Workplace Yoga Personal Use Ebook

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Introduction

Our hectic lives have been made even busier by our ability to be plugged in 24/7. While having access to our global community all the time is great in many ways, it has increased the amount of time we work and the risen expectations of employers who expect their employees to be available nearly all the time. This feeling of needing to be forever accessible has increased our stress levels and caused a great deal of imbalance in our lives. It's time to take a look at how sustainable our current situation is and make the necessary changes to bring balance back into our lives.

One way of doing this is through tools such as yoga. Many companies, both large and small, have added yoga classes and meditation rooms to their benefits for employees to lower stress and create better health. They are seeing hugely positive results in doing this, and the world is taking notice.

What is Yoga?

Though yoga has gained a great deal of attention in the last few years in the West, it can easily be misunderstood. It’s much more than a work-out style. It’s a practice that connects mind and body to work together in harmony. It’s meant to be a lifestyle change that positively impacts your life, both on and off the mat.

Yoga postures or “asanas” strengthen and relax our bodies, as well as improve flexibility. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word “yuj” which means “to unite or integrate.” The practice began in India over 5,000 years ago and is practiced around the world still today. Yoga uses postures and also breathing exercises and meditation as a way to bring awareness to the mind-body connection and to ease the tension of life in our modern world.

You may understand that yoga is great for both mind and body, but wonder about its place in the office. One reason this trend is growing is that, with more deadlines and hours at work, we rarely take the breaks our bodies and minds need to work at peak performance. Yoga offers more than the mindless break you get when surfing Facebook during a quick coffee run. It helps you refocus your attention on what’s truly important and stretches your body that’s tense and stiff from sitting for long periods hunched over a keyboard.

Corporations have found their employees are more productive, communicative and make fewer mistakes when they participate in a form of yoga during their workday. In fact, employers now know that the time they “lose” when their employees are in yoga classes within the building is more than made up for in productivity.

The benefits of yoga in the workplace are many and varied. Yoga in the office improves:

• Overall health which results in fewer missed sick days
• Creative thinking and smart decision making
• Clarity, focus, and alertness
• Work satisfaction, office morale, and positive thinking

Whether taught formally in the office or employees take a break to do some stretches and breathing, adding yoga into your workday is good for everyone. And the benefits you experience don’t stop when you complete your yoga practice. They are payoffs that you will experience in each area of your life as you continue a consistent practice.

Why Yoga?

As mentioned in the introduction, one of the most beneficial reasons yoga is used in the corporate world is because it's not only a way to get your body moving and fit. It's also a way to improve employee mental health at the same time. By offering yoga classes to workers, companies help individuals under their employ become more aware of their stress levels and give them an extremely effective tool to deal with stress when it shows up.

And, why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on workout machines and weights when yoga requires very little in the way of equipment? Even a real live instructor isn't necessary when there are cost-effective streaming and app options available. It's easy and inexpensive to get started, and there is not much maintenance involved once the program begins. Yoga is the perfect combination of movement and stress reduction for the fast-paced corporate setting.

Benefits for Employers

Why would conglomerates like Chase Manhattan Bank, GE, Nike, Apple, Harpo, and Google offer yoga classes during the day for their employees if they didn’t see a difference in productivity? They wouldn’t. But these savvy companies have looked beyond the dollar signs and recognized that improving their employees’ lives and working conditions not only shows they care about those who are loyal to them but also that by investing in their workforce ends up growing their bottom line, even though it seems counterintuitive.

Other benefits to companies who offer yoga in the workplace include:

• Decreased health care premiums
• Reduced staff turnover
• Increased productivity
• Higher job satisfaction in employees
• Reduced employee absenteeism
• More attractive company to potential employees
• Lowers number of workman comp claims
• Improves camaraderie

Benefits for Employees

We mentioned a few of the benefits to employees who take part in yoga sessions available in their workplace, but let’s consider the entire list here.

• Increases energy and vitality
• Reduces stress, anxiety, and fatigue
• Reduces muscle tension and pain
• Improves memory, mental clarity, and focus
• Improves overall health
• Reduces back, shoulder and neck pain and stiffness
• Improves immunity
• Increases morale
• Improves efficiency and motivation
• Improves muscle tone, flexibility, and posture
• Lower burn out rate
• Less aggression and hostility

Yoga in the workplace is a win-win for employers and employees alike.

Science Says Yoga Works I n the West, knowing that another culture has utilized something for a long time doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be proven effective. In this vein, modern scientific studies have been completed by numerous highlyadvanced and respected universities and organizations to see just how effective yoga is at providing the benefits yogis’ claim it does. Here’s a rundown of some of the results of such studies.

Immediately after class, studies show:

Enhanced Brain Function--After just 20 minutes of yoga flow postures, one study found enhanced cognitive function, better focus and more working memory in participants. The yoga participants even performed better in these areas than did the participants who spent the same 20 minutes doing aerobic exercise.

Lower stress levels--One study found that at least a portion of yoga’s ability to lower stress is due to its ability to lower the activity of proteins that impact inflammation in the body.

Modified Gene Expression--A Norwegian study found that at least some of the many health benefits of yoga are due to its ability to improve gene expressions in immune cells.

Improved Flexibility--A U.S.-based University found that one form of yoga, Bikram, improved shoulder, hamstring and lower back flexibility, as well as lifting strength and decreased body fat compared to a control group.

Lower Blood Pressure--It’s been discovered that after a few months of consistent yoga practice, research participants who had mild to moderate hypertension had naturally lower blood pressure levels than those who joined in a program consisting of walking, nutrition and weight counseling.

Less Chronic Neck and Back Pain--Several studies have shown that practicing Iyengar yoga, which focuses on proper alignment while practicing flow poses, provides better relief from chronic neck and back pain than standard medical treatment.

Lower Anxiety Levels--Participants of one study showed remarkable improvement in the amount of anxiety triggers they experienced after only 12 weeks of yoga. These participants had, in fact, raised their gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels in their brains simply by practicing

yoga consistently during this time frame. GABA has been linked with depression and anxiety disorders.

Balances Blood Sugar--By adding yoga to the typical diabetes care regimen for three months, participants with diabetes had consistently more balanced blood sugar levels, as well as decreased body mass index.

Stronger Bones--Practicing yoga long-term has been proven to build bone density in older adults who are at risk for osteoporosis.

Healthy Weight--Another research study followed people who had practiced yoga for a number of years and found they had an easier to maintain a healthy weight as they aged.

Reduces Risk of Heart Disease--Several studies have shown that those who practice yoga faithfully long-term enjoy a lower risk of heart disease due to high blood pressure, cholesterol and high blood sugar.

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