Un-Slump Yourself Part 2 – through Self-Study, Intuitive Listening, and Design Thinking  

Greetings! Do you listen to the many voices in your head?  It’s tricky to identify which voices to ignore and which ones to pay attention to, ya?    Last month we identified what a “Slump” is, and how to “Un-slump” yourself through Saucha.  Saucha means Cleanliness and is one of Patanjali’s Niyamas in the 8 Limbs of Yoga.  Feel free to read or review that post here.  Today I’m going to share an alternate method to rise out of your slump by exploring another limb of yoga – Svadhyaya or Self-Study.  I’ll be offering up tips from masters of the subject like Stanford Professors and Yoga Gurus, all of whom recommend Self-Study, though may call it different names like “Design Thinking” and “Intuitive Listening”.  I’ll also share my own story, of how Self-Study led me out of a 9-year corporate office job, to explore new career ventures.  If you’re currently working through a specific conflict – this post is especially for you, read on. 

Preface

A few months ago I had a realization – I was in a Slump.  I felt the pervading cloud of pessimism looming over me like I did during the Pandemic.  And then I remembered some thoughts I wrote down during 2020, how I emerged from that slump and decided to re-visit those practices.  And good news, I’m completely out of it!   This article is a re-write of my original thoughts, refined to incorporate several tips I’ve honed over the last 2 years.   I’m excited to share my experience with any of you that may struggle with this occasionally too.  And let’s be honest, we all get in slumps, and we all will continue to get into slumps.  It’s how we emerge from the metaphorical bog that counts. 

Designing Your Life

I assumed the reason for my slump was my day-job.   And I was partly right, partly wrong.  You see, over the past 10 years, I’ve been struggling with the ‘problem’ of my career as an Architect.  I’ve read several personal growth books in efforts to ‘correct’ this, and the one that resonated the most with me was, “Designing Your Life – How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life,” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, two professors of Design at Stanford University.  Here they discuss how to Think Like a Designer.  Which naturally resonated with me, because I am, in fact, an Architect and Designer.

Problem Finding

One of the key takeaways in this book, is not about the Problem Solving, rather the Problem Finding. 

“In design thinking, we put as much emphasis on problem finding as we do on problem solving.  After all, what’s the point of working on the wrong problem?”

Designing Your Live – How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

The authors of the book dedicate several sections on this with countless student examples.  I’ll summarize – most people don’t understand the actual problem they have.  They spend way too much time “solving” a problem before they realize that their problem, wasn’t the problem or even a problem at all. They call this process, ‘Re-framing.’  And as it turns out, I am a little guilty of this too. 

Re-Framing

Take a minute, and think of a problem that you’re struggling with.  Maybe write it down.  Then after reading this post, and performing a bit of your own self-study, let’s see if it’s the “right” problem, or if it needs to be re-framed.  I’m genuinely curious – let me know! 

I am a problem-solver by nature, and my education and career in Architecture as a Project Manager has sharpened this natural ability.  When I have a problem, I immediately dive into problem-solving mode.  Good, yes?  NO!  I’m actually realizing I need to un-learn this.  Before you problem-solve, there’s a critical step that must first happen.   You need to analyze the actual problem and make sure it’s the right problem to solve. 

Think about it for a second…how many friends do you know that are working on the wrong problem?  Do you have a friend that says she can’t find a boyfriend, but is stunningly beautiful though she doesn’t believe it?  The problem is not that she needs a boyfriend.  The problem is that she needs to focus on self-love, which will in turn allow her to exude confidence, and assist in attracting the right partner.  Sometimes it’s much easier for us to discern the problems in others, rather than ourselves.  But…we should not go around pointing that out to our friends.  Unwanted advice is the worst advice.  It’s just something interesting to think about, and apply that knowledge to ourselves. 

Leila’s Problem

Here’s another example: mine.  I assumed my problem was finding the right firm to be employed as an Architect.  Over the past 15 years, I have worked full-time at 3 different National, Corporate commercial architecture firms. And while I took pride in my projects and growth as a manager, each experience disappointed me in the end.  I assumed I needed a new career.  However, once I went through the process in the book, I realized there were parts of Architecture I really enjoyed. I just didn’t love the long hours and late nights or the stressful corporate politics.  I wanted more time to dedicate to my family and to my side projects – teaching yoga, and writing.   

My problem wasn’t finding a new career, exactly, it was how to be a Part-Time Architect.

Self-Study

So, if the first step to Un-slump Yourself, is to identify your problem or re-frame your problem.  The second step would include Self-Study to begin the process problem-solving.  The book goes on to explain several techniques including self-assessment tests, ideating, mind mapping, prototyping, Life Design Interviews, etc, which are all great.  I went through many of these exercises during my journey and if you are solving a large life problem like mine, I highly recommend reading the book.  I won’t go into detail about these here, but I will categorize these processes as Self-Study.  

