11 Reasons Why Women Need To Become Idea Machines Now

Claudia Azula Altucher Become An Idea Machine, confidence, Depression, idea machine, lean in, Paul Dallaghan, pranayama, Trust, women
We are at a point in history where we have to stop pretending we are not brilliant beings. 
We, as women, need to become idea machines, pronto.  

The power that comes through it is a gift we owe to the world. 

We have to own our talent and admit that we have something to bring to the table. 

We are in a magnificent position to affect change in the world in a feminine way.  There is no winning in playing small anymore.


I said that recently at Fei’s podcast, 

And… Of course….

In true “Idea Machine style”… 

that conversation invited me to elaborate and come up with ten/eleven reasons why it is so important for women (and men, of course) but specifically, in this case, for women, to become idea machines.

Here are them:


1.- WOMEN STILL GET PAID LESS THAN MEN

And…

Ideas are the currency of the 21st century 

Because the old job and the retirement, or even social security is rather “iffy” at best these days.

We don’t exactly know how the money will come, but then again, in the past way of life, we also didn’t exactly know, because if we did then we were at a “job”, where the number was small and fixed…

And nobody ever generates wealth that way…. Because there is little value added at a fixed, “boring” job.

Thinking of wealth in terms of ideas levels the plain-filed.

Just like the Philharmonic orchestra got more women into their pool of talented musicians once they started auditioning by hearing music BUT with a screen covering the gender.

Just like that screen… ideas allow us to level the field.

2.-LET’S ASK MORE QUESTIONS

I will tell you one thing that disheartened me while reading Lean In… 

Sheryl says that when she gives talks it is always men that raise their hands and ask questions.  Women rarely ask.

I am not saying we should be CEO’s, or start companies, or run Facebook’s operations, and I am also NOT saying we should be more like men…

NO.

I am just saying we need to start raising our hand and speaking up... And asking questions.

In the book “The Confidence Code” (see recommended reading below) I read that studies show that women will apply for a job (or ask a question) only if they feel 100% prepared.

Men will apply for a job if they feel they are 70% prepared!

And ask a question even when they don’t have one.

This is something I’ve been sensing quite a bit, and that is why these days….

I ASK QUESTIONS.  Every time.

[Keep calm image from here]

Even if I don’t know know what I am about to ask… 

Just as I did in the last conference where as I lifted my hand I had no idea what I was going to ask.  But I did have a question!

 So yes, the question was formulated between the moment the hand started going up and the moment the speaker said: “yes”?

It is evolutionary for us to raise our hands, to ask, to take risks, to be bold.  

Because our voice is missing from the conversation otherwise.

LISTING TEN IDEAS A DAY gets the idea muscle ready, flexible, in good shape, and trained to look for questions, to look for answers, to look for the “gaps”.  

Then it is easier to ask questions.

3.- THE TRANSFORMATION IS DECEIVINGLY SLOW BUT POWERFULLY POTENT

Some people have began listing ideas together with me since the book launch, and many are sharing them (sometimes daily in Twitter)

I heard of someone who sent 10 ideas to a music festival, and now that festival has him help them with their croudsourcing efforts.

I sent 10 ideas to 99Designs because I used their services three times in three months and I had enough experience to know where they could improve.

The CEO Wrote me a letter this week:

Hi. I’m the CEO of 99designs and I just wanted to let you know that we really appreciate your thoughtful feedback.  We actioning items immediately that we can address around better communication/messaging and we are actively recruiting additional customer support representatives to ensure that everyone sees a chat window when needed (peak times sometimes makes chat unavailable to some users).   

Are you happy with your final design for your book cover?  Is there anything else that I could do for you?  Really happy to help in anyway and thanks again for the tough love…  We are always striving to get better and feedback like yours helps make that possible. Kind regards

We had some follow up conversations, I thanked him for listening.

[Tortoise image from here]

He told me that he was going to talk to his staff and share the list with them…

Now, the point of this is to show how it is deceivingly sow...

You may say me: “C’mon, a letter is nothing that is not money!”

And you would be right.  

But this is the way the world works these days.

We send ideas….

We add “real, actionable, and good” value to others and…

It starts with a thank you letter… 

It may continue with an invitation to come over and talk to the staff (as it happened to James with Amazon where they flew him to Seattle)… and then…

Relationships are built, you meet new people, you get new ideas, you get BETTER ideas…

We don’t need to see the end result, we just need to list ten ideas today.

It does compound fast…  

For example James got his book Choose Yourself, and his next book “The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth” in hard cover (which Amazon never does for self published authors)  — BECAUSE OF HIS SENDING OF IDEAS

He was able to make a deal with a list to sell Choose Yourself… in hard cover.

That is now the “POWERFULLY POTENT” part appears… it is a compounding, not a staight line… it is an endless…giggly spiral and curvy up and down-ish sort of gibberish doodle… that is how a trajectory in the real world looks like now.

4.- GETTING OUT OF DEPRESSION

Last summer I went to Thailand and I was suffering from one of those bursts of depression I get often.

I was shocked when, after taking my pulse, Paul Dallaghan gave me a pranayama prescription that encouraged more solar breathing (right nostril)

I don’t want to go into details on that because I believe a prescription is that, something personal, but I did see the “RESULTS”

We as women are more “receptive, lunar, open to communication, wanting to be liked” and on and on

NOT ALL OF US, of course…I don’t want to generalize… And I know some women have a lot of sun energy in them…

[Leaving depression image from here]

I am just saying that as per ME, and in my own experience,  my feminine energy is more earth while men’s is more sky…

Female is moon (ritual, nurturing)  man is sun (possessive, abrasive)

Of course we all have both.

But I feel, at least in MY CASE, that I need to activate my solar energy a bit more.

ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM DEPRESSED

It is all nice for me to write my morning pages, journal and do collage, but…

THE 10 IDEAS A DAY engages my mind in a completely different way.

It gets me going in a way that is foreign to my basic nature of silent receptivity and listening and praying…

LISTING TEN IDEAS A DAY connects me with the “how can I help” energy in a more practical, go-get-it… sun way

5) REMEMBERING TO GIVE TO OURSELVES

When coming up with ten ideas a day we will have days in which it simply is impossible.  

Life is incredibly difficult, and things happen.  

As women we tend to want to help, soothe, and give.  

This is a wonderful feminine quality but it is also important to remember that our own soothing, helping ourselves, and giving to ourselves is critical.  

So we may skip a day of doing the ten ideas if the world goes upside down.  But we can take it again the next morning.  Because our ideas are important.

Because our contribution, the way we see the world, our thoughts, translated through a fine-tuned intuition of ideas IS IMPORTANT.

Whenever I find myself upset now-a-days I immediatelly think of listing 10 things I could do.

I start with the most ridiculous ideas (because there are no ridiculous ideas, they are just ideas, I don’t judge)…

It is usually through those that I give myself permission to actually get out some pretty good ones…

Ideas can save lives.

Ideas can save our stressed out days.

Ideas can save relationships.

Ideas can help us.  

6) CONFIDENCE

This is a tricky one for us women…  

There is an imbalance in how we are perceived weather we admit it or not…

A Harvard study had two groups of women take a math test.

The first group had to identify their GENDER before the test, the second one had to identify their ETHNICITY

There were Asian women in both as I understand….

Guess what group did better?

The one that identified themselves as “Asian” rather than “women”, because ” Asian women are good at math” right?  We all know thaaaaaaaaat….. riiiiigggghttttt?

