8 minutes of yoga – who knew?
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
8 minutes of yoga for cool cats
A little over 12 years ago I came up with an idea that people could pass a very difficult exam for project management certification with only four days of prep, and not the standard six months most people were spending. The issue is even with the six months of prep, 40% of them would still fail. I thought, well hmmm – if I can really do this in four days, I can also guarantee they will pass. And to guarantee they pass, I need to make sure they have their brains in peak performing condition. I had been practicing yoga for almost ten years by this point. I knew if I had them do an easy series of yoga stretches and breathing exercises every 90 minutes, I would be able to help them keep their brains in peak performing condition. (this was combined with a high protein complex carb diet and no caffeine or sugar to keep their brains in a state of relaxed focus and adequately fueled). We even got a mention in a Hindu newspaper on how we use yoga to help people pass a tough exam.
Fast forward to ten years later (two years ago). One of Cheetah’s young Agile Certified Project Managers (Anne Lindsley, CAPM, PMI-ACP) wanted to become a certified yoga instructor. Hmmm – I thought – yes it would be very good to have our own corporate yogini on staff. A year later, I asked her to create an 8 minute yoga flow video we could use in our online courses. While we were making this video, she said – you know this would be a great way to bring yoga to the masses. Heck, 50,000 Cheetah students have already used this 8 minutes of yoga technique to pass the PMP exam – others could use it too to reduce their stress levels, improve their focus, be more productive, and be healthier. This was where YogaAnne‘s 8 minute yoga idea was born. We spent a year creating fifty different 8 minute yoga videos for use at the office or at home. They are rolling out their mobile app in a few weeks. They discovered a great way to stream the videos so people can do them along with their qualified instructors right off their phones – anywhere they are. I’m psyched for this app – I need creative inspiration, I love the serene locations where they are shot, and I love that I’m reminded to take a short break to do yoga so I can keep energized and relaxed in a healthy way.
