What does teamwork mean to you?

Teamwork.

Can you feel the potent camaraderie around you? We're all on teams... in sports, in work, and in life. We're all doing something, all supporting something, all about something. Whether you're the pace setter or the role player, the coach, the captain, or the crazy ass fan, when you point your passion at something, you contribute to the success of the collective, the team.

A recent blog by Oiselle elite runner Kate Grace got me thinking a lot about teamwork. “A team is more than a uniform,” Kate writes. “It's encouragement and support before and after competition. It's frequent interaction, about running, but also just about the daily grind. It's friendly competition — pushing each other to the next level in workouts. It's running together, cheering on friends together at the water-stop.”

These words give a voice to the Truth that is Team.

One of the reasons I started building Team Athletes for Yoga a few years ago is because I knew that athletes needed yoga and that Athletes for Yoga would have a much broader impact — it would help more people — as a collaborative perspective/voice/team, rather than an individual effort. Just like your body is designed to function as an integrated whole, when we work together, our strength is amplified — optimized. Plus, teamwork keeps things real. Real fun.

So feel it, embrace it, be about it: Teamwork. And, no matter what kind of start line you're heading to this season, remember that every time you take a deep breath in... a slow breath out... everything you do to sustain balance will optimize what you bring to your team.

Here's what teamwork means to us...

"Together we know more than anyone individually... From my experience in community work and yoga teaching, the potential for what a team can accomplish with shared wisdom and gifts far outweighs what any single person can accomplish on their own.”
– Bree Dillon

“At Athletes for Yoga, I really feel like I am working with a dream team. We all have a way of thinking, living, being that connects us. Not only do we work hard together, but we laugh together. We cheer for each other. We share lessons we learn along the way. We talk about our biggest dreams and always feel supported. We look to one another for inspiration. Even when we aren't looking it is easy to feel. Inspiration that comes from a combined effort, that sense of camaraderie from a shared experience, that is teamwork.”
– Brianna Sweeney

“When it comes to teamwork, I have always felt like this Phil Jackson quote sums it up well and speaks to the spirit of Team Athletes for Yoga: ‘The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.’”
– Hilary Dahl

"Teamwork is jumping all-in — it's knowing that you must sacrifice the self for the collective. But, in sacrificing the goals and aspirations of the individual, much like in sacrificing the wants of the ego, you gain a tremendous amounty of community and support. In my experience, that makes space to set the bar even higher. What you can achieve as an individual is only enhanced by a team."
–Kendra Clawson

“I have one quote that I say at least once a week that definitely reflects teamwork — ‘Two brains are better than one’.”
– Duni Disston

“Teamwork equals making the impossible, possible. With a team, there is unlimited strength. Working together leads to success!”
– Riko Shimizu

What does teamwork mean to you?