Hey everyone,
how are you holding up? I am riding the waves and trying to be as creative and adaptable as I can be at this time. In this solo episode I am sharing a bit about what that looks like for me, about what is changing and what is not changing and what is helping me right now.
I am also reading from my new zine Our Bodies as Anti Capitalist Business Mentors, for which you can sign up for free here: httpss://pinkwellstudio.com/free-workshops/ – it talks about shame, having needs and using our bodies as wise guidance systems through the pandemic and beyond.
As promised I’ll be running another free workshop on taking your business online on May 13th, which will be particularly helpful for people who had local practices and want some guidance and tools around taking things online. You can sign up under the same link above.
Finally you’re still welcome to join the Embodied Business Community – I have extended the enrolment period and am offering a new $24/month payment plan. More info is here: httpss://pinkwellstudio.com/diy-business-school/
Thank you so much for listening!
Sending love,
Yarrow
Listen to the Embodied Business Podcast
on Apple Podcast // Spotify
⋒ Hi, my name is Yarrow.
My show is a podcast for introverts who want to build gentle & sustainable businesses that are aligned with their values and fun to work in. Subscribe to be supported in defining your own ethical marketing compass, building rock solid systems and finding the confidence you need to thrive.
You can learn more about my work and listen to other episodes at PinkWellStudio.com. I also offer free monthly Spark Sessions and share resources, ideas & new episodes about once per month over on Substack ⋒
Transcript
Hey, everyone, my name is Yarrow and you’re listening to the DIY small business podcast. I will eventually renamed to embody business podcast. I haven’t gotten around to that yet. As you can imagine, I’m writing wild waves like all of us at the moment, and just trying to prioritise, you know, using my time and energy and creativity in the best way I can, which is different, and also the same in some way. Anyway, this is a solo episode in which I want to share a little bit about what’s been going on in my business the last few weeks, while I am working towards resilience and being adaptive. I’m changing what stays the same. And I also want to read to you from my theme, our business as both know, it was a funny anyway, diseases, our bodies as anti capitalist business mentors, and this is the same as based on a Instagram post series that I did in the in late February, early March, that people liked it. And I enjoyed writing it. So I put everything together into Xen a few weeks ago. And I thought I would read you from that. Yeah, so where I’m at is that everything is pretty wild. We have been on lockdown in Scotland for about five weeks now. And the weeks the two weeks prior to that I’ve been self isolating because I was I had been travelling back to Germany to have had my mom who’s chronically ill move houses. And when I came back, I developed some symptoms. So I wanted to be careful. So I’ve had a lot of solitude a lot, I feel fully recharged with alone time. As a hardcore introvert, I feel really intimate my home with my two dogs with my own. And then with the beach and the rhythm that I still have access to, I feel that life has become really slow and quiet and small. And I’m enjoying that while also being in a lot of pain and uncertainty and grief, and worry about loved ones and about the planet as a whole lot of the time. So I feel that this week, I’ve been a little bit more grounded and riding these waves, and they don’t feel so extreme to me anymore. But I’ve also really had the luxury in the last few weeks before this one, to just rest an incredible amount. And to be really, really slow and gentle with myself, I’ve been eating so much just wild amounts of food went into my tummy. And I’ve just let it all be you know, I’ve just been waking up each day just trying to do my best and letting that be enough. And I obviously feel really committed to showing up in the best way that I can for my clients. And I feel proud of the work that I’ve done to support people in shifting things right now and building resilience in their own businesses, both one on one and the embodied business community. But I have not done anything beyond what is really needed. And that’s kind of radical in its own way. Right. I think we have so many stories about what is good enough. And I have been podcasting sometimes. But I’ve also taken breaks when needed for this podcast, and my other podcast, Adrian rose, as well. And I’ve also really tried to not fill the space that I now have, from not really socialising with anyone with random stuff to keep busy. I am thinking a lot sometimes about the fact that when we ask each other how we are, at this time, the responses often I’m keeping busy as an expression of saying I’m trying to remain in a normal space. And I think that’s a bit odd, right? If we’re really thinking about it, because this isn’t a normal space. And I think we really need to have time to reflect and go inwards and be alone to move forward with whatever comes next in a way that’s aligned with our values. Yes, I’ve also been really lucky to do a breathwork trainer teaching a breathwork teacher training last weekend, which I had signed up to do last year, and for which I was going to travel. So I felt really grateful that was now online. And it was still a really beautiful learning experience, but really
