Bring Your Yoga Teacher to Work!

Life is all about balance! Remember, you need to work hard and then recharge! Too many work environments are one dimensional creating stressed-out, inefficient and unhappy employees. Throughout your day, you need to take a moment to breathe, refocus and reinvigorate. Building yoga into your work schedule can be the perfect solution to your worktime-blues. Read on to find out how yoga can help!
The more we multi-task and increase our workload, the less productive and more stressed out we become. Yoga is a scientific discipline of awakening the body’s intelligence and removing stress and tension at their source. All tension, both physical and mental, is stored somewhere in the body and stress reduction is a matter of discovering how to release tension on both levels. Yoga removes stress from both sources since tension in one area has a direct affect on the other. Yoga classes offer simple, safe, and practical techniques that quickly reduce tension and stress.
Yoga is proven to:
• Improve flexibility, strength and overall health
• Increase ability to manage emotional stress
• Strengthen the immune system, resulting in less sick days
• Increase energy, stamina and mental alertness
• Improve morale and positive thinking patterns
• Improve productivity, efficiency and communication
• Increases concentration, memory and decision-making
• Increase job satisfaction
Corporate yoga offers several invaluable benefits to workers and also the company that employs them.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Yoga provides effective techniques that help reduce and slowly eliminate mental and physical stress. Breathing exercises alleviate tension and calm the mind and body. This is beneficial to the employees as well as the employer. Employees who feel more relaxed and comfortable will like their job more and experience fewer health complaints related to stress. Yoga also improves immunity, aids in the removal of toxic waste from the system and reduces fatigue. Happier and healthier employees will result in a lower number of sick days.
IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY
Regular yoga practice improves focus and concentration among employees. It also improves their ability to stay calm under stressful situations, thereby improving their confidence and success rates. The improvement in efficiency and lower rates of absenteeism often leads to greater productivity and profits for the company. Companies that offer corporate yoga usually enjoy lower health care premiums as well.
BETTER RELATIONSHIPS
Workplaces that offer corporate yoga offer a place for employees to come together, relax and practice together. This improves the sense of community and helps employees in relationship building and communication amongst each other. Corporate yoga can benefit people at different fitness levels and offers several simple movements that are practical and useful. This perk also makes a workplace more attractive to current and prospective employees. Yoga also reduces depression creating satisfied and happy employees usually resulting in a reduction in staff turnover.
IMPROVEMENT IN BODY AILMENTS
People with sedentary jobs can benefit a great deal from yoga, which rejuvenates the mind and body. Long hours in front of the computer, deadlines to meet on a daily basis and a lack of relaxation time can take a toll on the mind and the body. Back pain, neck problems, eye problems, headaches and general muscular tension are common ailments among busy people in the corporate world. Yoga can improve flexibility, build strength, improve posture and reduce muscular tension. Corporate yoga also reduces the chances of osteoarthritis and soothes symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Complete Listing of Physical and Mental Benefits of Yoga
Physical
Sleep improves
Immunity increases
Pain decreases
Posture improves
Weight normalizes
Muscular flexibility increase
Energy level increases
Muscular strength increase
Endurance increases
Excretory functions improve
Pulse rate decreases
Endocrine function normalizes
Respiratory rate decreases
Gastrointestinal function normalizes
Blood pressure decreases
Stable autonomic nervous system
Mental
Concentration improves
Memory improves
Learning efficiency improves
Mood improves
Well-being increases
Self-acceptance increase
Attention improves
Self-actualization increase
Social skills increases
Depression decrease/elimination
Anxiety decrease/elimination
Hostility decrease/elimination
Balance improves
Depth perception improves
Steadiness improves
Who Is Using Yoga in the Workplace?
• IBM
• Microsoft
• HBO
• Nike
• Nexcomm
• Intel
• AT&T
• NYNEX
• Forbes
• Apple
• PepsiCo
• GE
• Chase Manhattan
• Qualcomm
• Lehigh University
• Lutron
So, I hope you are having an amazing and productive day at work, but I also hope that you have a minute to recharge. Do a couple forward folds, focus on your breathing and do a chair pose without the chair and then head back to work feeling a little more energized! Skip the caffeine and do some yoga!
Work hard, recharge!
XO
-L-
References
Attridge, Stacie. Corporate Yoga. 2012
Nair, Lakshmy. What are the Benefits of Corporate Yoga?, LIVESTRONG.COM, May 26, 2011.
Yoga for Life. Corporate Yoga. Increase your Business Productivity. 2006