About Us

A Yogic Approach to Business

My name is Caroline Smart and I run The Publishing Cupboard - a virtual publishing 'house' with a team of talented designers, editors, translators, producers and bilingual presenters.

My two passions in life are languages and yoga. I have worked in publishing for over 20 years. First in London with RCS Rizzoli Editore, Mondadori Editore and then a great long stretch at HarperCollins in Glasgow.

Then I had the opportunity to combine my two passions and become a micro publisher. And so The Publishing Cupboard was set up. In Scotland a cupboard is known as a press, which is rather fitting.

The easy bits in setting up a business are the ones to do with external things or ‘image’ – the logo, the stationery, the website. The difficult ones are to do with internal things – one's own nature and whether you have the focus, drive and ambition to succeed. It has been a fascinating venture. Especially as I have no illusions about myself. I am a kapha whose ideal journey is from a horizontal position (preferably a bed) to the fridge (and back). But I am tenacious. I may move slowly but I keep on moving.After reading Deepak Chopra and David Simon’s excellent book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga, I decided to see whether I was building these laws into the foundations of The Cupboard.

   1. The Law of Pure Potentiality

    This is where anything can happen or be created. Just the existence of The Publishing Cupboard is proof. I hope the books capture the spirit of the moment and don’t just follow a fashion or trend. This doesn’t mean to say that they won’t be covering old ground, they’ll just be coming at it from a fresh angle.

   2. The Law of Giving and Receiving

Useful books should provide information. Our books aim to give people a deeper understanding of a subject and progress them on to a higher level. From a more mundane perspective we get their money and, hopefully, loyalty in buying further books.

   3. The Law of Karma (cause and effect)

Everything we do has an impact or consequence. Choosing the cheapest option for printing books or pressing CDs (perhaps as far afield as China) can affect jobs in the UK; it puts time pressure on editors working to tight deadlines; and also threatens the environment. The Publishing Cupboard overheads aren’t huge, there are no shareholders to satisfy, so we can try to source more locally.

   4. The Law of Least Effort

This is my favourite – minimizing effort and maximising effect! Rather than running around like a headless chicken, time is spent working out the best way to bring a project to fruition. It means spending  more time on preparation and less in a frenzy at the ‘doing’ stage.

   5. The Law of Intention and Desire

This is similar to cosmic ordering. If you are focused and specific about what you want, you will achieve it. If you don’t really want it then you won’t get it. 

   6. The Law of Detachment

‘In order to acquire something in life, you have to relinquish your attachment to it’. Like your children, the more tightly you try to hold on to them the more they want to escape. But give them some freedom and you have companions for life. The books are a bit like children. One can become overly attached to them and deaf to any criticism or advice. Flexibility, openness and detachment can only improve them.

   7. The Law of Dharma (or purpose in life)

This is knowing your true self – what makes you tick and knowing your talents. If you can match these to the work you do, then you’ve hit the jackpot. Any effort you put into achieving this will be effortless and successful.

The first titles to come out of The Publishing Cupboard were Nod Off in French and Nod Off in Spanish (who but a kapha would come up with horizontal learning). The Nod Off approach uses relaxation (a modified yoga nidra) to help learning. Many people simply tense up at certain subjects, especially if they had a bad experience at school. Yet they still want to (or have to) learn. The best way for our brains to absorb information is by being relaxed. This light laid-back approach eases you into this receptive state by introducing the subject with a short relaxation session. Then it’s time for a clear explanation of how the language works (yes folks, grammar!) illustrated with numerous examples. All the information on the CD is clearly laid out in the accompanying 48-page booklet. It’s ideal for:

· Beginners

· Students revising for exams

· Rusty learners

· Parents who want to reactivate their French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese

· Teachers who need to refresh their knowledge

· Students who have difficulty reading


The presenters we use are bilingual and have voices to die for. They glide seamlessly from impeccable English into perfect Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese. Not only do they relax you into the language, they leave you wanting more.