“None of us think twice about recharging our phones, why do we feel bad recharging our minds?” With Meg Jackson
As a part of our quest to champion purpose-driven entrepreneurs across the world here is the story of Meg Jackson, the ninth of our Humans of Happy Startups Series.
The Happy Startup School first met Meg at our Summercamp 2015 where she hosted early morning yoga sessions for campers. Since then, Meg’s helped hundreds of people get bendy as she founded her Yoga business...
Meg Jackson
Founder of Real Life Yoga
Based in London, UK
Meg! I’m so excited to share your Yoga story today, especially with our community theme this month centred around “Wellbeing”. So to begin, tell us what your personal driving force was behind setting up Real Life Yoga
I began practicing yoga almost ten years ago — purely to get arms like Madonna. Yeah. Not for spiritual enlightenment. Or inner peace. Or even because I wanted to be a better person. I wanted Madge’s biceps and I had heard somewhere that she got them through a thing called ‘Ashtanga Yoga’.
So I went. And I hated it.
I thought I was going to die in my first Downward Dog. My Triangle Pose had the tone and refinement of a bit of Toblerone left out in the sun. And trying to stand on one leg was so frustrating I wanted to punch someone.
But I kept going.
And so yoga and I began this long, sometimes dysfunctional relationship. We have had our differences but despite our emotional rollercoaster, yoga and I decided to make it official.
In 2007 I qualified as a yoga teacher. Since then I’ve taught internationally, working with all sorts of people; from those who have never attempted anything yogic, to folks who can become a human pretzel at the drop of a yoga mat.
But these days I’m angry about yoga for different reasons. And it’s not because I hate back bending (even though I still do). I’ve been increasingly p*ssed off with the portrayal of ‘yoga’ as something you can only do if you’re female, skinny, dressed totally in Lycra, standing on a beach/in front of a sunset/next to a temple, love eating nothing but kale etc. The promotion of these images does nothing but fuel perceptions that only a certain type of person can do yoga.
I also became more and more aware that the qualities I had previously seen as holding me back from being a kick-arse teacher were actually things that made me a kick-arse teacher. I’m NOT naturally bendy, so every pose I can do I’ve had to really work for and I don’t think my feet have any intention of ever going anywhere near the back of my head. I don’t have 2 hours every day to spend on a yoga mat, I really like drinking wine and singing power ballads, and I don’t want to change my name to Moonflower.
I’m very much a real person, trying to incorporate yoga’s amazing teachings and practices into her real life, finding out how I can be happier and healthier, and I figured that there are probably a few more people like me out there too.
Yoga is for EVERY BODY. All you need is a desire to feel better than you do.
You need to be curious about how you can make that happen. And you need to have a sense of humour (after all, it’s only yoga).
I love this Meg, it’s bold and breaking the boundaries. Yes! How did you first begin Real Life Yoga and what sort of people have you helped?
Real Life Yoga was conceived at the Happy Startup Summercamp in 2015. I can remember exactly where I was during one of the tea breaks, and I was chatting through my vague wafflings about what I thought I wanted to do with some of my stupendous fellow campers.
And then, purely out of their brilliant suggestions, and their patience and coaxing and encouragement, the flash of inspiration hit (or it could have been the hot tea getting under my filling) and Real Life Yoga was suddenly a ‘thing’.
Real Life Yoga is a movement with a mission: to help real people bring a little (or a lot) of yoga into their real lives.
It has been growing since then. Slowly — largely due to the fact that I had to have a ‘proper’ job (as my darling Dad would call it) at the same time. Or at least I wasn’t quite brave enough to not have a proper job at the same time. A girl’s gotta buy her Cabernet Sauvignon, after all.
Due to Real Life Yoga’s approach, my work appeals to lots of beginners which is all kinds of fun. It’s alarming how many people I’ve taught who say stuff like ‘oh my god –that’s the first yoga class I haven’t wanted to punch someone in!’ or ‘blimey I actually enjoyed that’. Introducing people to this amazing stuff, and seeing them change, grow, challenge themselves, be brave, and thrive is just so rewarding.
You’re making me chuckle :) I can totally relate.
Burnout is a real life concern for founders, and I was curious to hear whether you have any experience with it? Or know anyone who does? What advice would you recommend to keep stress to a minimum?
I’ve been lucky so far and haven’t got to the point of burnout. Although I’ve definitely felt more than a bit singed around the edges on numerous occasions!
The trouble with us founders is that we throw ourselves into setting up our vision, then by default you have to be 100% dedicated to it. We have to be driven by our passion (because let’s face it we’re not doing it for the profit!), but that can mean that we don’t know when to stop. Sometimes we don’t want to.
First of all — know yourself.
There’s no point resolving to mediate for 30 minutes every morning if you know that you’d rather stick hot needles under your nails, than sit still for that long. So play to your strengths. Make your ‘meditation’ a walk to the coffee shop, or find a favourite track every hour you’re working to listen to and do nothing but listen.
Recognise that you’re never going to stop stress
But realise you can choose how you react to it. Build up your resilience by practicing life-enhancing stuff when the times are good, not just when they’re less-than-good.
Great advice. Thank you Meg! I’m nosy and would love to hear what your daily routine looks like. How do you balance health, wellbeing, productivity and general life admin day to day as an entrepreneur?
First of all, I have to stop chuckling at the fact that you think I’ve got all this sorted! It’s an ongoing challenge as much for me as it is for everyone else.
Admittedly, I may have a few more tools in my toolbox for when it comes to health, wellbeing and all that malarkey, but that doesn’t mean that I’m always using them at the right time.
But I know what works for me. I know that moving my body makes me feel good, and the more often I do it the less likely I am to want to beat someone to death with my yoga mat.
If I’m going for a run, I’ll listen to an audiobook at the same time because that helps me justify spending time away from emails.
I know that I’m more productive when I have everything written down — whether that’s a ‘to do’ list, or scribbles of ideas that come to me at random times. Trying to keep them all in my head drives me crazy, so a good old fashioned pen and notebook are my best friends. (Not really — I do have actual friends.)
So if an entrepreneur came to you looking to develop healthier habits both mentally and physically, what would you recommend?
First of all, as I said earlier, know what works for you and play to your strengths. If you feel like you can’t allow yourself time away from your desk, use your downtime constructively.
Get outside and go for a walk to find inspiration for the next piece of the development strategy, or do some colouring-in whilst you’re thinking about how to overcome that glitch in the programming.
If you still can’t justify taking time out for you, see it as another investment in the success of your enterprise.
None of us think twice about recharging our phones, or taking some time to update our computer’s software, so what’s different about doing the equivalent for ourselves?
Our physical, mental, and spiritual (and I invite you to interpret that word however you choose) wellbeing should be our primary concern; and that’s not being selfish, it’s being sensible.
And, of course, I’d suggest they booked themselves some 1–2–1 yoga lessons with a yoga teacher who knows exactly what they’re going through… *cough* Real Life Yoga Group sessions *cough*
Thank you so much for giving us an insight into your world Meg. To anyone interested, we highly recommend Meg’s Yoga classes. She gets everyone in the zone at Summercamp year on year. Check out her work!
At The Happy Startup School we take health & wellbeing of our team, community and ourselves seriously. We’ve always believed wellbeing is the key to productivity, and success. If you enjoyed this post, please click that little green heart and follow our Humans of Happy Startups publication.
