Today I welcome to the BRAND New You show Claudia Altucher. Claudia is a writer, podcaster, speaker and a teacher of Yoga.
She has three books to her credit. Her first book is called “The 21 things to know before starting an Ashtanga Yoga practice”. Her second book she co-authored with her husband James Altucher is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling book “The Power Of No”.
Her latest book, “Become an Idea Machine” is an Amazon best-seller in the Entrepreneurship and Consulting categories.
Claudia writes for national media outlets such as the New York Observer, Thought Catalog, and Positively Positive and in her spare time she runs a very successful blog at Claudiayoga.com which has attracted over 2.5 million visitors.
At claudiayoga.com, you’ll find her thoughts and philosophies on all things yoga including her posts, how-to yoga videos and of course, her podcast aptly named, The Yoga podcast.
You can learn yoga directly from Claudia every Friday morning at 7 am EST when she teaches a FREE 30’ YOGA CLASS LIVE via Periscope.
If you follow her on Twitter @ClaudiaYoga you’ll get the periscope link sent directly to you in your twitter feed every Friday morning so you can join in and follow along.
CLAUDIA ALTUCHER YOGA
After 15 years of practicing it’s clear Yoga is Claudia’s first love (sorry James) but I was surprised to learn she doesn’t recommend it as a practice for everyone.
She acknowledges that people have different temperaments and some may not lend themselves well to yoga.
Her recommendation is to do whatever you can to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy which means you should find and do whatever works best for you.
As I mentioned in the opening Claudia teaches an open 30 minute Yoga class on periscope every Friday morning at 7 a.m. EST. Attendance varies but she has been encouraged by the interaction and what she has been able to accomplish so far using the medium.
For anyone interested in learning more about our discussion on receiving back pain here is the video we discussed.
POWER OF NO
Since a big part of yoga is learning about the power of calming the mind the topic provided a natural transition to Claudia’s book, The Power of NO (affiliate link) which loosely aligns with the 7 seven spiritual laws of yoga.
In the book Claudia and James break down the word No into 7 different levels starting with the everyday No’s as they relate to relationships, jobs or your health.
From there they progress to the No inside us. The one that holds us back and can keep us from becoming our true authentic selves.
The final chapters are about the No’s deep inside each of us. The silent Nos. The ones at our courtroom which wisdom flows.
For all seven of the No’s Claudia and James offer practical, simple but not easy exercises to help you get to the point where you can use the power of No to help you make significant improvements in your life.
BECOME AN IDEA MACHINE
Sprinkled throughout the Power of No you find the seeds for Claudia’s book Become an Idea Machine: Because ideas are the currency of the 21st Century (affiliate link).
Claudia and I start our discussion on becoming an Idea Machine by exploring the concept of an idea muscle.
The idea muscle is a figurative muscle but acts very much like the other more tangible muscles in our body. The example she provides to help you visualize the idea muscle will make you believe the idea muscle is real.
If you doubt this try this simple test. Take a few minutes right now and write down 10 Apps you’d like to use that have not yet been invented.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
If you’re like me you’ll find when you reach idea 5 or 6 you’ll get stuck. As Claudia says this is the time when your idea muscle is starting to sweat.
You’ll be tempted to quit but in order to be successful you have to push through this initial resistance. To help you push past this Claudia suggests instead of listing out 10 apps, list out 20.
That’s right, she’s hard core about this because she knows how effective it can be. If you want to change your life every 180 days start writing down 10 ideas a day. Claudia even provides you with topics for the first 180 days.
This is a great book that will definitely make you think. And I mean that literally.
SUMMARY
The best ways to get in touch with Claudia to learn more about her Yoga practice, her podcast or purchase any of her books are listed below.
Web: Claudia Yoga
YouTube: 7 Back pain relief
Twitter: @ClaudiaYoga
Periscope: @ClaudiaYoga
You can also ask Claudia any question you want about Yoga, the power of No or becoming an idea machine by using the contact button on her website. The email goes to directly to her and not an automated service.
Claudia leaves us with these final thoughts to consider.
“Do what you know you need to do right now. Whether it’s to be physically better, emotionally better, exactly what it is matters less doing whatever it is. Follow and trust your own inner wisdom.”
