Awesome Tool The Entrepreneurial Yogi: The Interactive Quiz That Gets You Leads

Yoga teachers are entrepreneurs.

In addition to teaching, we have to do our own marketing, manage our bookkeeping, create our own products, and be our own graphic designers. We’re one-woman (or man) shows. And in my yoga-preneurial life, I sometimes come across new tools that I’ve found that can be useful for our work.

Here is one that I love. It’s a quiz from the people at Interact and it’s designed to get you leads (and newsletter subscribers) by getting people to take a quiz. Now, until this time, I’ve been doing what most of us do: throw up a newsletter invite on my site and hope for the best (bless you Mailchimp!). However, I have been wanting to create something more interactive for my visitors – and I also wanted the capacity to add people to different newsletter lists depending on their interests. Interact lets me do both.

Interact Quizzes are easy and intuitive to build. They’re visual, fun, and there are a ton of templates made to make it easy for you to create. You can make branching quizzes (one question leads you down a particular rabbit hole), personality tests, scored quizzes, or assessments. You can link up your favorite newsletter provider to the quiz results (I use Mailchimp, but they integrate with a lot of others, like Infusionsoft, Constant Contact, and MadMimi to name a few) so that your quiz participants can be directed to sign up for your newsletter service before they get their results. And (this is super cool), you can add them to different lists based on their answers to different questions! In other words, you can get really granular and have people on a few different lists by the time you’re done. Wow! And isn’t it more fun to get people involved with your site a bit before you hit them up for their email address?

Of course, after they’ve done the quiz, you can give them your grand call to action (“get my free yoga class,” “find where I teach,” or “get my free ebook”).

Now, I just popped this quiz onto my site a couple days ago. Interact gives you several different integration options (add it to your announcement bar, make it a pop up, send people a direct link). After I put the quiz into my site, I also shared it out on social media and added it to my newsletter.  Since then, I’ve gotten about 500 quiz views, 50 quiz starts and 11 newsletter conversions. To give you an idea,  I generally get one new subscriber a day. And I just got eleven in two days. So…that’s cool (!). While the jury is still out to see if the quiz performs better over time,  I’d say that’s a decent start!

Also (and this is very awesome), when I look at who has taken my quiz, I can see how people answered the questions, which gives me excellent intel about why people are coming to my site and what they’re looking for. Interact is containing to build out their reporting features, which will make it easy for you to see how people are reacting to your quiz. On the technical side, Interact integrates seamlessly with WordPress (my platform). Yay! You may need a bit more elbow grease if you use a different platform, but mine is simply plug and play.

Best of all, it’s free. Yes, you can buy the fancy version for money, but almost all of the cool features are available in the basic version.

If you’re curious about using quizzes to help engage and build up your community, check it out.

 

Improve your sports performance! Yoga as a Cross-training Activity

Have you ever wondered what will improve your sport performance or prevent sport-related injuries?

Doing more of our desired activity may seem like the obvious answer. For example, if we want to improve performance in swimming or running, then to do more swimming or running would improve our performance in both respectively.

However, while that may be true, if all we did was the same activity we would hit a certain plateau where we are no longer making advances in skill and performance development. Also, by routinely engaging strictly in the same activity and the same movement patterns, we subject ourselves to more wear and tear on the same muscles and joints. Not only can this lead to injury, it can also cause a disengaging level of boredom and loss of enjoyment. If we infuse a variety of exercise and movement with an activity such as yoga, however, we capture the benefits of cross-training.

Cross-training

Cross-training is designed to elevate an athlete’s performance. It is a strategic combination of exercise variety to enhance skill and performance. For the weekend warrior or recreational sport enthusiast, cross training can assist in total body fitness and help prevent injury. If we are inclined to engage in a variety of exercise modalities, we are also more likely to adhere to an exercise program or routine which makes exercise fun and enjoyable. A regular yoga practice with elements such as Asana, Pranayama and meditation can be a wonderful addition to our routine to improve our fitness level and establish a connection of spirit mind and body.

Asana, a Sanskrit word referring to poses, provides an opportunity to observe our movement. We notice the body’s cues, strengths and weaknesses, especially when practicing at a slower pace. Yoga is about the journey rather than the destination and provides a beneficial opportunity to notice our movement rather than just achieve a specific pose expression.

