Tarra Mitchell - The Yoga of Leadership: A Practical Guide to Health, Happiness, And Inspiring Total Team Engagement

To my husband, Matthew Mitchell, thank you for your patience, love, and support. You have helped me validate many of the teachings in this book by your own good example and for that I will be forever grateful.

To my children, Ethan and Maia, I adore you. You are everything beautiful in this life. May you live inspired lives in a world filled with love and kindness.

Remembering and acknowledging all of the amazing people who influenced and supported me along this journey is a very satisfying exercise. I am particularly grateful to all the leaders Ive met along this writing adventure. Their expressions of interest in this work have been humbling and continue to fuel my belief that it is the right book at the right time.

I would first like to thank my editor Lori Snyder of Yoga:edit who meaningfully reorganized and cutback the manuscript. I would also like to extend a special word of gratitude to Bryson Maynard whose artistry resulted in an outstanding set of illustrations.

I would like to express deep appreciation to Ronnie Taylor, Scott Hopkins, Annette Cardullo, Mark Gilleo, Carolyn Weininger, Hari-kirtana das, and Matthew Mitchell who read and offered valuable feedback on early copies of the manuscript. Their guidance was a critical part of shaping the material and sharing what I know in a way that is meaningful to leaders.

With honor and respect I would like to thank Hari-kirtana das. His mastery of yoga philosophy and the ancient texts helped this book gain the heightened yogic integrity and accuracy that I so desired. I owe the completion of this work to him. His support and years of mentorship were essential to helping me to clarify yoga as a way of being in everyday lifeincluding leadershipand to put that into words. All translations of the Bhagavad Gita verses used in the book are his.

I would like to thank Rolf Gates. Rolf ignited this path of yoga in a real way for me in my life. His wise and authentic teachings continue to inform my everyday. I wish to express sincere appreciation to Maryam Ovissi. She is the spark that fueled this wild ride. Maryam initially exposed me to many of the yoga frameworks, tools, and techniques used in the book. Her mentorship and her belief in me, her belief that I would see this project through, helped me remain committed to the work.

I am particularly grateful to the host of gifted yoga teachers who have inspired me through their words over the years. Their words are like poetry, a ballad for thirsty hearts and souls: Jacqui Bonwell, Jafar Alexander, Marni Sclaroff, Coelli Marsh, and Masaaki Okamura. I also wish to thank the many knowledgeable yoga teachers who spent time helping me with parts of the book: Carolyn Weininger, Karen Cutone, Kerry Weleko, Vinaya Saunders, Loretta Arcangeli, and Rheema Garrett. I would finally like to thank the teachers who, through their own amazing physical practices, have helped my practice over the years: Andrea Fotopoulos, Renata Loree, Meaghan Kennedy Townsend, and Roman Szpond. Finally, thank you to all yogis continuing to honor the tradition and supporting communities around the world.

Thank you, Dr. Joe Esposito, who reviewed the accuracy of the physical aspects of the yoga practice and Dan Gooder Richard of Gooder Group whose candid advice helped me navigate the publishing world. I am finally grateful to all the researchers, scientists, doctors, and authors whose good works allowed me to substantiate the aspects and importance of holistic health and well-being.

I would like to acknowledge with gratitude and love the support of family and friends, far too many to name, you give my life meaning. Thank you for always being there, no matter what. A very special word of thanks to my mother, Cathy Guerriero, and to my father, Bill Bohr. Their unconditional love has always served to give my fragile spirit the strength needed to break convention and try new things. I would also like to honor the late Anastasia Kirby Lundquist. An author and a friend, Anastasia inspired me to write by her encouragement and through her own example as a centenarian who never stopped writing and publishing. I am very grateful for the love and support of: Charlene Mitchell, Bob Guerriero, Richard Mitchell Jr., Teresa Mitchell, Rachel and Kevin Wisniewski, Carolyn and Jeff Adams, Richard Mitchell, Laurie and Brian Mitchell, and Julie Lehman.

Last but certainly not least I would like to extend huge gratitude and appreciation to my husband, Matthew Mitchell, who supported this very long effort and to my children, Ethan and Maia, whose enormous stores of love and joy fuel me every day.

Old Maxim

Being a leader is a title one earns.

New Maxim

Being a leader is an embodied state.

The Yoga of Leadership elucidates the aspects of yoga that can help you develop qualities and skills essential to leaders, which will help you become a happier and healthier leader who is able to connect with and fully engage your team. Embodying these qualities will allow your truest expression of an inspiring and powerful leader to emerge. While some people possess leadership qualities more naturally than others, in our fast-paced world it is likely that every leader could use a little help from time to time. If you are already inspiring the masses, you will discover insights into reasons why you are so engaging and learn ways to teach others what comes so naturally to you.

Let me paint a vision. Wouldnt it be great if we all woke up every morning feeling energized, excited to go to work, and enthusiastic about the day? We kiss our happy spouses and kids goodbye and commute to the office, content and relaxed. Our team welcomes us with smiles, eager to work hard. When the day is done, we go home, eat dinner, and have some non-work fun. Before our eyes close that evening, we reflect upon the abundance in our lives and sleep soundly.

Sound crazy? From todays perspective, it might, but this scene does not have to be a dream. It is possible for each one of us to enjoy this reality most of our days if we choose to. But weve forgotten that our bodies and minds are meant to live this way to be healthy and well. And we arent sure how to get there from the frenzy of our current reality.

Included in The Yoga of Leadership are practical steps to maintain holistic health and foster team growth and engagement. With a base of vibrant leaders serving as examples to their teams, an enterprise will have the foundation that affords it the opportunity to optimize productivity, enhance team engagement, attract and retain top talent, boost morale, and improve resultsall while decreasing healthcare costs.

Given my work in the investment industry and driving organizational change as a consultant, I understand. Like you, my days were full. I wanted to perform, to make a difference, to succeed. But somewhere along the way, I realized that my perspectives and desire for achievement were, in certain ways, contradicting my ability to be the effective and inspiring leader I wanted to be. I began to look for a way to improve, and I found it in a surprising place: the philosophies and techniques of the ancient practice of yoga.

In writing this book, it has often felt like a paradox to marry leadership and yoga, as the nature of these two things is witnessed today as quite incompatible. Yet I love to defy convention, to envision new possibilities, and to make people think. To me, there was a practical and pragmatic union between the two seeming opposites. This program synthesizes Eastern and Western thinking and practice into a new paradigm that offers engaging and inspiring leadership as an