incredible people. And I think to me, as I’ve said many times before reference is really just such an effective and accessible tool to work with anxiety and bring me back into my body and into my intuition and that’s how me and my business as well. So I’m thinking about ways of bringing breathwork into this work that I do here. And I’m not totally sure yet what that will look like. But one thing that I am already show I really want to bring forward is, I will run another workshop on my may 13, Wednesday on shifting a local business online. So that’s going to be free, a friend ran one of those in March, which was great. But I feel like a month later, we are maybe at a different point a bit more open and receptive to thinking about what this summer will look like as we have adjusting to the fact that some level of lockdown or social distancing measures will be in place for a while. So I want to look at that, again. You’re invited to join the link is in the show notes. You’ll also receive the workbook from which I’m reading if you sign up, so sign up, even if you can’t come or if it’s not relevant to you, because you will get the workbook, our buddies as anticapitalist business mentors, which I really hope is helpful to you. Other than that, the body business community is really feeling like there’s such a surge of energy right now. Because we’re turning towards each other and running our first co working session together tomorrow, virtually, we are running. Well. I’m hosting workshops on no bullshit money mindset staff, this group coaching coming up in Sunday. And then there’s just more energy in the mighty network space as well, which I love. And, yeah, we had a good number of new people sign up, all of which have really beautiful ideas and energy to bring. And if you want to join us, you’re super welcome. Still, it is still open. I’ve extended enrollment. And I’ve also added a new 10 pad payment. So you can join for a year, making 10 payments of $24 a month. And that gives you access to the network, the monthly group coaching, the workshops, the 10 module courses, the CO working spaces, the workshops on building a business in times of crisis and all those kinds of things. I’ve also obviously been thinking about what it means to be adaptive right now. And I’ll talk a little bit more in a moment as I read from the scene. In my own business, what I’ve done is, like I just mentioned, I have added a longer payment plan. And I’ve I’ve offered enrollment to the community now without one on one mentoring. For me, adding the one on one mentoring last year felt like a really good plan because I love connecting with people one on one and really guiding them into the community welcoming them personally, and making sure that they get what they need from it. But I found other ways of doing that. Sending custom videos, for example, and welcoming people that way. And it allowed me to lower the price a little bit. And that feels like a really good way of adapting. I’ve also put together a new smaller business mentoring programme, which allows you to book just three sessions from me with me and then have three sessions of tech and design support to implement and that specifically for people who had local practices and want to take things online right now as much as they can. also thinking about resilience in the long term. Because really, if you’re honest with ourselves, we don’t know what is going to come be on his and whether a pandemic will might happen again in some other way or what other challenges we’ll be facing together. In all of this being adaptive and creative during difficulty, I keep coming back to my body. And it keeps affirming to me that this workbook that I wrote is really just like a such a good representation of where I’m at. In my business right now. I honestly never set out to become a business mentor. And in fact, when I started my web design business, I was self taught. And I was really annoyed with the industry of business mentoring, or business coaching because it seemed very, very focused on just making as much money as possible, it seemed focused on replicating harmful ways of doing business and marketing in particular. And I didn’t think that there was space for anything else that felt so all consuming. And I’m glad that over time, I had a chance to work with different people having different ideas and thoughts and really giving me so much inspiration and space to be playful. And yeah, I just can’t say enough how grateful I am. I’m going to teach and we’re gonna take a class actually,