These stereotypes DO EXIST. Denying them gives us no favors

Acknowledging them is better because then at least we know what we are dealing with.

How does that play out in “confidence”?

Have you ever had an idea and then you said it and then later someone else (perhaps a man) took it and used it as if it was his?

This happened to me not once, but many, many times…

I find it to be my responsibility to point out that that was MY idea… not because I want to be better than but to reassure MYSELF, to regain my own sense of self-confidence.

I find that coming up with ten ideas a day gives me the confidence necessary to trust the words that come out of my mouth.

[Confidence fish photo from here]

By the way, this does not mean I turn into an *as&*.  If I say something that is out of line I still can acknowledge I was wrong. 

I am wrong many times… And I have no problem saying I am sorry.

But being an idea machine helps me identify when I am sure, in my bones, that what I am saying is the right thing …

And when you have that kind of confidence, when you know that is something is the right thing for you, in your soul, then nobody can stop you.

7) WHAT IS MY PASSION? FOR TODAY?

I laugh when I hear people in Quora ask “how can I know what my life purpose is”?

Nobody can know that…

Since I was born I have had at least 8 different “lives”… 

[Today image from here]

There is no way at 15 I could’ve said “I will be a writer” forever…

It just does not work that way.  

I am currently a podcast host, and author, a partner at a private publishing firm, a blogger, a yoga teacher, an idea machine….

And with the idea machine, the PURPOSE changes every six months or so….

Because as we start coming with lists of what we are interested on today, our lives change.

When we pay attention to what is igniting our inner fire today, then life has no evolutionary choice but to lead us in the direction of what we feel passionate about… TODAY

8) CUTTING OURSELVES SOME SLACK

Last week I overheard a beautiful young woman with four kids say that she does not push herself enough.  

She had just finished two hours of yoga asana.  

I HAD to ask her: “Do you hear yourself speak?” 

I was not mean, I was encouraging, I think any woman with four kids is a super hero period.
So, speaking of cutting ourselves some slack.  

Let’s remember that most of the time we do everything that men do, feel all the same stresses, and still make the bed and cook breakfast, thank you very much.

Ideas help us recognize our brain power, our dedication, our power of transformation, and the results we bring into the world.

And if you are ever in need of some padding in the back do this:

List your “I DID LIST”  for today

List all the things you DID, TODAY

You WILL BE SHOCKED.  Guaranteed…

9) WHEN THINGS FALL APART:

When things fall apart, as they do, having a toned idea muscle allows the wisdom of the feminine energy to change perspective, to notice where our strength lies.

Heck! We are showing up for our daily practice!, 

It helps us to reassure ourselves that this, too, shall pass.

And there is nothing like going 10-ideas on a problem…  Because it shows different ways of looking at it, and in doing so we shift our perception
10) THERE IS NO BEAUTY IN PLAYING SMALL

I am married to a strong man and I can see what happens when I play as if I am less, or not as important, and also, what happens when I act from my full power, as an equal, and sometimes even as a wise-teacher. 
It is much more productive and leading to peace and balance when I stand in the fire-center of my power and own it.  

When I speak what I know to be truth, when I say what I mean because I know it in my bones to be truth, when I trust the words that come out of my mouth and yet have the humility to recognize if at some  point they were not so wise.
I don’t know everything, or anything.  

I am not a genius, but as a female I am as powerful -if not more sometimes-  than the male energy.
My energy as female is needed in the world, badly.  
And if we don’t return to nurturing this part of our energy, if we don’t bring to the front the feminine energy that births wisdom we are doomed.
This is the time for all of us as women to bring our voices to the front, to speak up, to let our ideas count, and to do what we know we have to do.

We can elevate the conversation.

We can bring up a notch, from silly gossip ot what really counts…

To how can we own our power?

How can we be more honest with ourselves?

How can we help each other, woman to woman (and men too… I love men)

How can we make sure when a woman is interrupted, that we say “excuse me, I would like for her to finish her thought”

How can we be more kind to one another?

How can we get out of the way of our feminine wisdom?

Listing ten ideas a day seems to be working for me.

11)  FUNNY

A few weeks ago I got another of those bursts of depression.

I bought an audio book… Ellen… “Seriously I’m Kidding”

It made me feel better.

We women are GREAT at a sense of humor because we have to.

I noticed one thing listening to Ellen, she has a phrase going somewhere and suddenly it will turn crazy…

For example: she will say:

No woman is perfect… Except for Penelope Cruz

There is always that twist, that funny turn.

I’ve never laughed more than when in a group of women who trust each other…

We are witty people…

[Ellen image from here]

This is why I am recommending the book (audio better really), because we can bring our brilliant sense of humor to the world too…

One list I am going to be doing is “sentences that end in a funny twist…”

For example:

Amy Schummer:  “I went to LA last week… Have you ever had your self esteem lowered?”

See the “twist”? We are great at it, and you KNOW IT !


RECOMMENDED READING

Lean In
Seriously I’m Kidding
Become An Idea Machine
The Confidence Code
Bold

The Yoga Podcast: Episode #3 Gregor Maehle: YOGA MEDITATION -The Real Thing

Claudia Azula Altucher Book reviews, Gregor Maehle, interview, The Yoga Podcast, Yoga Podcast
We can sit in meditation all we want but it means NOTHING unless both nostrils are working at the same time because that is the only physiological thing that sets the odds in our favor. Did you know that?

If you cannot see the photo of Gregor with the Play button below – click here to start listening as you read.  Or…Click here to listen in ITunes

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That: the thing about breathing through both nostrils at once so that meditation can “maybe happen”…. Is one of the thousands of secrets I’ve learned from Gregor Maehle, 

He is an amazing teacher.  

For example, he is one of the few practicing yogis -living today- that is willing to do all the research and practice, and translate it into plain English so we can all understand what yoga means, as a whole.

On Episode 3 Gregor acts like a catalyst of understanding for all of us to really get it. 

When you hit “play” you will hear in a magical way, how all branches of yoga come together to bring you into the mystical sacredness of this very moment

It is amazing how he can make it all so clear in less than an hour.

There is plenty of meditation out there, but nobody talks about how it connects to yoga, specifically.  

Schools don’t teach it… even the large and famous ones… 

Gregor Maehle

The focus of present-days-schools is so heavily on asana (poses) that people like me end up looking elsewhere, not in yoga itself.

I met Gregor because of his books and I am glad I did because once I started reading I could not put them down.

In fact, I have reviewed all of them here on the blog, and even created a book club around the one on Pranayama because I was surprised that someone could make yoga knowledge so accessible, clear and down to earth.

Every time I read a book by Gregor I feel the “slap in the wrist“, as I have come to call it, but it is a tough-love kind of slap, the one that suggests this: 

“Don’t just settle for asana! There is more to go into… like pranayama and meditation, and the mysteries beyond.”

Which brings me to this podcast.

GREGOR MAKES IT EASY TO UNDERSTAND


Gregor wrote his fourth book completely dedicated to meditation.  

Specifically to how meditation fits within the yoga tradition, as one of the eight limbs. Through integrating all practices, and including mantra, chakras and kundalini.

And there is the “K” word. One I am not fond of, because there is so much b/s around it in the world.  But that is NOT the case here.

When Gregor talks about kundalini we hear the ancient texts, 6000-year-old words, backed by people whose practices flourished over millennia.  

Here is the thing with yoga and meditation…

Because schools all over the world focus on the poses, there are non that actually teach “meditation as per yoga”.

