INTENTIONAL SPACE

Mindfulness, consciousness and awareness: Sam Eibling strives to embody these qualities in her daily activities. As the co-owner of Bloomington’s well-regarded cookware and foodstuff shop Goods for Cooks, and a practicing yoga instructor, Eibling has found a way to mesh her two occupations into a harmonious life.

As a yoga instructor, Eibling has been involved in various trainings since 2008. This March she took part in Yoga, Purpose and Action Leadership Intensive, a program developed by the organization Off the Mat Into the World. Participants reconnect, refine or define their utility in the world. The principles Eibling has cultivated are reflected in her business practices such as carefully choosing the items offered in her store; many are artisan pieces locally handmade from natural materials, suitable to be passed down to future generations.

I recently sat down with Eibling as she shared a few insights she has gained from this program.

Edible Indy: How do the philosophies of Off the Mat Into the World impact you daily, and how do you live mindfully as you hold on to your values?

Sam Eibling: The work I’ve done to identify my values and intentions—as well as unearthing uncomfortable beliefs, conditioned patterns and the ways in which I separate myself from or promote otherness in the world—has had a profound effect on both my personal and professional life. I begin each day centering, remembering my intentions, coming into an awareness of how I am being and how I would like to experience my day. This can be done in as little as two minutes and is a wonderful way to become focused in a more intentional way. It also gives me a baseline to come back to when faced with challenging decisions and situations. Taking personal responsibility for how I am being in the world (not blaming others or circumstances) might sound daunting, but it actually becomes supportive and grounding as it reduces dis-ease and trickles into everything you do.

EI: What do you advocate for in your life and with Goods for Cooks?

SE: I advocate for living mindfully, taking personal responsibility and making every attempt to lift others. Understanding your personal challenges and the ways in which you suffer are huge clues to ways in which you can change those circumstances for another person. Awareness brings about an ability to alter a situation; refusal to acknowledge circumstances dooms us to rely on conditioned patterns, which often do not align with our desire to live or work intentionally. Not unlike the journey of self-inquiry, food and cooking are a conduit to know others in a deeper and often less intimidating way. We all suffer, we all feel joy and we all eat.

“I begin each day centering, remembering my intentions, coming into an awareness of how I am being and how I would like to experience my day.”

EI: Can you share some examples of how this intentional work shows up in your business decisions?

SE: This work has influenced the way I approach every aspect of my business life. We all deal with insecurities and feeling less than capable. In business these stories are magnified by the risk one takes with money. I co-own the cooking store with my husband and brother, and while my yoga business is my own, every decision in both affects not just me but my family and those we hire and their families. I have found myself making decisions not based on textbook business philosophy and more based upon our desire to cultivate long term, meaningful relationships with customers. Our desire to foster conversations of all sorts around our connections to food require us to behave differently towards our customers than conventional business wisdom would have us believe. In much of our marketing, you’ll see the tags or intentions of NOURISH, EMPOWER & CONNECT. These are the intentional lenses through which we make decisions. It is our desire to help people nourish themselves and others through food, to empower people to learn to cook or to explore cooking and their food traditions on a deeper level.

EI: How has mindfulness empowered you as a female leader?

SE: It bolsters my drive to live and work from a deeply intentional space. As a result, it changes my decisions in business from ones that may have been influenced from a sense of lack or insecurities into those made from a deeply held sense of direction and purpose. Leading from this space has made me less reactive and more consistent. It constantly re-orients me towards my family and efforts to support and lift up those who work with us. It hushes the whispers of self-doubt or conditioning towards competition and separation, and allows me to focus on centering, supporting and lifting others up in the community.

EI: Finally, what is your advice to others?

SE: Begin with identifying what is important to you. Not your business or personal goals (increase sales or getting married, for example), not seeking the end result per se, but rather have an understanding of what qualities you value. If we desire to change the world, to help others and to be good leaders, we must first do the uncomfortable work of looking at how we are being in our everyday lives, in our interactions and in our minds.

GOODS FOR COOKS
115 N. College Ave.
Bloomington
812.339.2200
GoodsForCooks.com