Develop Movements, Not Muscles

The theory of developing movements rather than muscles is more recognized in sport-specific or high-performance trainings. Have you ever looked closely at movement into and out of a yoga pose? Did you notice that Tree pose (vrksasana) and Warrior 2 (virabhadrasana 2) are a part of a baseball pitcher’s wind up? Have you observed the execution of Warrior 3 (virabhadrasana 3) and how it mimics that of a single-leg deadlift?  A regular yoga practice can encourage safe and effective movement patterns that directly transfer to sport performance. For example, chair pose (utkatasana) or any of the forward folds will enhance the mechanics of hip-hinging. Hinging at the hips is paramount for a safe and effective deadlift. The key is to choose poses that resemble your desired sport or activity to refine movement and further develop skill and performance. It is equally (if not more important) to choose poses that are opposite to your desired sport or activity. Working the opposing muscles assists to avoid postural dysfunctions or repetitive-use injuries. 

Breath Awareness

In yoga, breathing practice is referred to as Pranayama or controlled (mindful) breathing. While there are many Pranayama techniques with unique benefits, the first objective is to become aware, through mindfulness, of our breath pattern and control. This heightened awareness slows breathing down, which can increase its effectiveness. Most of us chest breathe, which means we inhale and exhale up in the chest space using only 20% of our lung capacity. Belly breathing, however, is when the diaphragm expands down into the belly, which helps bring breath into the lower lobes of the lungs. A pranayama technique called diaphragmatic breathing, or 3-part breathing, teaches us to fill the lungs from the bottom to the top to expand the belly, then the ribs and then the chest. We follow that with an exhale, releasing the chest then the ribs and then the belly. This 3-part, full diaphragmatic breathing (or yogi breathing) is a great foundation to acquire the skills of other Pranayama techniques. Controlled breathing promotes optimal cellular exchange, reduces stress levels and wards off stress-related illness such as Cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

Another aspect of the body strongly affected by controlled breathing is our nervous system. A lot of life demands a sympathetic nervous system response: fight or flight. Our overtaxed nervous system comes from always being on the go, operating with many things on our plate or even overtraining. Slow, deep breathing allows access to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest), where the body has the ability to rest, destress and heal. It is also when we make training adaptations such as strength gains, increased lean muscle mass, power, speed and even weight loss. Even 3-5 minutes of pranayama placed at the beginning or at the end of your workout will improve your focus and create synchronicity with your breath and movement. Over the long term, deeper breathing will come more naturally and overall breath and body awareness will improve performance and skill development.

Meditation

Mindful breathing opens the door to meditation, a practice dating back centuries and has profound benefits that interface with all aspects of life, even our workouts. It is also profoundly effective in training the mind. Regular mediation alters brain function, improving our ability to focus and concentrate. By helping us to develop the effective pause between stimulus and response, we become less reactive and more conscious of our actions. A regular meditation practice helps to reduce stress and fear and also helps replace negative-pattern thinking with positive. It promotes better sleep patterns, builds our immune system, improves our mood and allows us the capacity to program our body to perform with precision. With improved focus and a heightened mind-body awareness, we are more equipped to meet our training goals. We are also equipped with better sleep patterns and a high-functioning immune system to give us strength against illness and injury or to heal and repair should either occur.

Conclusion

A regular practice will produce noticeable results. Asana practice 2-3 times per week will yield benefits in how we move and how we feel. Pranayama and meditation may be built into our day beginning with as little as 5-10 minutes and expanding as desired and shift the way we think and perceive the world around us. Because of its multifaceted practice and holistic benefits, yoga addresses training for spirit, mind and body. Yoga, though not necessarily the first cross-training activity we think of, is a surprisingly excellent choice.

 

 

 

 

The Science Behind How Yoga Reduces Stress

Many people have heard that yoga reduces stress, but there’s real science behind it.

Of course, any time you increase the heart rate (like with a few chaturangas), your body releases endorphins, which is the driving force behind that famed “runner’s high and a natural stress reducer. However, yoga taps into stress relief on a much deeper level. By incorporating techniques like pranayama (breath control) and meditation, yoga can help manage and reduce stress.

Pranayama

Pranayama is an umbrella term for breath control. There are a number of pranayama practices within yoga as outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Pranayama can decrease injury, cleanse the body, and relax/de-stress. The vast majority of people are shallow upper chest breathers. If you pull in a deep breath and fill your lungs to capacity, then fully release until there’s truly nothing left, it can feel like a workout—it is. The lungs aren’t used to being fully utilized, and the ribs/intercostal muscles (muscles between the ribs) aren’t used to being so fully worked. Be careful with pranayama, because it can be overwhelming for newcomers. The best way to practice early on is in a class setting with a teacher skilled in pranayama.