Some teachers teach something they learned from a Buddhist tradition or a Tibetan lama… or Whatever… mixing it up.

This causes people like me to start dabbling into Vipassana or Shambhaa or Insight Meditation or all other denominations.

Why?

Because nobody teaches yoga-meditation.

And by that I mean, how did the yogi researches who have sat and practiced for 3, 4, 5 thousand years approach it?

How have they done it? What can we learn from them?

What happens exactly after asana is “established”?

What is it that moves the practice forward into the mysteries, into being fully present, into the higher states?

How come we can practice for decades and still be mean to each other?


Enter Gregor…

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN THE PODCAST


  • Why Gregor has “semi-retired” to a “somewhat secluded forest” location to intensify his practice – Below is a photo of the view into the forest of where he lives
view into the forest
  • Where the confusion stems from: The actual yoga definition of “meditation” and how it differs from, say, Vipassana
  • The fifth limb of yoga is withdrawing the senses… Is there a way to “DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT”?
  • Gregor says yes there is something you can DO to effect the fifth limb of yoga, he describes what that is (including inversions)
  • The fastest way to reach higher levels into the mystery suggested by Gregor, which point to uniting both the breathing techniques with focus on the chakras
  • The reason why inversions have gotten negative publicity lately, and how to avoid troubles with it
  • In all mystical traditions of humankind, it was always taught that true knowledge has a physical aspect. An insight from Gregor’s latest visit to Japan
  • Why it is important to “clear” your life, from emotional issues, to clarify money issues, sexual issues etc… Otherwise the “downward energy” will pull you down, and never let you uplift.
  • The role of food and fasting, and how it needs to be done right if attempted at all, for example he goes: “whereas if you clean out the abdomen and you would fast for a while, you just would absolutely not care at all about any of those issues“
  • How the above does NOT mean anyone should just go ahead and try fasting. EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DONE WITH CARE. And slowly…  There is no point in rushing just because we read a book
  • Loved when he said: “The important thing is that you do have a spiritual practice and that you do have a spiritual realization, and then abundance – material abundance will come as a result of that, but don’t start chasing material abundance, because material abundance will chase you if you stop giving out a lot.  Then you will automatically receive.”
  • Gregor boldly says what is at the CORE OF HIS TEACHING: “The central tenets of yogic teaching since 6,000 years ago is that if you only practice asana, that is, posture, it is very, very unlikely that you succeed“
  • How to choose a teacher.  The very difficult question of finding someone who is REAL today…  And how Gregor talks about the only qualification for initiation…  And it is “self-initiation”. Thank you Gregor!
  • The one thing that took Gregor a long time to understand:  This surprised me as it applies not just to yoga but to everything.  And it has to do with “giving, everything, and doing things for others”
ABOUT GREGOR


BOOKS (Highly recommended):



AMAZING RECENT ARTICLES by Gregor:


The End Of The Guru: Part One and Part Two



RELATED POSTS I WROTE ABOUT GREGOR’S FASCINATING WORK


TRANSCRIPT
Announcer:                 Welcome to The Yoga Podcast, keeping it real with your host, Claudia Azula Altucher.
Claudia Altucher:        Good morning.  Welcome to The Yoga Podcast.  I’m thrilled to have with me Gregor Maehle.  He is a practitioner of yoga and he has been practicing for over 35 years.  In the middle of the 1980s, he started traveling yearly to India, where he studied with various yogic and tantric masters.  Gregor has published four amazing books – two on yoga asana, the primary and the intermediate series of ashtanga yoga, one on pranayama, and one on meditation, and these books have been translated into many languages.  His teachings incorporate not just posture, but also, purification, pranayama, meditation, devotion, and yoga philosophy, and he offers workshops, retreats, and teacher trainings worldwide.  The main blog website is http://www.8limbs.com.
                                    Gregor, welcome to the show.  I’m thrilled to have you.  Thanks for joining me.
Gregor Maehle:          Thanks for having me, Claudia.  It’s a great pleasure.
Claudia Altucher:        That’s great.  So it’s 8:00 PM in Sydney, right?
Gregor Maehle:          That’s right.  Yes, it is 8:00 PM here.
Claudia Altucher:        And what did you do today?
Gregor Maehle:          The day today was spent with practicing yoga and reading some yogic texts and doing heaps of meditation and doing a bit of gardening.
Claudia Altucher:        Oh, how nice.
                                    [Laughter]
Gregor Maehle:          Yeah, I’m just after a tour.  I recently came back from Tokyo and I taught in Bali and on the Australian West Coast, so this is basically a bit of a holiday for me.
Claudia Altucher:        That’s nice, and I saw some photographs in Facebook.  You get a large following of students in your workshops, about 60, 70 people?
Gregor Maehle:          Yes, that’s correct, yeah.  Yes, that is correct.
Claudia Altucher:        Yeah, that was very interesting that you attract a large gathering.  I guess that’s wonderful.  I saw that recently, you and your wife, Monica, bought some land and you are now living in a forest.
Gregor Maehle:          Yes, that’s right.  Yeah, that might be part of why the phone connection is not that great because I’m not really inside of civilization, so yes, I do live in a rainforest on a mountaintop overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Claudia Altucher:        That sounds wonderful, and do you find that the connection with nature at that level helps you with the practice?
Gregor Maehle:          Very much so, very much so, and I guess that is something that is often emphasized in the ancient yoga texts, that from a certain point onwards, it is suggested that the yogi move into nature to devote themselves more seriously to the so-called higher limbs of yoga.
Claudia Altucher:        Right.  Yes, and that’s what I wanna talk about today, because, I mean, I am a big fan of your books, as you know.  I’ve reviewed them, I’ve talked about them, and they’re very – they have a lot of the technique and you’ve done a lot of research around every one of them, so you talk about how different stages look at different parts of the practice, and you have this distilled knowledge of your lifetime work into them, and to me, it’s like someone finally decided to write all of the secrets of yoga and put them in four-book form, which is a blessing to all of us.  But the one I want to focus is the latest one, called Yoga Meditation, and because I think there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to meditation.  Would you agree with that?
Gregor Maehle:          Yes, there is a great confusion, and part of that is that people generally take the Vedantic and Buddhist translation or meaning of the term “meditation.”
Claudia Altucher:        Right, right.  You say in this book, for example, that you’ve watched in amazement, a little bit, that many students are, perhaps, get frustrated with teachers that teach only the asana, or the poses part, and then they start looking on their own for meditation techniques, and then they end up maybe doing Buddhist techniques.  And that described me.  That’s what I did.  So for example, I went to a Vipassana, and it’s not really the yoga tradition of meditation.
Gregor Maehle:          No, no, certainly not.  If you look at, for example, into the Yoga Sutra, which is the defining text of yoga, it’s many thousand years old, and there in the Sutra 3.2, for example, the sage Patanjali says that meditation that is Dhyana in Sanskrit is defined as a permanent stream of awareness from the meditator towards the object of meditation and a permanent stream of information from the object back to the meditator, which is, of course, a quite different idea of what we have in Vipassana and in Buddhism.
Claudia Altucher:        Right.  So for example, in Vipassana, they just instruct you to watch the breath and then watch for sensations in the body, and so the idea is that all stuff – all conditioning stuff will come up and you won’t – you will not react to it in the same way you did before and eventually will clear up, but what I found very interesting is that you say, “Yes, you may prevent yourself from overreacting in the future – ” I’m paraphrasing – “to past reactions, but it will not take you deeper into meditation as the yoga tradition does.”  Am I getting that right?
Gregor Maehle:          Yes, I guess the main thing of this – about this Vipassana definition would be, Vipassana is actually something that has developed out of Buddhism, and the main difference between the Buddhism and the Vedanta, which is the Indian or the Hindu equivalent of the Buddhism, and what we teach in yoga is that according to those so-called idealistic schools like the Buddhism and the Advaita Vedanta, the world is an illusion, whereas in yoga, the world is seen as real.  So the meditator has actually a keen interest in the world, which is, for us, much more interesting than, for example, our own conditioning.
Claudia Altucher:        Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I see.  And so this sort of concentration that you were describing or focusing on an object and receiving from the objet is actually more the way of yoga.  It’s not so much observing sensations; it’s concentrating on an object.
Gregor Maehle:          Yes, that’s right.  So for example, we wouldn’t really – I mean, you know, the yoga’s very much interested in placing the body in, let’s say, a perfect position, which the yogis would consider that either Padmasana, the lotus posture, or Siddhasana, a similar posture to that, would be perfect yoga positions for various reasons, but one of the reasons is that in those positions, the body can eventually become so light and effortless that we can completely go beyond the body.  That means leaving the body behind so that they can go deeper into the spiritual aspects of the meditation.
Claudia Altucher:        Now, what I’ve seen around from people who are interested in yoga, there’s a lot of difficulty with – never mind the lotus, but just sitting down, there’s a lot of curved spines, bad posture, and nevertheless, you recommend, you say, “Do not wait to start meditation.  Start trying it early on.”  So for someone, say, who would like to perhaps get into your teachings, read, practice, that cannot sit in any of the four postures that you recommend, sort of like one is kneeling or the – the other one is a modified –
Gregor Maehle:          Just cut out.
Claudia Altucher:        Oh, I’m sorry.  Can you hear me now?
Gregor Maehle:          Yes, I can hear you.  Sorry about that.
Claudia Altucher:        Okay, so for someone who cannot sit easily, what would you recommend to get started with this –
Gregor Maehle:          Yes – yeah.  Okay, there’s actually a so-called “meditation bench,” which brings ___ in a similar position as the Virasana position, so – but you’re basically sitting in a kneeling position, but you’re not sitting on your heels, but your sit bones are slightly elevated.
Claudia Altucher:        I see.
Gregor Maehle:          So yeah, so that would be – the advantage of such a meditation bench is that your spine is still in the ideal double-S curve.