with starhawk and someone called Patti love soon about building a regenerative business. These people are both coming from a permaculture perspective and really have done so much work around honouring the earth and so I’m really excited to learn more and bring that forward into the work that I do in my community and with my clients as well. But now I want to read to you from the scene. So again, it’s called our buddy anticapitalist business mentors, you can get it for free. The link is in the show notes. And what I’m reading now is that second chapter, I say chapters, but they’re all really short. They’re like two, three or four pages long. It’s a really accessible workbook. 26 pages in total. So the chapter is called all that you are is all that you need. Sometimes they make potions for myself and others because they are beautiful, practical ways to reconnect with an idea or intention several times a day while literally taking them in. All that you are is all that you need is the one I’m finding particularly helpful at this moment. As it goes against so much of what we’re being taught from the outside as a teenager Am I believe in my own not good enough, and this was all consuming. I was immersed in consumerism and had no idea how to name it. I worked so many hours already being tired of the school just to be able to buy cheap, fast fashion or makeup. I can tell of women’s magazines have become better or worse since the 90s. But I think Western beauty standards is still present all around us. It takes courage and confidence for a young mind to not buy into these messages. And then wonder how much of these thoughts still live in our bodies now that we are navigating social media and finding a voice online. I’m trying to ask myself more often what I would do if I truly believe that I’m already good enough, exactly as I am, how I work might be different. as I’ve gotten older and started my business, I’ve invested a lot of a lot of money in education, not always from an empowered place, often taking classes because I hoped that they would make me feel held while I was navigating daily decision making and pathfinding. I wanted someone to tell me what to do to assure me that it’s going to be okay. Sometimes I learned really useful stuff that way, that way, and sometimes I just overstretch my body, my budget out of insecurity. I want to explore the idea that my body is my home, as well as the guidance systems that I can always rely on. And that there is so much to learn simply by observing its rhythms. It feels soothing to think that there’s this free resource that is really unique to me, and that I hold more wisdom that I can find online. I also want to communicate about my work in a way that does not make others feel inadequate or lacking in any way. My hope is to create spaces in which people will connect, reconnect with the things they already know, learn and togetherness with others and find their own answers. This is an invitation to practice. So each chapter ends with these level invitations to practice. ask a friend to chat with you about the media and marketing messages you’ve been receiving throughout your life, and how they have shaped you make a list of good and bad examples. Who that feels good. And then talk about what it could look like to share your work in a way that’s transparent and leaves people space to make empowered choices.
And then I’m going to read to you chapter seven as well, which is called we have to tell the truth. Whenever I have a good connection to my body, and I’m relaxed and present, I have very good a very good sense of my own truth and what feels true from other people. And wondering how I can weave this into my business. And I think marketing narratives are a good example. Of course, we want to tell a story. So share why we made what we made and tell others why what we are offering is the ship. But often we wildly simplify healing our success narratives to make them more marketable. We say before I started doing x y Zed, I was completely lost, I felt broken. But then I came across x y Zed, and I basically dance with the phrase all the time and it’s so much fun. Come and work with me so that you can also learn x y Zed and dance with us. And it’s hardly a red at symbol rate is there’s never just one way of doing things or that one modality that works for everyone to fix people most often is a twisty path full of experimentation, occasional highlights and healing leaves confusion and frustration has and oh flags and then eventually we’ll look back end we can say fuck yeah, I’ve changed. I worked something out and different and this is good. I’m committing to checking in with my body more often when I tell stories. And when I hear stories and want to grow myself trust and knowing the difference between truth telling and good posing, and invitation practice. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and gently connect with your breath. No need to change anything. Just take a moment to witness air coming in, out of your in and out of your lungs. Whenever you whenever you feel ready, say something out loud. That feels absolutely true to you right now. How does that feel? How is your body responding? If you feel unsure, try a few more statements and see what you can observe. Next, return to your breath for a moment and then say something out loud. That is absolutely not True. How is this feeling different? Take note and see if you can observe your body’s reactions more often as you navigate day to day decisions in your business. I hope that felt helpful to listen to and that you might work with the whole workbook is about Welcome to print that if you want to be off screen right now, which I know I am. And yeah, so thank you so much for listening. As always, please come to a free workshop if you like, please let me know what else you’d like to know about. Please book a free call. If you’re interested in working with me one on one I have capacity for tech support and mentoring and I’ve designed over the summer and then maybe a little bit even in May. So yeah, I’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much.
