I’ve been practicing hot yoga off and on (more off, than on, really) for the last 3 years.  I can still remember the first time I came out of a class…I felt completely peaceful and at ease.  I was relaxed and energized at the same time.  My mind was clear, and my body was elated!

Due to daily commitments and pressures, yoga has come and gone in my life.  But thankfully, the results are always the same – inner peace and outer strength.

Moksha Hot Yoga - front desk

As of today, I have completed 3 days straight of my yoga practice.  To some, this probably doesn’t sound like much, but that’s the most consistency I’ve ever experience!  I feel so safe in the studio…it probably sounds cheesy, but I know that I’m there for myself and the only person I have to please is me.

Yesterday I met with Lisa Whitford, co-owner, studio director, and teacher of Moksha Yoga Calgary.  When I originally talked to her about spending time with the studio as part of my OWJ program, she was immediately interested.  Lisa has been teaching for about 8 years, and originally got into yoga because of some discomfort she was experiencing with her back.  Talking with Lisa is calming in and of itself.  She has a lot of insight into the whole crazy-yoga-trend, and hasn’t let herself forget why she came to practice in the first place.

Spacious Changeroom

Personally – I’m kind of enjoying using the term ‘practice.’  To me it means that yoga is always a work-in-progress – you’re not some ‘professional’ yogi who never makes a mistake, you’re growing and trying new things in order to get better at it.  I’ve never used the term before, but I love the way it applies.

One of the first points Lisa made about yoga, is that it’s not just about the physical state of the postures.  She explained that there’s a certain grace needed to physically transition through the postures, and that one of our goals should be to transfer that grace off of our yoga mat, and into our daily lives.

This makes so much sense. It takes concentration and guts to get into (and then hold?!) some of the positions yoga teaches.  If you can perform these postures without giving up, without complaining, and with a sense of determination – all the while being realistic and honest with yourself and your limitations – you have practiced with grace.

“It’s not true until it’s true for you.” – Lisa Whitford, Moksha Yoga Calgary

When Lisa made this point, she was talking about yoga and the different variations and definitions it has grown into: Moksha, Bikram, Ashtanga, Hatha, Anusara, etc., are all different forms of yoga practice.  But no matter what you call it, or what postures you assume, the purpose of these variations remains the same: to unite the body and the mind.

The term ‘yoga’ roughly translates as ‘yoke’ or ‘union.’  The Yoga Journal notes that the purpose of yoga is to,

“…strengthen the body, to bring flexibility not only to the spine, but to the mind, and to calm the nervous system and quiet the mind enough to connect the practitioner more deeply to his or her spiritual center.”

Lisa’s original statement, however, really applies to the One Week Job Program: “It’s not true until it’s true for you.”  Have you been forcing yourself into a career that you’re not totally sure of?  Do you feel pressure to please others in regards to your job description, as opposed to yourself?  Have you been selling yourself short?  What it really comes down to, is that if you don’t believe in what you’re doing, why are you doing it?!

I’ve personally struggled with my own lack of direction, and in the end, you need to do what makes you happy.  It seems like an obvious point to make, but from my conversations with others – it’s not always the case.

What’s your yoga? What unites your body with your mind?  Is it running? Making music? Writing? Driving a combine?!  Whatever it is, embrace it!

I am absolutely embracing this week of yoga – and am really thinking that if I had the opportunity to do it full time, it would be an amazing experience.  I owe it to my body, and my mind could definitely use some conditioning as well…  Maybe there should be a OWJ devoted especially to learning about yourself through yoga…thoughts?!

Thanks for sharing this experience with me…

Namaste – the light in me, honours the light in you!

- Amanda

“When Jedding first graduated from college he went into a bookstore looking for “THE” book – a book that would tell him all the things he didn’t learn in school, how to get a job, how to navigate friendship and love, how to maintain a good relationship with family and above all, how to stay cool.”

Unfortunately, no such book existed at the time. Fortunately, Jedding was inspired to write such a book.

Kenneth Jedding is the author of HIGHER EDUCATION: On Life, Landing a Job and Everything Else They Didn’t Teach you in College. For 10 years, he has lectured as a career counselor and life coach at colleges and universities across America. He is currently a psychoanalyst.

I recently had the chance to catch up with Kenneth and ask him some questions about his new book HIGHER EDUCATION and his opinions on life after graduation.