10 Reasons I Loved The Book BOLD

Claudia Azula Altucher Book reviews
Just finished listening to BOLD.  And even though the book is competing with mine in the Amazon ranks, here is showing that there is abundance for all.

Loved BOLD for these 10 reasons:

See #3 to make sense of the photo

1- THESE ARE STORIES – READING DOES NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS IN ANYTHING.

Right at the start we understand that yes, the two (or two dozen) 19-year-olds from Stanford sold Instagram to Facebook for kizillions. 

That happened.

BUT it doesn’t always happen that way. No.

The stars aligned for them. The time had come. Other companies had not pivoted in time (Kodak)

So… We can start a business and give it our all, but we cannot ever know if it will be a success.

Forces way beyond us are at work.

This is why the impressive entrepreneurs of our times take huge risks, but, they are calculated.

For example, when Branson leased his first aircraft from Boeing he made sure he would be able to return it and walk away after a year, in case it all “crashed”

Huge risk – hedge thinking

2.- NOW IS THE TIME

This is the moment, now, to harness the power of technology all around us (like the one in the computer on which you are reading this or the phone in your purse) and use it for “exponential” change.

To use it to solve the problem that one billion people have (pick any, like hunger)

3.- EXTREME FUN (See top photo)

When British Airways (Virgin archival) erected a 440-foot Ferris wheel in London (the London Eye), it suddenly faced construction delays….

Richard Branson:

 “wasted no time in flying an airship over the site trailing a giant banner 
that read “BA can’t get it up”


First of all: HA HA HA – I just googled that image.  

It’s at the top of the post in case you missed it

Second: MUST HAVE FUN and be “IMMENSELY PASSIONATE”, especially when being serious, because otherwise we are burning the candle at both ends, and then we die.

If we don’t love what we do with that kind of passion it is never going to work

4.- IS THAT REALLY THE POINT?

Once a guy called Astro Teller (I’m just getting to know him, he is a genius) went to Larry Page’s (google) office and…

“talked about wheeling an imaginary time machine into Page’s office, plugging it in, and then demonstrating that it works”

Larry’s response?

Why does it need a plug? Wouldn’t it be better if it didn’t use power at all? He asked.


My take: THINK BEYOND…

Become an idea machine so that your idea muscle is so strong that you can push the limits of your imagination into infinity…

Keep pushing the limits, because there are none.

5.- NOBODY SEES YOU COMING

The book has 6 “d”s of Exponentials

One of them is the d for “D”ECEPTION

How deceptively SLOW big change can be (think Kodak going bankrupt because the people at the helm FAILED TO PIVOT)

How deceptively slow 3D printing may still appear… and yet… most cars in the US already use 3-D printed parts.

What will that mean for, errr, like…. EVERYTHING?

I can already imagine the enormous tower I am writing this from -in South Beach- “printed” can you?

6.- WHAT WON’T CHANGE

Jeff Bezos (Amazon) says people always ask him “what will change”

He is baffled by the question, he prefers to think about WHAT WILL NOT CHANGE

Like for example: people will always want “cheaper goods” and “faster delivery”

He cannot imagine someone going: “oh I would like my book to be delivered in 6 weeks instead of 24 hours please”

That won’t happen

We will all still want to eat, feel good, be healthy, etc…

That is where the focus needs to go for anyone wanting to create new value. In exponential ways.

7.- WHY CROWDSOURCING WORKS

There is an enormous amount of the book that goes to this, and talks about how to do it right.

I recommend reading this part because anyone still thinking change can be done alone in a cabin in Vermont is living in another millennia.

A time that no longer exists.

Which brings me to…

8.- EVANGELISM

The authors talk about how word of mouth is still the best way to send your message around.

9.- THE BOOK IS SHORT

I was 3/4 done through reading in my kindle and the book went into “notes”

I appreciated that.

Messages that are simple, elegant and short appeal to me. They may appeal to you too.

10.- WHAT IS NEEDED NOW: IDEAS

So no matter what I do there is no guarantee of success, so I either re-define success as a daily practice, which I did, and then I keep doing it.

I mean, we keep coming up with ideas.

What are ten things I can do today?

How can I pivot today?

What risk may I mitigate today?

What would be fun to do today?

What technology in my phone can help me affect the lives of millions? billions? googles?

How can it be bigger? Easier?

Who can help?

How can Incentivize people to help?

How can I help?

Here is to being bold.

10 Ideas For The Usual: I’m 18 With An Idea For An "App" What Should I Do?

Claudia Azula Altucher Become An Idea Machine
Someone asked this in Clarity.fm and I’ve seen that question everywhere. You know the type? 
I have this great idea for an “app”, what should I do?  — You’ve heard it I am sure…  
That  is why I went “Idea Machine” on it.
Here are my ten ideas:
1.- Get a customer. For your app. Someone that will pay to use it, get their actual money in your hand. (That will show you how good the idea is)
2.- Describe to me what your app does in ONE SENTENCE. One that a 3 year old can understand
3.- Tell me what comes after “because” meaning… I must use your app because…. “……… ……….”
4.- Speck it out in all details – Google how people have done it before. Do not miss on any of the steps
5.- Outsource the first page and get it done – Do not spend more than 100 dollars on this
6.- Document each step of the way in a blog
7.- Do a video of “what you thought would happen” and “what is actually happening” – every day
8.- Think of 10 other apps
9.- Repeat all previous steps for the 10 other apps
10.- Teach me how to answer the question you just asked from idea to full execution…. and charge for the course.

