, and leader. A dedicated entrepreneurial leader and mentor who role models what she preaches. Her style and candor enrich the content she delivers and the results clients experience.” Nancy accepts people where they are while inspiring them to breakthrough into new dimensions:  As an Entrepreneurial Leader (Innovator),  As a Competent Business Owner (Practitioner)  As a Mentor (Role Model)  As a Spiritual Being and Self-Leadership Master! Start by subscribing to WeMentor Mondays with Nancy PODCAST. Join your peers and...

About the Author
Nancy A. Meyer, M.A., is a seasoned entrepreneurial leader, business and life mentor/coach/teacher, podcaster, author, and certified mindfulness yoga and meditation integrator (she integrates those skill sets into everything). Nancy’s compassionate and collaborative approach reinforces resilience while maintaining accountable conversations supporting how you redefine your lead while redesigning your business. Nancy calls this “Dual Innovation Leadership.”   Nancy founded WeMentor, inc. in 1992 to change the leadership in our country by providing emerging and existing business owners with mentoring in Dual Innovation Leadership. She has mentored thousands and is eager to work with you! Assert self-leadership and get started today! Clients say, “Nancy is a compelling, engaging, and ‘decipher the trees from the forest’ kind of mentor, speaker, and leader. A dedicated entrepreneurial leader and mentor who role models what she preaches. Her style and candor enrich the content she delivers and the results clients experience.” Nancy accepts people where they are while inspiring them to breakthrough into new dimensions:  As an Entrepreneurial Leader (Innovator),  As a Competent Business Owner (Practitioner)  As a Mentor (Role Model)  As a Spiritual Being and Self-Leadership Master! Start by subscribing to WeMentor Mondays with Nancy PODCAST. Join your peers and hear meaningful conversations as you evolve how you lead and redesign your business. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
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