I hope you get a lot out of his great insights, and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section!

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1. Generation Y is often characterized as being lazy, entitled, and generally a lost generation refusing to grow up. Having spoken and worked with many Gen-Y’ers, what is your opinion on their work ethic and how do you see Gen-Y contributing to the working world

Good question. Complicated question.

Gen Y has a bad reputation, as you mentioned, but I think your description masks a larger truth. You’re a transitional generation. In the 80’s and 90’s, the world evolved into what it’s going to be for the next century. The new modes of communication were your baseline. For you, that’s just how life is. So your perception of time is futuristic. But I think in many ways the world is still in the old time mode, so there’s what I’d call generational jet lag. This comes off as laziness. But it might just be that you can’t believe that non-electronic life is so slow.

I think the Y’s reaction to life, what you called not growing up, reflects a different wiring. To give an example, when I was 18 I had a French girlfriend I met while backpacking. We wrote three snail mail letters a week. It was very fun and sexy, but it existed mostly in our heads and imaginations. If we did it now we’d be on Skype: it would be a hundred times cooler though still long distance (i.e. no physical touch or sex.)

But how can you go from one time orientation to the other? Say, from having a friend, or a boyfriend or girlfriend in China and keeping up with each other moment to moment–to: the slower time scheme of starting an entry level job when it seems nothing is happening, and they ask you to fetch coffee! It’s easy to get discouraged and to say: Why bother?

You asked about the work ethic. Work has a puritanical connotation. Sounds too much like work. Let’s say career instead.

Having a career you enjoy will make life more interesting. There aren’t many other ways to do it. I think we grow up thinking “All I need to be happy is money, stuff, and love,” but career needs to be with love at the top of the list. It’s one of the ways to feel truly good about yourself, excited about life, and, one of the best ways to make money.

We’re told we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to, the American Dream et al, but I think 9 out of 10 people who make big money love their jobs. As I discuss in the book, most people figure out what they love by trying things out. That’s a slow process for every generation but for Y’s it must feel like walking underwater.

You’re wired for things that are real in the moment. Work starts out being unreal in the moment.

I believe Gen Y’s have a ton to contribute, and, if they can forge through the initial b.s. of the work world, and trust the process even when things seem to be moving forward in super slow-motion, they’ll work as hard as anyone else, and will reap the psychological, spiritual and financial rewards.

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2. In HIGHER EDUCATION you provide some great techniques to find your passion. Do we need to find our passion in order to be happy at work?

Yes. But it’s a trick question. If you’re a violinist and you play the violin out of college, you’re onto your passion–but even violinists may not feel happy at first. Or, say, if you make it to the NBA, it’s definitely a passion.

More to the point, for most people passion opens up incrementally. It doesn’t feel like passion at first.

The Dream: I’ll love what I do.

The Process: I’ll start doing things to get closer and closer to what I love (i.e. start using more and more skills) and find my way to real passion at work.

You’re one week job project was so interesting, Sean. You were writing about having the courage to begin.

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3. In your opinion, why is that Gen-Y is putting off entering the real world after graduation – generally taking longer to leave their parents home, get married, start a family, and choose a career?

College costs more, leading to more debt and to living at home. I talk a lot about dealing with parents in the book.

As for getting married & starting a family, I think it’s good to get to know yourself first, so waiting is not necessarily a bad thing.

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4. You mention several examples of people who were very successful by not focusing on the money and simply doing what they love. I always questioned, “Well, what if the money doesn’t come?” In pursuit of our ideal job, how do you suggest we cope with those difficult times when our fears and self-doubt surface and we question if we’re doing the right thing?

Money can come in unexpected ways. The best way for you to make money may not be in the traditional “money” areas, as I discuss.

And yet: some careers don’t pay much. Like being a teacher, working with the mentally challenged, or being a coach (unless you make it to the top in any of these areas).

What if one of those non-money professions would truly make you happy? Then it’s a good idea to go for it.

Let me put it this way: If you’re born to be a teacher and you do a mental two-step (It doesn’t pay much so it’s off the list) you may be walking around numb and confused, telling yourself “I don’t know what I want to do,” but you actually know.

It’s easy to fear “I won’t make a lot of money doing x or y,” rather than trying to make just enough money in a field you love. Money is nice, for sure, but so is empowerment, being on your path, feeling confident, radiating energy that attracts others, and liking yourself. And there are many ways to get there.