Short Video On How To Become An Idea Machine

Claudia Azula Altucher Become An Idea Machine

If you cannot see the video click here.  This is what we talk about:

1) Why Goals Are Not Real:

Once upon a time Richard Branson was stranded in an island, his flight cancelled…

But, he was and still is an “idea machine”

So he found a charter plane, leased it, put a sign up and called it “virgin flight”

He divided the cost per seat –  and filled the plane himself!

 —  He then thought of the NEXT STEP…

He was not thinking “I’m gonna create an airline” (as in a goal) NO!

He was only thinking of the next step!  –

He called Boeing

Now we have Virgin Atlantic and Galactic and who knows what next…

Goals are grandiose and come for the untrained mind –

Themes come from the heart and we discover them as we list ideas every day

Themes for TODAY come from the HEART

2) How Intuition Comes Out Of Becoming An Idea Machine

When you list 10 ideas a day then you fine tune your thoughts, you add value and you beging to trust the words that come out of your mouth

That is fine tuned intuition, and a result of becoming an idea machine

3) Woody Allen Finishes A Movie And Starts Another One

He has non-stop ideas… Quantity is important in ideas, and you will FEEL when a good one hit you…

4) We Brain Storm Ideas On The Spot On How To Meet Richard Branson 

Jonathan is a big fan

5) Jonathan asks me what is the ONE THING I learned from James

And I tell him

Get Become An Idea Machine for 99 cents and transform your life.

The Yoga Podcast: Episode 2: Anthony ‘Grimm’ Hall The Choose Yourself Yogi

Claudia Azula Altucher Anthony Hall, Ashtanga, Grimmly, interview, Krishnamacharya, Podcast, Ramaswami, The Yoga Podcast, Yoga, Yoga Podcast
Anthony has the most extraordinary yoga story I’ve ever heard, and perhaps one of the first ‘making of a yoga teacher‘ story to be fully documented online. It’s all on his blog. Everything.

[If you cannot see the image with the play button below click here to start listening]

WHY ANTHONY IS UNIQUE

Take for example how it all began:

He started practicing at the age of 43/44, while being 210 pounds, with knee problems, kidney stones, and a horrible diet.

But it was not because of his health that he got into yoga. NO.

He actually believed he was pretty healthy, you know, as in average…  

But then his house was broken into and all his saxophones were stolen.

THAT is what upset him.  And then he was upset at being so upset.

So he remembered the practice of meditation, and he wanted to take it back again because he needed more peace.  

That is when he noticed that many meditators used yoga as a complimentary activity, and so he went to the library, and, very embarrassed, borrowed a yoga book, just to check it out. 

That was early 2007.

As soon as he got into yoga (which was “brutal” as he says), he started sharing his findings and documenting his progress on a blog. 

You have likely seen it Grimmly2007.blogspot.com 

Heck! Everyone has seen it!  He is known as “Grimmly“


The whole thing is online, if you go back to the archives you will find him completely obsessed with the jump backs and jump troughs throughout the first year of his practice, and then progressing into future obsessions.

He took a lot of heat from the “yoga police” (yes there is one of those) who did not approve (if you can believe it!) of him practicing at home with books, and progressing as he saw fit.

The internet turned against him with rage many times, because, as we all know, it is fun to hate someone online.
Anthony also took it upon himself to translate one text from Krishnamacharya (the grand-father of yoga) which was not available with help from people who read and follow him.  

The Yogasanagalu from 1945 is something we know, or at least I know about  thanks to him.  
Bharadvajrasana


He also has brilliant insights that challenge people reading his blog constantly.  That is one sure thing you can find with him, a different way to look at things, a constant questioning, a search for truth.


His blog became so popular that recently studios from around Europe, Rusia and the USA began to invite him to come over and give workshops.

“I don’t teach”, he says.  “I never wanted to teach or imagine I would be a yoga teacher”.

He is very humble, yes, but at the same time he realizes he was able to progress fast in asana, and his practice went deep through pranayama and meditation,  and so he feels the responsibility to pass it along.

I, for one, am grateful.

I have learned A LOT from Anthony.

I was surprised to his response of my usual question: “What is one thing that took you a long time to understand“ towards the end of the podcast. I am always surprised by that one, but Anthony has a way of taking it to the next level.

Also, when I mentioned to Anthony that I wanted to call this episode “The Choose Yourself Yogi” he said he was more likely the “Patient Home Practitioner”… I am sure as he reads this he will have another title in mind…

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT

– The embarrassment factor of starting a yoga practice after 40
– How he had let himself go 
– How he lost 50 pounds and regained health
– How he used anything as props (furniture, blankets, sofas)
– His desire to get the strong (difficult) poses “done” in the beginning – before we would grow older
– Here is Anthony in Marichasana D – we talk about it so it is good to get a visual (forgive the quality I took it from a screenshot of a video of his)
– I ask him: Did you ever get injured in yoga?  As a home-practitioner, it is an eye opener to hear the answer: never… although… there is a covenant

– The impossible poses: here is Anthony in Karandavasana, you can see a video of this impossible pose -as he calls it- We talked about how it terrified him.