incredible people. And I think to me, as I’ve said many times before reference is really just such an effective and accessible tool to work with anxiety and bring me back into my body and into my intuition and that’s how me and my business as well. So I’m thinking about ways of bringing breathwork into this work that I do here. And I’m not totally sure yet what that will look like. But one thing that I am already show I really want to bring forward is, I will run another workshop on my may 13, Wednesday on shifting a local business online. So that’s going to be free, a friend ran one of those in March, which was great. But I feel like a month later, we are maybe at a different point a bit more open and receptive to thinking about what this summer will look like as we have adjusting to the fact that some level of lockdown or social distancing measures will be in place for a while. So I want to look at that, again. You’re invited to join the link is in the show notes. You’ll also receive the workbook from which I’m reading if you sign up, so sign up, even if you can’t come or if it’s not relevant to you, because you will get the workbook, our buddies as anticapitalist business mentors, which I really hope is helpful to you. Other than that, the body business community is really feeling like there’s such a surge of energy right now. Because we’re turning towards each other and running our first co working session together tomorrow, virtually, we are running. Well. I’m hosting workshops on no bullshit money mindset staff, this group coaching coming up in Sunday. And then there’s just more energy in the mighty network space as well, which I love. And, yeah, we had a good number of new people sign up, all of which have really beautiful ideas and energy to bring. And if you want to join us, you’re super welcome. Still, it is still open. I’ve extended enrollment. And I’ve also added a new 10 pad payment. So you can join for a year, making 10 payments of $24 a month. And that gives you access to the network, the monthly group coaching, the workshops, the 10 module courses, the CO working spaces, the workshops on building a business in times of crisis and all those kinds of things. I’ve also obviously been thinking about what it means to be adaptive right now. And I’ll talk a little bit more in a moment as I read from the scene. In my own business, what I’ve done is, like I just mentioned, I have added a longer payment plan. And I’ve I’ve offered enrollment to the community now without one on one mentoring. For me, adding the one on one mentoring last year felt like a really good plan because I love connecting with people one on one and really guiding them into the community welcoming them personally, and making sure that they get what they need from it. But I found other ways of doing that. Sending custom videos, for example, and welcoming people that way. And it allowed me to lower the price a little bit. And that feels like a really good way of adapting. I’ve also put together a new smaller business mentoring programme, which allows you to book just three sessions from me with me and then have three sessions of tech and design support to implement and that specifically for people who had local practices and want to take things online right now as much as they can. also thinking about resilience in the long term. Because really, if you’re honest with ourselves, we don’t know what is going to come be on his and whether a pandemic will might happen again in some other way or what other challenges we’ll be facing together. In all of this being adaptive and creative during difficulty, I keep coming back to my body. And it keeps affirming to me that this workbook that I wrote is really just like a such a good representation of where I’m at. In my business right now. I honestly never set out to become a business mentor. And in fact, when I started my web design business, I was self taught. And I was really annoyed with the industry of business mentoring, or business coaching because it seemed very, very focused on just making as much money as possible, it seemed focused on replicating harmful ways of doing business and marketing in particular. And I didn’t think that there was space for anything else that felt so all consuming. And I’m glad that over time, I had a chance to work with different people having different ideas and thoughts and really giving me so much inspiration and space to be playful. And yeah, I just can’t say enough how grateful I am. I’m going to teach and we’re gonna take a class actually,
