This past week I was visiting with a college student who chose the studio as a campaign assignment for her marketing class. One of the questions she asked me was “Who is your biggest competitor?”
I knew that questions was coming, I’ve been in the marketing field for 10 years, yet, I struggled with the question; Who is Studio 4:8 in competition with? Other studios or fitness clubs? I don’t think so; I mean I’ve always thought of Studio 4:8 as more of a ministry rather than a yoga studio or a place to get a good workout. Maybe our competition could be other health ministries affiliated with a specific church? Yet I don’t even want to say that as we have never pursued offering our teachings within a church setting. So who are we in competition with?
Well, the answer finally came to me further along in my visit with this student. She told me that she had been to a couple classes, but couldn’t make it work with her schedule for a weekly commitment.
That’s it, our biggest competitor is time. And how in the world do you compete against time?
There are 24 hours in a day. There are 1440 minutes in a day. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. How do we choose to spend our waking hours, minutes and seconds? Between jobs, families, bills, chores, appointments, meetings, gym, driving, doctor visits, our phones, volunteering, church, social media, and of course the dreaded question “what’s for dinner?” The list goes on and on and on…. It’s hard to squeeze in 60 minutes for a daily or even weekly practice. Believe me when I say, “I get it.” This past week I took time off from teaching so that I could focus on getting all the business financial information to my accountant. My own daily practice got pushed aside. Now let me specify my personal 60-minute, daily practice; It’s not all on the mat. There’s breath-work, there’s prayer, (listening) meditation, self-contemplation, service to others, stillness, self-care, reading of the word and oh yeah…how about that yoga class? As this last week ended, I was left with a sore wrist, an aching lower back, tense shoulders, dark circles under my eyes, a lovely red pimple that has taken up residence on my chin and an empty spirit–my own mountain of a mess I created.
As I rushed through my typical prayer this morning thanking God for all the blessings in my life and asking for protection, love, comfort, health, guidance and love for those in my life, including myself, I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite quotes by Shane Claiborne “When we ask God to move mountains, God may give us a shovel.”
24 hours. 1440 minutes. 86,400 seconds. Time to start digging…But hey, at least I got my taxes done. Peace, love, yoga and JESUS!
Namaste’
Bonnie