– How he got into retaining the breath during asanas as per Krishnamacharya
– Why he thinks Ashtanga is a good place to start for someone getting into yoga
– And the question of the million bucks: What took Anthony a long time to understand.
Mahamudra
ABOUT ANTHONY
THE TRANSCRIPT
Claudia Azula Altucher: Hello and welcome to the yoga podcast. I’m very excited today to have Anthony Grim Hall, because he is the most unique yoga teacher I have ever encountered. He has 2.5 million visitors to his blog and he has been obsessed with every aspect of the practice of yoga. He changed his life radically in 2007 because . . . Anthony, what was your profession before 2007?
Anthony Hall: Before 2007?
Claudia Azula Altucher: Yeah.
Anthony: Oh, I was an instrument repairer.
Claudia Azula Altucher: An instrument repairer.
Anthony Hall: Yeah.
Claudia Azula Altucher: He developed his own practice completely from home by himself most of the time, and now he travels around the world teaching yoga, because people invite him to their yoga studios. So he’s been in Russia, and he’s been in Spain, and he’s likely to be coming to the United States later this year in 2015. He trained with Srivatsa Ramaswami who is a student of Krishanacharya for 35 plus years and with Manju Jois who is the son of Pattabhi Jois. He has written two books. One is called Vinyasa Yoga Home Practice Book 
(in 2012) and the other one: Krishnamacharya’s ‘Original’ Ashtanga Yoga Practice Manual (in 2014). Anthony, welcome to the show. I’m so glad to have you here.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, it’s good to see you, Claudia.
Claudia Azula Altucher: So its 8 p.m. there in Japan where you are. What did you do today?
Anthony Hall: Today, not much. I’m getting over a cold actually so I’ve just been taking it easy.
Claudia Azula Altucher: Okay, so no practice?
Anthony Hall: Yeah, I’ve practiced. Yeah, of course.
Claudia Azula Altucher: Oh, that’s good to know. I was taking there for a moment, I wasn’t sure. It seems unbelievable to me to be talking to you, because we’ve never talked on the phone even though our blogs have been paralleled. You started a little bit earlier than me and we’ve been on the journey of practicing together. And your book is in my blog, my book is in your blog. We’ve been together in so many levels as we went through, but you have a very specific origin story and I wanted to talk about that about how you came into yoga. You talked about a defining moment that happened to you in 2007 where your house was broken into.
Anthony Hall: Yeah.
Claudia Azula Altucher: Can you tell us?
Anthony Hall: Okay, it doesn’t sound such a big deal anymore. I think the first ten times I told it, probably it sounded so dramatic to me but not so much anymore. Basically we were burgled or robbed. The house was robbed. I had seven vintage saxophones stolen. I was an instrument repairer. I got it with someone who worked with vintage saxophones. So I had seven saxophones stolen. And basically I was angry about the saxophones stolen and then I was angry about being angry.
Claudia Azula Altucher: I like how you say that, because the anger on top of the anger is the second arrow. You were really upset.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, I used to do a little bit of Zen before a long time ago. So I thought I’ll just do some meditation and I think I started with some Vipassana mindfulness through some podcast session. And then sitting was uncomfortable, so I thought, “Well, maybe I’ll do a little bit of yoga just to make it a bit more comfortable sitting.” So I went to the library and the books were just dreadful covers. And in those days, you had to take the book to the actual librarian and sort of say, “I’d like a book please.” Most of the books I really didn’t want to take up to the librarian. The least offensive were a couple of books. It just happened to be Ashtanga. So that didn’t look so bad. So I took them home and then I basically started practicing at home on a towel in my underwear basically. And I practiced just those, building off from there. Eventually I started getting some tapes, DVDs, but, yeah, that was basically.
Claudia Azula Altucher: You were overweight at that time you mentioned.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, yeah, quite a bit. Did I lose about 20 kilos or something. I guess I was about 94-kilo and I got down to about… I tend to sit around about 77 afterwards. So I lost around about. . .
Claudia Azula Altucher: I looked that up. In pounds, it translates to something like going from 210 pounds to about 160 pounds. So it’s a significant amount of weight that you lost through the exercise.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, it’s probably a bit more dramatic than that, because Ashtanga builds quite a bit of muscles as well. It’s quite a powerful practice. . .
Claudia Azula Altucher: Yeah.
Anthony Hall: So you’re putting a bit of muscle, as well, which is kind of heavy. If you’re actually fat, I guess I lost quite a bit.
Claudia Azula Altucher: And you said that you would use furniture or books as blocks when you couldn’t reach for things. You started transforming things that were in your life into yoga tools without. . .
Anthony Hall: Yeah, I didn’t have any blocks or straps or anything. So I was just using belts and a couple of piles of books and things like that. I remember buying my first mat. It was quite a big deal going into a shop and buying a yoga mat, but it was the right thing to do.
Claudia Azula Altucher: Do you still have it?
Anthony Hall: No, no, I don’t actually. Well, I don’t have anything now, because I just moved back. I don’t have anything. I sold everything but I had it for a long time.
Claudia Azula Altucher: What I found interesting when you were talking about this is that you said that you loved the first sun salutation, but the second one exhausted you. I get this picture that you were out of shape, feeling unhealthy. You also said you were feeling bloated at that time.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, pretty much. I think I wrote about how it was… I think later it became disturbing to me how I hadn’t realized the condition I got into. I think that’s quite interesting. I thought I was okay. In Japan, I was teaching English. I had some fancy suits. I thought I looked okay. And it was gradual. You were putting on weight gradually, gradually, gradually. I must be the only person getting more unhealthy in Japan. Yeah, it was kind of gradual. So I didn’t really realize in a way that I put on so much weight, that I was in such bad condition. I had a couple of things happen and then I had my gallbladder removed. I got some kidney problems. Different things but I still didn’t really take it that seriously and I think a lot of people think they’re okay. They think, “I can lose a couple of pounds, but I’m probably not that bad,” but actually I was probably not in good shape at all.
Claudia Azula Altucher: Yeah, and you were 44 at this time when you got that book in the library.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, something like that – 43, 44.
Claudia Azula Altucher: And I think that’s what I see in a lot of people, hitting middle-age, and thinking it’s the norm to have all those extra pounds, and then to be unhealthy like taking it for granted that that’s just how life is. But I think the way you transformed your life is proof that there is another way.
Anthony Hall: Yeah, you see it walking around. We see it all the time now walking around, because we’ve seen people our age. We see they can probably do with some exercise or they could do with some eating a little better. And it’s like they’ll probably figure they’ll get around to doing it some time. It takes time to turn it around. The longer you leave it, the longer it takes.

Click here to listen

Free Webinar Tue 1/27 Noon ET: Become An Idea Machine

Claudia Azula Altucher Become An Idea Machine, claudia teaching
Join me and Helena Jan 27th (Tue) at noon ET,  for a conversation on how to become an idea machine.  The Webinar is FREE:  Join here.


What I like about Helena is that her company is based on idea sex.

Take for example the name of her business “The Entreprincess”, this is what she says about it:

Entreprincess is the tongue in cheek fusion of entrepreneur and princess, because I believe in fun, feminine and powerful business women! There is a deeper level to this though, as in French the words entre princesses means  between princesses– and this is what I wish to promote- a community of women entrepreneurs that stick together

So the word can have two meanings, one in French, one in English, and it is a combination (idea sex) of ideas…

I hope you can join us for a fun talk and get your gift too.

 Join here.

10 Yoga Hacks For a Great 2015

Claudia Azula Altucher back, back pain, concentration, lower back, noise cancellation, relaxation, Sleep, Yoga Hacks
There are 30 garbage bags in my kitchen filled with “stuff” to either recycle or donate.  

The living-room is empty, just like when we moved in.  

Letting go of all that I no loner need is opening new space in my mind… 

That is one of the hacks… Seemingly not yoga but totally yoga.

1.- Hacking The Practice
“I don’t feel like practicing today! “ — You know the drill.  We’ve all been there. It happens. 
Last month I offered a video suggestion on what to do on this, and it was just one thing: 

To keep the ritual, to roll the mat out, stand at the edge, and then do nothing.
The reason behind this is that when you create a ritual, at least you have the sacred space ready.

Then, whenever your mind lets go of the hold it temporarily has on you which is getting you stuck in its 4-year-old tantrum, you have the space waiting for you.
Not that there is anything wrong with not wanting to practice, it is normal, we are human and some days we just don’t want to – and that is valid. 
Life is pretty hard; I am aware, thank you very much.  

So there, this is a hack that works: just keep the ritual, forget the practice. 
That way, we compromise with the 4-year-old inner child and still keep a space for the first sun salutation to return, whenever ready.
2.- My Palms Sweat Too Much:
Josh told me at the Kripalu retreat last December something that is very common among men in practice, because men tend to sweat more than women, not always, but in general.
For me this only happens at the peak of the summer, in the middle of August, or in tropical weather, so I am not used to even thinking about it, but there is a solution.
There is a rug that can be placed on top of the sticky mat.  This is the one I use. 

The benefit of it is that it dries the hands while at the same time sticking to the mat underneath it.  It solves both problems.
Quality matters for these mats, because if they are not good they end up all over the sticky mat, moving and distracting the practice.

And, I know, it’s expensive… 

So if this is an issue for you consider making an investment…  But only if you sweat THAT much.
Or, there are gloves that stick to the floor or mat… 

I’ve never used them, but people from the newsletter told me they do and they like them…  This are them.  
What do you think about the gloves?

