I felt it for the first time yesterday; an edge of anxiety, a certain density in the atmosphere, the look on the faces of people on the streets - from Ladbroke Grove to Chelsea, from St James' to Fitzrovia; the felt sense is ...

Summer is over : (

The days are discernibly shorter - even though summer doesn't technically end for another three weeks - and the pace is starting to pick up. London is collectively preparing to make the jump to light speed for the autumn-to-Christmas race. 'Here it comes …' we all seem to be feeling.

In this last bit of lull before all of the action commences, I am taking time to re-focus and recalibrate my intentions. I giving myself some space to filter through my desires - what do I really want to create in the next phase of my practice?

As usual, in all my contemplations, the need to be fully creatively self-expressed keeps coming up. (And the desire to sharpen my organisational structures). Last fall was a brilliant creative explosion for me and some members of the Kula (the yoga community) - we started classes in Marylebone, and initiated 'Project Upshift', which was a way for many of us to make changes and transform our lives towards greater happiness and abundance. What does the Kula need this autumn? What do I have to share that can help uplift us and open new doors?

As we prepare to go back to school*, back to work, and back to the everyday after the summer holidays, we could use a little reminder of the nature of flow, and the role of fluidity in our lives. Having luxuriated in the natural lull of summer’s rhythm, and the brightness of summer’s leisure activities, our intentions and goals for the year may seem far away, and we might be host to the 'end-of-summer-blues'.

I feel it is so important now, more than ever, to focus on the essential. What are my highest aspirations and goals, and how can all of my words and my actions and choices support them? John Friend, the founder of Anusara yoga, mandates his teachers to think 'Highest First' - what is the expression/action that is aligned with the highest, the divine? The trick is, think 'Highest First', and move from there.

And so in this lull before the whirlwind, I would invite you today to think about what you're you focusing on? How are you opening to new possibilities? Or are you renewing commitments to fulfil goals and intentions from before the blast of summer leisure? What do your 'Kula', your community, your clients need? What is 'The Highest' for you this autumn?

*(Have a look at the post I wrote in August 2010 outlining how to do a ‘back to school’ review of your business).

Leila Sadeghee is an Anusara-Inspired Yoga Teacher and Therapeutic Bodyworker based in Fitzrovia, London.  Her teaching is inspirational, bio-mechanically savvy, superbly fun, and driven by a deep commitment to serve people in opening to their highest potential, both on and off the mat. Join Leila on 3 September at The Life Centre for an afternoon of recalibrating your intentions for the rest of the year, moving with music that supports those intentions, and charging your inner radiance so it can spill over into all that you do in the months to come. http://www.leilasadeghee.com/

Yoga Place is a lovely yoga centre in east London. The space is decorated in cool white and Buddhist orange and there is always a sense of calm and inspiration with the walls covered in quotes about yoga. 

Last week waiting for my regular Anusara yoga class to start, I noticed a quote reflected backwards in the mirror that I had never seen before (so much for paying attention!). It said:

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection, from the quiet reflection will come even more effective action".

The quote is in fact not a yoga quote but comes from one of the most well known thinkers of the 20th century – management guru Peter F. Drucker who coined the term “knowledge worker”.

In the Western world, many yoga practices focus solely on the asanas or postures that make up the physical practice of yoga. However, without the aspects of pranayama (breathing practices) and the balance of action and reflection that make up a fuller engagement, a yoga practice can become little more than a keep fit class.

It is the same in our working practice. We spend most, if not all, of our working day being  ‘busy’ and focused on action and delivery leaving little or no time for “quiet reflection”. However, it is in these moments of quiet reflection that our best ideas for ‘effective action’ in our business or role can come to us.

So how can we ensure that we make time in our day for ‘quiet reflection’?

Many successful business people I follow have embraced meditation as a tool for having a daily practice of quiet refection but this perhaps is not for everyone. Instead, in my new ebook From Apps To Zen: 26+ Ideas for Building a Business with Balance, I talk about the lure of “Busywork” and the practice of mindfulness and questioning which you can use to move between effective action and quiet refection.

The free ebook is available to download from the 8fold website.