Hi Friends,

It’s been a couple weeks since I wrote to you all, and not because I had nothing to say, but because I was so overwhelmed, impressed, inspired, and raw that I didn’t know where to begin. I could indulge in that feeling and keep my distance for another week or so, but I know consistency is relevant for my process, and it’s so nice to share and connect and hear from you all about where you are at in your process as well.

I was in Seattle last week leading a Strala training to an awesome group of Instructors from the area and around the globe. An awesome Mother / Daughter team, Sue Berger and Ashtyn Thomas completed a Strala training a year ago and have been leading Strala classes at the Harbor Club in Seattle for the past year. It has been going well for them. It has been going really well for them. I had no idea. They invited me out to teach a training so they could have more instructors. They had ambitions of opening their own, which will be the first stand alone partner Strala studio. They came to NYC for a visit, to see how things are run. They went back, started looking at spaces, started an instagram feed. Things looked fine from afar. And then I showed up.

Hundreds of people in Seattle have been practicing Strala for a year that I haven’t ever met. It’s like the NYC studio. The people are ridiculously happy, they feel free, the enjoy the freedom of movement, and are able to accomplish hard things easily on and off the mat, and are able to articulate it better that I would be able to write copy for a commercial for the brand. I was completely floored. I set my intention to connect and expand and expand beyond me is what has been happening like an iceberg just beginning to show off it’s sturdy point.

Beyond the expansion of people practicing, the training program is now expansive in feeling. The movement vocabulary allows the Guides freedom to piece together their own sequences with the open, familiar structure of movement phrases breathed through with ease. I gain such joy from leading the trainings and seeing the Guides come to life brining themselves to the practice and their own leadership.

5 Steps to Expanding Your Business 

1. Set Intention. My intention with Strala and all my business is to connect and expand. I connect to myself, my own intuition, and feeling so I can expand into the world. I connect others so they can expand to reach more people. The intention is to help and my actions support the intention. We all have intentions whether conscious of them or not. Become conscious of why you do what you do and watch your expansion happen at warp speed.

2. Follow Feeling. When it comes to business and anything for that matter, it can become a trap to chase things for all kinds of reasons. Follow how you feel, not what you think or fear the outcome may or not be. Sue and Ashyton felt right, they led me to Seattle, and that led them to their expansive business.

3. Get Simple. You don’t need to hire a bunch of people, get a big office, or do things you think you need to do necessarily to expand. Evaluate what your goals are and start from there. Don’t get fancy, stay smart. Answer your own emails. Schedule your own calendar. Be present with everyone you meet. You know, that whole “be here now” Ram Dass reminds us of. It’s about that. It’s about now.

4. Ask for Help. When you find yourself so far behind on your to-do list, forgetting where you are when you wake up on a train at the last stop, and start showing up late for meetings that you didn’t know you had scheduled, ask for help. You’re not going crazy, you’re just busy. Organize your life. Ask someone you trust to help when you need it.

5. Express Gratitude. There is something to this whole gratitude thing. When you express gratitude you become less of a taker, more of a thanker. There is a shift that happens from being thankful for every thing to needing more things to be satisfied. You have enough. You are safe. Be thankful for what you have right now.

Of course after the training days we cooked! Sue and Ashyton invited me to their home and I got to make my favorite veggie soup and enjoy Sue’s famous Seattle healthy home made pizza. Sue’s husband, Bill Berger, my new Spiritual Guru, and Dad to Ashtyn nick named me “Earth”. Was a fantastic weekend and great growth experience in every aspect possible.

So good!

xo
Earth (formerly known as Tara Stiles)

About Strala Yoga Training

Strala combines the movement and healing wisdom of tai chi with the form vocabularies of yoga, tai chi, qigong, and Traditional Chinese and Japanese Medicine, to help people release stress, move easily through challenge, and live radiantly inspiring lives.

It begins with a mindset, that says our best way to get where we’re going is to feel good along the way. It also works miracles for whole health, helping us to find ease in our bodies and minds, and create the right conditions both for healing and optimal performance.

In our Strala Yoga Training Courses, you learn to shape your destiny on every level that counts, from your psychology, chemistry and neurology, to your chromosomes and even gene expression. The unique set of skills you develop – for connecting with yourself and others, unblocking your energy, healing what needs healing and accomplishing challenge with ease – uncovers your ability to create the life you want, and be an inspiring leader to the people around you.

Who’s What’s and When’s of Strala Yoga Training