Synchronicity

Have you ever had 2 separate experiences that have pointed you in the same direction?  I’d like to digress for a short moment and share mine here.  I read this book a year and a half ago and exercised what they call “Design Thinking.”  Then 9 months ago, I enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training and learned about the concepts of Svadhyaya and Intuition, more on this later.

I think life gives you subtle signs sometimes that you’re on the wrong path, and gentle nudges to get back on track.  When I read the book, I wasn’t ready yet to follow my gut, but it’s text prepared me.  It was a nudge.  In all honestly, it was probably the hundredth nudge I’d received over the past 15 years, but my obstinate brain refuses to acknowledge defeat.  During my yoga training it all finally clicked, and I became ready. Can you recall any similar nudges in your journey?  This is called Synchronicity, and this quote affirms this concept for me:

“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order”

Eudora welty, AMerican novelist and pulitzer prize winner

We will all get where we’re supposed to be if we have patience and learn from our deviated paths.

Okay here’s another one (I love quotes) by the great theologian, Adele, lyrics from her album 30, which will be featured in the playlist for my yoga classes this month.

“Sometimes the road less traveled is a road best left behind”

Svadhyaya

What I learned during my Yoga Training, was that traditional Yogis, follow the “8 Limbs of Yoga” which act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They also serve as a prescription for moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline. 

These are written about in detail in the “Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” which is a collection of Sanksrit sutras on the theory and practice of yoga.  And one of the Niyamas, is, you guessed it, Self Study.  In Sanksrit, it is called Svadhyaya, or, the education of one’s self.   I like how it’s written in BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga,

“The person practicing Svadhyaya reads his own book of life, at the same time that he writes and revises it.” 

Discernment and Intuition

So, after you’ve identified your problem, self-reflected on the problem, it’s time to choose the solution to your problem. 

In the Designing Your Life approach, the exercises mentioned earlier are essential to logical thinking and ideating, but when it comes to the final conclusion, the authors essentially advise you to use your gut or intuition. 

“We define discernment as decision making that employs more than one way of knowing.  We mostly use cognitive knowing – all that good, objective, organized, informational kind of knowing… But we also have other ways of knowing…intuitive, spiritual, and emotional knowing.  Add to that…kinesthetic knowing (in our bodies)…In order to make a good decision, we need access to our feelings and gut reactions to the alternatives.”

Designing Your Live – How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

To read these words in a non-religious book, text written by Professors at Stanford, no less, really punctured me.  After all the facts and logic, at the end of the day, you need to trust your gut.   

Do you have a gut instinct as to what needs to be done to solve your problem?  It may be your intuition giving you that gentle nudge. 

Chakra Association

Svadhyaya can also be associated with our Intuition or 6^th sense. And our Intuition is is rooted in our 6^th Chakra energy center, another concept of Yoga, read about that here.  But the key takeaway is, that your Intuition is a natural ability that you possess, but like all abilities, it needs to be exercised.  One way to strengthen this sense, is to do Yoga, my specialty!  And lucky you, this month in my Yoga classes, our posture sequence will include poses especially designed to exercise our Intuitive Listening.  Come take a class with me – my schedule is updated here! When you continually exercise your Intuition, the ‘wrong’ voices fade away, and your gut instinct becomes more clear. 

And bonus – the 6th Brow, or Ajna, Chakra color is Indigo or deep blue. So if you feel like surrounding yourself with the color blue this month, that could be another intuitive booster.

Final thoughts

Returning to my career problem example; Once I found the right problem, finding a solution was much easier.  Subproblem 1 was where to find a part-time job. Large corporate firms do not employ part time Architects.  But as it turns out, smaller firms may.  And my husband just happens to co-own a smaller firm.  Subproblem 2 was could we afford reducing my hours and associated salary.  After reviewing our finances with my husband, it turned out that we could – the lack of income from working for another firm, could be offset by the profits he (we) would gain by hiring added labor.  Subproblem 3 was the work itself.  The projects at the smaller firm are not as high-profile, and the office is definitely not as glamourous.  Subproblem 4 was probably the scariest: I would be working for my husband.  I had to let go of my pride as an independent career woman, which is probably a topic for another blog post. 

But after weighing all the options, my gut told me to proceed.  So I did.  And 5 months in, I don’t regret it.  After a 4 day workweek project managing complicated hospital equipment replacement and renovations, I am currently enjoying my Friday ‘off.’   I’m writing this post on my laptop at a café overlooking Laguna Beach where I will soon take a walk on the sand, after go teach 2 yoga classes, then pick up my kids from school early and play.  This may sound strange to you, but I am living my dream.

So what problem are you tackling this season?  Does your problem need to be re-framed?  Have you experienced any intuitive nudges to self-study?  If this post has resonated with you in any way, I’d love to chat about it.  And if you want to exercise your intuition, or just exercise, please join me for a yoga class!