3.- Hacking the Endless Chatty Mind
During the Portable Yoga retreat, on Saturday morning and after the asanas and breathing (pranayama) we listed ten ideas. 
I offered a few suggestions for “themes” and all 17 participants listed away their ideas.

Some even shared them out loud  which made us laugh and enjoy each other’s minds. It was fun. 
I’ve found that listing ideas is a great way to put the chatty mind to “work for us” 

Rather than having it control us, and send us into never-ending loops of old thinking that likely ranges from anxiety to regret and never gives us any peace, we can choose to put it to work.
This is my reasoning:  The mind will take a while to train. I’ve yet to find the off switch…
In the meantime it will do its “thing“, so when it does and it begins to make us crazy, why not use it for something positive?
There are so many ideas that have come out of this, that I wrote a book. 

Click on these words to see it on Amazon


The book has 180 prompts so you get to practice with it.  In paper back it is 400+ pages (hence the cost of 11 or so….although on Kindle is 2.99 or .99 cents for prime members)

Here is the first list of ideas so you get a feeling for the format:


The point of the book is to provide prompts so that if you are stuck and don’t know how to get out of the grip of your terrorizing mind, at least you can list ideas based on a theme that is suggested.
180 days of idea generation is a sure way to transform your life, especially when all other areas of the daily practice (healthy in body, emotion and spirit) are in check.
The first 90 days are focused on ideas that help “me”, meaning “you”, ourselves…

The last 90 days focus on helping others. There is where ideas become currency.
I figured the best way to become idea machines is to work at what interests us the most, likely our own lives, and then move onto adding value, once the ideas gain quality momentum.
Here is the book on Amazon
4.- Hacking Inner Silence (Withdrawing the Senses)
Pratyahara, said BKS Iyengar, means: to go against the grain.  The mind is always looking for what is “out there” and going against the grain means looking at what is in here.
Or, he continues, it’s “shutting down the mind so we can concentrate“. 

Nobody like BKS to put it in plain words.
Our eyes are very “fiery” by nature and they want to go out in the world and name things to keep us safe in the knowing…
Prathyahara is the 5th limb of yoga is the one that deals with GOING WITHIN.
Up until now I thought that we go within by breathing and then sitting and calming the mind, but in a recent interview I did with Gregor Maehle for The Yoga Podcast, threw a new light.
Gregor told me that yoga has ancient ways in which we can DO the fifth limb…

This means not just “wait for it to happen while creating the conditions” but that there are actually things we can get up and DO, how wonderful!  The mind is all happy thinking it is in control again!
Gregor has written four amazing books on yoga and I have reviewed all of them.

Heck I even created a book club around one of them [this one]  because he spills all the secrets of pranayama yoga, so I was enormously grateful when he agreed to come to the yoga podcast.  

His show will release soon, I will let you know, don’t worry.
But in the meantime let me tell you about one of the ways in which we can DO pratyahara as per Gregor and his research into thousands of old yoga texts:
It is through INVERSIONS.  

By learning them slowly, and then learning to breathe in them, slowly…  and staying in them longer and longer.
I hope you join me in listening to the podcast in which he goes over all the options.  It is a great thing to listen to.
5.- Hacking Noise
One of the biggest impediments to my sitting in silence is noise.
Once the eyes (which are the biggest obstacle) are closed, noise is the next level of distraction.
I’ve made it a point of trying to practice with several different helpers and I find that cheap ear plugs HELP.
Just a slight reduction of noise has a significant impact in how much I can go within, feel the body, let go of what I “think” I am, and just be…as it is… with no expectations.
Of course there is always a higher level of noise cancelation.
I found them in an American Airlines flight where they came for freewith an upgrade (although I had to return them after we landed), and life has never been the same. 
The brand is Bose.

They have these headsets 

In them…you switch “on” a button and suddenly al noise is sucked out of your ears 

Well, notall of it but a significant amount, if I had to guess I’d say is about 60%.

I use them, and also these, because they are smaller….
I am aware that they are not cheap.

But I see them as an investment because I ride on trains and planes and live in noisy cities often.
I use these for airplane or train rides, and also for sitting in silence, and to just BE, in silence.  I am aware there are others.  If you find anything good let me know.

When I use them I feel like I am in that white room in the Matrix.

I’ve also incorporated them into pranayama practice.  

I have come to understand how precious and scarce silence is in our lives.
6.- Hacking INNER Noise Cancelation
There was a book I read last month that made a difference with the inner noise cancelation. So much so that she (the author) is coming on my podcast.
Because once we manage to quiet the noise out there, the noise in here (I am pointing to my head) will get loud. 

Or as the Katleen points out, once you can get out of the external rat race, you find there is an internal rat race going on.
Once we FINALLY seat in a warm and quiet, relaxed posture, and we know what to do (let go of any “ideas” we have about ourselves), then we meet our MIND…  Who is not always happy to let go of everything it thinks it knows.
Reading this book, called THE GRACE IN AGING has a soothing effect on me.

It is one of those that I savor because it brings me back to relaxing all the things I try to hold on to,  like: how do I look? Who loves me? How much money do I have? Is my family upset at me? Can I change others?

Letting go of this continuing “trying” gave me a glimpse of peace.
The book is intended for people who are in their sixties, seventies, and or eighties, and I am 46.  

But I don’t care, I found it to be a gem because in facing death we can get more serious and yet more gentle about sitting, seeing the contents of the mind, observing what is going on there.
I especially appreciated the plain English in it.  

Even though some words slip in here and there from the Pali language and her Buddhist background is revealed, every word is inserted for a reason, not to show of or try to convince anyone to go Buddhist…
I appreciate that effort because the message, just as it is, applies to everyone, no matter what spiritual practice they choose. 
This is the book: The Grace of Aging: Awaken As You GrowOlder by Kathleen Dowling Singh
7.- Hacking Back Pain (3 Tips)
I offered a workshop in Manhattan on December 2nd and as it turned out it was snowing and very cold, so I had only two students, but this proved to be very enlightening because having a small class offered the opportunity for more feedback. 
Jim told me he enjoyed the class and the exercise of standing and stretching backwards, with the right inhalation/exhalation etc, he said it was helpful.
James said that the slow-paced class was just what he needed, and that all this new awareness about how to prevent back-pain is helping him.
I used several sources in this workshop and was very surprised to see the similarities between Egoscue and Mckinzie (the current trends on alternatives to back pain healing) when it comes to yoga the exercises they propose and yoga. 
Even the Mayo Clinic proposes an exercise to help ease back pain that, for hundreds of years has been called “shalabasana” in yoga… 
I made a YouTube video of the ONE POSE that can help relieve back pain… Watch it all the way through, including the “warning” in the middle.

Because a friend of a friend DID wake up in a pool of blood for not getting that warning.



