When I started my new job at the Agile Business Consortium, I thought I’d be drawing on my work and learning in membership and belonging. I didn’t consider that I might find links with my training as a yoga teacher! At first glance, the worlds of yoga and business agility might seem light-years apart but, as I’ve deepened my understanding of both, I’ve often found myself pondering how many similarities between their teachings.
Now, I am not an expert in Business Agility (or yoga!) by any stretch of the imagination, so I’m keen to hear from agilists who have more than my six months of learning, but here’s where I see the crossover between my yoga mat and the meeting room.
Being Present is a Practice
Mindfulness is a cornerstone of yoga. It’s probably one of the things that everyone would be able to name as something yoga teachers will talk about. We focus on our breathing, we move slowly between poses and we pay close attention to every muscle ‘twitch’ so that we can make adjustments and respond to changing conditions. You might think it ‘woo’ but, whenever we do anything, we try to ‘be here now’. I have always tried to reflect this in my out of office replies and when setting expectations for my time, but Agile teams practice presence in loads of ways! Visual boards, stand-ups, and flow-based work all help to make us more mindful. The focus is always supposed to be on what’s most important right now. In both my yoga practice and my work presence creates clarity so that good decisions and deep alignment follow.
Adaptability as a Strength, Not a Weakness
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned practicing yoga, especially through teaching people who have differing health needs, is that flexibility is not always about how far you can stretch, but about how well you can adapt. I can turn up with the best lesson plan in the world, but it needs to adapt to the ‘vibes’ in the room, to individual needs, and to how bodies and minds are feeling that day, or it just won’t work. Business Agility is the same. It recognises that plans don’t always survive contact with reality and is about responding to what’s happening now, not clinging to rigid ‘steps to success’. The ability to pivot and change your approach as you learn new things is a superpower, not a flaw.
Balance and Growth
Svadhyaya (self-study) as a path to growth is something that I really connect with in yoga philiosophy. It teaches us that we’re all always learning and, in every class, I facilitate. There’s an opportunity to observe, reflect, and adjust. I try to reflect this in the way that I approach meetings and community meet-up sessions and, when first encountering Business Agility, I was surprised by the amount of active reflection that’s built into our ways of working. Retrospectives, feedback loops, and iterative development all give opportunities to reflect, develop and grow, and it’s largely recognised that no one gets it “right” the first time, and that’s not only okay… it’s expected.
Yoga teaches us that balance isn’t just physical. It’s what we strive for everywhere. Balance is emotional, mental and energetic and yoga students seek sattva, a state of clarity and harmony. Business agility seeks this too: balancing speed with sustainability, outcomes with wellbeing and innovation with governance. The best agile environments don’t burn people out but, instead, help them to flourish. Having a focus on iterative development and continuous review makes this balance easier to achieve and helps us to say no to requests that don’t align with our ‘North Star’.
Empowerment Through Autonomy
In agile teams, autonomy is key. People closest to the work are trusted to make decisions and leadership becomes less about control and more about holding space for others to grow and thrive. My yoga students are encouraged to listen to their own bodies, to modify when needed, and to take ownership of their practice. There’s no one ‘right way’ to do a pose, only what’s right for you, right now. The room temperature, what people did yesterday, how well someone slept… everything has an impact that I can’t always see. There are too many variables for me to be able to teach something that everyone can do ‘out of the box’, and I actively encourage people in classes to move to the beat of their own breath, not to follow my lead.
Purpose Gives Everything Meaning
The deepest connection I’ve felt between yoga and business agility is probably around purpose… the thing that knits everything together. In yoga, we talk about dharma, which is our purpose, our path and our unique way of showing up in the world and, in agile philosophy, a shared vision and mission are what guide teams and inspire meaningful action. I hate doing anything if I don’t understand why I’m doing it and, when people know the ‘why’ behind what they’re doing, they don’t just deliver, they care.
As I continue to learn about Business Agility with the Agile Business Consortium, I’m excited to keep bridging these worlds and finding connections with yoga (and with other interests and areas of my life… I’ve already started a list of links with chicken-keeping!)
Teaching yoga has taught me that true business agility isn’t about moving faster or doing more, it’s about meeting people where they are, staying curious, and creating space for everyone to thrive.
And really, isn’t that what all good leadership is about?