Pranayama is effective for stress reduction because it calms the body’s sympathetic nervous system. Otherwise known as the fight or flight instinct, this nervous symptom gushes adrenaline into the body when you’re excited or scared. Adrenaline raises the heartbeat and surges stress hormones into the body. It’s an critical defense tool when you’re really in trouble, but North Americans have a tendency to being adrenaline junkies. We’re constantly stimulating ourselves with technology, and this has led to a veritable breakdown of the sympathetic nervous system. In some ways, your body gets used to all that adrenaline and stress hormones, but at what cost? We’re in a constant state of fight or flight, and all those stress hormones build up over time. It’s part of the reason why heart disease is the number one killer of American women.

With certain types of pranayama (those designed for relaxation), you can reduce the stress response of the body and nestle into recuperation. When the parasympathetic nervous system, known as “rest and digest,”  is given a time out, your body returns to its natural, restful state and can recover. That’s why it’s so important to practice pranayama and/or meditation daily, particularly first thing in the morning and before bed. Otherwise, you might be in stress mode 24/7 (especially if you suffer from insomnia).

As previously mentioned, there are many types of pranayama exercises, and it’s always best to have a trusted in-person instructor when beginning pranayama practice. However, one of the safest and most effective pranayama is the simple counted breath. Begin by inhaling for a count of five, exhaling for a count of five. If you can stay calm, hold the breath for five counts after the inhale. If you still feel calm, there’s the option to add retention after the exhale, too.

Another simple pranayama practice is two-part breath with legs up the wall. It’s popular before bedtime because the inversion (heart above head) is naturally relaxing. Two-part breath is the same as four-part breath but without the holds. You can choose any equal number to inhale and exhale with, as long as you completely fill and empty the lungs. If you can, putting weight (such as a bolster or heavy pillow) on the feet when they’re up the wall can provide an added sense of security. It’s normal for the legs to go numb or tingly in this position. For beginners, do not hold this pose longer than five minutes and practice caution when exiting the pose because dizziness can occur.

The counting of breaths and/or the ticking of the clock help to ensure you’re not focused on anything but breath. You might find that you tire easily, which is common for those just starting their practice. While in pranayama, your sympathetic nervous system is is pacified. Without having to focus on “fight or flight,” the amount of stress hormones released is reduced.

The Inner Voice

Stress comes at us in various ways. Triggers for stress come in many forms, both external and internal. Stress can also be a bit addictive. Even though we know technology usage often leads to higher stress levels—with social media usage linked to loneliness—we can’t get enough of it. Adrenaline can be a bit addictive in itself. Learning to balance our lives can start with literally balancing ourselves. It’s one of the core foundations of yoga and is prioritized in asanas and pranayama.

Hypnotherapists such as Marisa Peer have said that “rewriting the bad programs” we’ve downloaded can be corrected by hypnotic mantras. A popular option is “Hare Krishna, Hare Krisha. Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare.” Chanting in the alpha brainwave state, which can be achieved through meditative practices, helps us to get rid of the negative influences we hold within. The stress we carry with us isn’t permanently ingrained, but it does take some work to release it.

Our inner voice (or subconscious mind) operates like a kind of hard disk of our bodily computer. Stress causes the subconscious to download negative programs that can clog up normal function. This can lead to pain, chronic disease, and poor relationships. Our overly stimulated lives cause many of us to develop an inner voice that’s our worst critic. We’re encouraged to practice modesty, many times at a false level (i.e. always downplaying successes or brushing them aside instead of celebrating them) and self-deprecation. Overly done, this kind of denigrative thinking can have damaging effects. Cognitive reconditioning, or learning to speak nicely to ourselves, can be amplified with yoga for stress reduction.

Yoga and Self-Awareness

Yoga forces us to consider our breath and our movement, two things we rarely pay much attention to. It gives us the tools we need to slow down and to focus. The “white noise” of controlling our breath or fluid movements keeps the barrage of our inner voice at bay. We concentrate and we focus on safely stretching the body a touch beyond its limits with yoga. It’s not usually a high-intensity workout through the entire practice, but rather a means of returning to our center. That’s at the core of what stress reduction requires, and a first step in being kinder to ourselves.