Let me summarize some tips to PREVENT BACK PAIN
a) Stretch The Front Of The Body Often
If you sit for work, every HOUR (and I mean every hour) stand up, feet parallel, hip distance apart, breathe in and send your chest forward and upwards, then exhale and drop backwards to where you can (don’t force), stay there for one breath, then INHALE TO COME UP
That feels counter intuitive and is very important, to inhale as you come up, I am even getting emails about this, and YES, that is how it is…. “inhale to come up”
Why is this?  Because we sit so long that we slouch and the front of the body is always contracted and NEVER gets a chance to stretch. 
This exercise does exactly that, stretch the front, but we sit all day, so doing it once an hour is a very small amount of time, but it works.
Try it.  Don’t believe me.  Just do it, and write to me, let me know how you do.
b) Respect the curves of your spine
Meaning the lumbar (lower back) curve and the cervical (neck) curve.  These are not supposed to be slouched or face pushed forward.
Especially when lifting things, squat to leverage the strength of your legs and put some weight on them rather than rounding the back… 

I cringe when I see cab drivers pulling heavy bags out of the trunks with curved backs and straight legs…  squat, please squat.
c)  If you are having financial issues do something about it:  
Money issues can trigger back pain says John Sarno.  You can read this amazing book on that.  Howard Stern was all over the media telling of its wonders.

Mind Over Back Pain, by John Sarno
Come up with ideas, talk to someone, write to me, do something! 

Because financial fears are very debilitating.
If you are not sure ask someone that knows you.  

I had trouble believing I had my own issues when my dad died four years ago,  but the finances triggered a lot of hidden emotional family issues underneath.  

And this can cause the back to “go”. For me it did.  Reading these books and doing these exercises helps.
8.- Hacking Mental Energy and Concentration
I’ve been trying the coffee with coconut oil every morning and it is working for me.   [Note: I am NOT endorsing]

I started doing this after reading The Bulletproof Diet by Dave Asprey and also interviewing him together with James.  The KEY is to blend it… otherwise it IS too greasy.
Here is the interview on Episode 68.
Dave was inspired by people who meditate in Tibet and put ghee (boiled, purified butter) on their tea.  He has all sorts of studies supporting that eating the RIGHT kinds of fat is actually good fuel for the brain. 
You may recall a recent Time Magazine cover on “butter” and how it turns out to be actually good for us..

Turns out the study from a few decades ago that caused a war on fats had left out half of their findings… !!! …  

I mean c’mon!  Leaving out? Gee!

I ate so many carbs in my 20s I am surprised I am not diabetic.
As I said I am not endorsing, I am telling you because it seems to be working for me.

It helps me be less hungry and more focused both in practice, in the morning, and afterwards, for breathing and concentration practice and for writing ideas.
If you feel tempted to try coconut oil in your coffee make sure to a) put very little at first (it can send you to the bathroom rather quickly) and b) use extra virgin, really good quality, or look at Dave’sbook for the whole story.
9.- Hacking Sleep: 3 Tips
1.- Blue Lights, Computer Lights = No Good
You probably already know that computers are not good after a certain time because at night they continue to emit a blue light that inhibits melatonin which is a chemical the brain produces to induce sleep…

Michael told me about the orange glasses…  I am using them. 

These glasses are less than 9 dollars in Amazon and they help filter out all blue lights, hence leaving you ready for sleep.
But I also found out there is a software F.LUX which you install in your computer and turns things orange after dark.
I have it on right now and my computer is slightly orange because even though I’m in Miami, the sun is setting. It does that.  And after it sets the screen will go full on ORANGE.
2.- Pain
I learned this from that interview with Dave Asprey again.  

He proposes that if you lay down on something that offers a bit of pain (he has a blanket with plastic sticky things pointing out but I find the floor mat for the entrance of your door, those that are hard are probably just as good) and you relax onto the slight pain, then the body starts to release endorphins (the body’s morphine)

It had me thinking of fakirs.
Does it work?  It does for me.  

You can read the reviews of it here on Amazon

Then again I only started practicing this fakir type of practice for 20 minutes before bed a week ago, so the longer term may speak with further results. 
3.- Black Out Curtains
I learned this from Tucker Max on his book How To Naturally Increase Testosterone.

Black-out curtains are critical for a good night sleep because any light (as well as cell phones or lights from  LED clocks) again, disturb sleep because we don’t just absorb light with the eyes but also, hear this: with the skin…
10.- Hacking Space

There is one more book that has been a total game changer for me in the past month.  It is this book:

The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up. The Japanese Art of Declutering and Organizing.

It is LIFE CHANGING.


As soon as I got back home from Florida James and I took a whole Sunday to throw things out.

She recommends that as the first step, BEFORE thinking of decoration or moving things or buying anything…

At the moment there are 30 full garbage and recycling bags in the kitchen.  I can’t even walk through… We are waiting for the freezing rain to stop to put it out for the donation pick up and the garbage pick up.

It is amazing what happened to the living room though… 

There is space now…

All the books we had, with words jumping at us, are gone. There is a clean slate.

I love it.

We are interviewing her together for the James Altucher show soon, I am very excited about that.

I think getting rid of “stuff” is a yoga practice… It is aparigraha, or detachment, and it is using what we need only.

It brings back efficiency.  It opens the room and the room in the mind.

This is how clean the living room looked like after the bags were gone:

I can count the number of things in it… Not something I could do before.



In Conclusion:

Remember that all of these here are just suggestions.  


What I’ve found so far to be of extreme use is to practice yoga every day so the body can get back to its original blue print of breathing and stretching.
What you try and what you chose to use is part of your own laboratory.
In the end it is all about releasing and letting go, especially around these times when the year is just beginning.  I hope you have a brilliant start of 2015.
What is Your Yoga Hack?
I would love to know what have you found THIS YEAR to be very useful.  

Something you did not know last year and that you do use now and that is helpful.
————-
I look forward to sharing more on the journey next year and to hear from you, answer questions (AskClaudiaYoga.com) and share observations while we practice together.

How To Transform Your Life in 180 Days

Claudia Azula Altucher Claudia's Book, Consulting, Entrepreneur, Idea
How do you transform your life? 

The answer is simple. Come up with 10 ideas a day. Every day.  

It doesn’t matter if they are good or bad; the point is to exercise your idea muscle, to make it sweat, to stretch it, and to breathe it.

Today James talks with Claudia, on the Ask Altucher Show, about her brand new book: Become an Idea Machine: Because Ideas Are the Currency of the 21st Century.

Listen here


People say ideas are cheap and execution is everything, but that is NOT true: 

Execution is a consequence, a subset of good, brilliant ideas. And good ideas require daily work.

As Claudia explains, coming up with 10 ideas a day is very important.  

You can hear James and Claudia talking about it here. [Episode 191 Ask Altucher]

Ideas may be easy if you are only coming up with one or two, but if you try to produce more than three, you will feel a burn, scratch your head, and you will be sweating and working hard. 

There is a turning point when you reach idea number six for the day, when you still have four to go, and your mind muscle is getting a workout. 

By the time you list those last ideas to make it to ten, you will see for yourself what “sweating the idea muscle” means.

When you practice every day your life will transform.

In about six months.  Here is the book

On the first 90 days, the book has you coming up with 10 ideas a day for YOU, to realize how lucky you are, to improve your life, to notice the themes of what you are passionate about, TODAY.



On the last 90 days the ideas you come up help others, that is what turns you into an idea machine. 

That is where the ideas become currency.

When you send GREAT ideas free, you spread the wealth of catered thought, and it boomerangs back to you in the form of relationships, opportunities, connections.

The KEY is to give your amazing ideas away WITHOUT ANY EXPECTATIONS.

Life changes for the better when we become the source of positive, insightful, and helpful ideas.

Challenge yourself to try it for 180 days and see your life transform, in magical ways, in front of your very eyes.

When you exercise your idea muscle every day, you become an idea machine, you are unstoppable.

Listen here.

If you want to ask James a question, just go to…

Ask a question at Ask Altucher.  Or at AskClaudiaYoga.com

Or, text James at 203-512-2161.