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5. I recently read a NY Times article in which a recent college grad struggling to find work was offered a job paying $40K at an insurance company. He turned it down saying that he’s holding out for the job that feels right for him. Would you recommend waiting for that perfect job, or is it more important to get into the workforce?

I don’t recommend waiting for the perfect job. That makes me laugh, Sean, thinking of what you did.

Perfect’s a dangerous word. I like the Leonard Cohen poem:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

We learn things in unexpected places and those things prepare us for more unexpected moments.

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6. What one piece of advice do you wish someone shared with you when you graduated from college?

I wish someone had told me that, over time, things would work out.

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Kenneth Jedding’s book, HIGHER EDUCATION: On Life, Landing a Job and Everything Else They Didn’t Teach you in College, was published April 2010 by Rodale Books and is available for purchase through the above link to Amazon.com.

For me, as the director, it was a treat to watch the audience react to the first viewing of the film. I also felt it was an opportunity to share my thoughts on the meaning of the project.

Here’s my final speech:

Here’s the full text:

At the beginning of the film, you probably noticed a quote from the Buddha.
I’ll read it again

From the bottom of our hearts, Sean and I thank you for coming tonight.

“Most people say they ‘hate my job’ and don’t take any accountability for it… in all honesty you need to do something about it.” – Ryan Paugh

Just graduated, and can’t find a job? Read this recent post by Seth, Graduate school for unemployed college students.

Reading Seth’s post reminded of a conversation I had when I was a Radio DJ in Week 22. One afternoon, a Radio DJ I was working with said to me, “The most important message I take away from what you’re doing is to be pro-active about figuring out what you want to do. If you don’t know what to do, well don’t just sit around and wonder what to do. Do something.”

When I first graduated, I wasted a lot of time and energy worrying that I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Of course, it didn’t help my situation. I was so concerned with making the right choice that it prevented me from making any choice at all. Thankfully, I eventually recognized this.

What is your “something” going to be?

Ray Kurzweil is an author/inventor famous for predicting the future. He says, since knowledge is rapidly becoming obsolete, the best way to prepare yourself for the future is to learn how to learn. And the best way to learn is by pursuing what your passionate about.

When you’re struggling to find your passion, sometimes it helps to have encouragement along the way.

With that in mind, Ian and I have been sifting through endless websites to bring you the top 6 blogs for helping you find your perfect career, or at least help you in the right direction.

So here they are, drum roll please… (in no particular order)

1. Employee Evolution

“Employee Evolution is dedicated to helping the millennial generation answer the hard-hitting questions that come with the biggest transition of our lives.”

While visually, the website delivers a simple design, the content is worth it. Employee Evolution speaks to the Gen-Y culture with conviction and helpful hints and tips for finding your career passion.

2. Brazen Careerist

Part of the Brazen Careerist blog group, Penelope Trunk began her post-secondary life as a professional beach volleyball player and since then she’s been through an acquisition, an IPO and bankruptcy and come back to become a columnist for the Boston Globe.

Her blog delivers advice “at the intersection between work and life” concisely and efficiently while coming from a refreshing female perspective.

3. Pursue The Passion

A website designed to attack the problem that nearly 50% of the population is not satisfied with their job, and addresses the issue by interviewing people who are propelled by a love for their work. The website is pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate while delivering the information promised in the title.

4. The Happiness Project

A comprehensive look at what it could take to make each of us happy, and while most of us see “the feel better formula” as a bit too inside the box, Gretchen acts as an insightful compass for the direction of your passion.

5. My Gen Y Life

“Impressions and happenings of a twenty-something career gal” Melanie Lopez writes about a lighter, humorous look at life spent within the confines of an office, while offering helpful tips about a life on salary including, “The Secret to Winning Over Your Boss” and “How to Tell Your Boss You’re Pregnant.”

6. Escape From Corporate America

An easy to navigate website with larger than life wisdom on how to retreat from a life in a cubicle. Slightly deterring, are the numerous esoteric mentions of the NBC hit “The Office,” but if you love the show and everything it represents then this may just be your haven.

“Our work lives are too long. We can’t sit in a job we don’t like for fifty years, it makes no sense. If we hate our jobs, we have to leave them, that’s our responsibility to ourselves.” -Paul Lieberstein (Toby Flenderson, The Office)

Do you have any favourite “find your passion” blogs we missed? Share in the comments!