with starhawk and someone called Patti love soon about building a regenerative business. These people are both coming from a permaculture perspective and really have done so much work around honouring the earth and so I’m really excited to learn more and bring that forward into the work that I do in my community and with my clients as well. But now I want to read to you from the scene. So again, it’s called our buddy anticapitalist business mentors, you can get it for free. The link is in the show notes. And what I’m reading now is that second chapter, I say chapters, but they’re all really short. They’re like two, three or four pages long. It’s a really accessible workbook. 26 pages in total. So the chapter is called all that you are is all that you need. Sometimes they make potions for myself and others because they are beautiful, practical ways to reconnect with an idea or intention several times a day while literally taking them in. All that you are is all that you need is the one I’m finding particularly helpful at this moment. As it goes against so much of what we’re being taught from the outside as a teenager Am I believe in my own not good enough, and this was all consuming. I was immersed in consumerism and had no idea how to name it. I worked so many hours already being tired of the school just to be able to buy cheap, fast fashion or makeup. I can tell of women’s magazines have become better or worse since the 90s. But I think Western beauty standards is still present all around us. It takes courage and confidence for a young mind to not buy into these messages. And then wonder how much of these thoughts still live in our bodies now that we are navigating social media and finding a voice online. I’m trying to ask myself more often what I would do if I truly believe that I’m already good enough, exactly as I am, how I work might be different. as I’ve gotten older and started my business, I’ve invested a lot of a lot of money in education, not always from an empowered place, often taking classes because I hoped that they would make me feel held while I was navigating daily decision making and pathfinding. I wanted someone to tell me what to do to assure me that it’s going to be okay. Sometimes I learned really useful stuff that way, that way, and sometimes I just overstretch my body, my budget out of insecurity. I want to explore the idea that my body is my home, as well as the guidance systems that I can always rely on. And that there is so much to learn simply by observing its rhythms. It feels soothing to think that there’s this free resource that is really unique to me, and that I hold more wisdom that I can find online. I also want to communicate about my work in a way that does not make others feel inadequate or lacking in any way. My hope is to create spaces in which people will connect, reconnect with the things they already know, learn and togetherness with others and find their own answers. This is an invitation to practice. So each chapter ends with these level invitations to practice. ask a friend to chat with you about the media and marketing messages you’ve been receiving throughout your life, and how they have shaped you make a list of good and bad examples. Who that feels good. And then talk about what it could look like to share your work in a way that’s transparent and leaves people space to make empowered choices.
And then I’m going to read to you chapter seven as well, which is called we have to tell the truth. Whenever I have a good connection to my body, and I’m relaxed and present, I have very good a very good sense of my own truth and what feels true from other people. And wondering how I can weave this into my business. And I think marketing narratives are a good example. Of course, we want to tell a story. So share why we made what we made and tell others why what we are offering is the ship. But often we wildly simplify healing our success narratives to make them more marketable. We say before I started doing x y Zed, I was completely lost, I felt broken. But then I came across x y Zed, and I basically dance with the phrase all the time and it’s so much fun. Come and work with me so that you can also learn x y Zed and dance with us. And it’s hardly a red at symbol rate is there’s never just one way of doing things or that one modality that works for everyone to fix people most often is a twisty path full of experimentation, occasional highlights and healing leaves confusion and frustration has and oh flags and then eventually we’ll look back end we can say fuck yeah, I’ve changed. I worked something out and different and this is good. I’m committing to checking in with my body more often when I tell stories. And when I hear stories and want to grow myself trust and knowing the difference between truth telling and good posing, and invitation practice. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and gently connect with your breath. No need to change anything. Just take a moment to witness air coming in, out of your in and out of your lungs. Whenever you whenever you feel ready, say something out loud. That feels absolutely true to you right now. How does that feel? How is your body responding? If you feel unsure, try a few more statements and see what you can observe. Next, return to your breath for a moment and then say something out loud. That is absolutely not True. How is this feeling different? Take note and see if you can observe your body’s reactions more often as you navigate day to day decisions in your business. I hope that felt helpful to listen to and that you might work with the whole workbook is about Welcome to print that if you want to be off screen right now, which I know I am. And yeah, so thank you so much for listening. As always, please come to a free workshop if you like, please let me know what else you’d like to know about. Please book a free call. If you’re interested in working with me one on one I have capacity for tech support and mentoring and I’ve designed over the summer and then maybe a little bit even in May. So yeah, I’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much.
