How Does Yoga Enhance Wellness at Work?
Taking a Mid-day Yoga Break May Be Exactly What Employees need in the Workplace
July 18, 2024
Whether you work from home or in the workplace, finding time to step away during the workday can be tricky. However, incorporating even a short yoga practice into your daily routine during the workday provides so many benefits in the physical, mental, and emotional areas of life. For clarity, what many people refer to as “yoga” is called yoga asana, as yoga means union and asana means physical pose. Now that we got that out of the way, I want to talk about employee wellness, specifically how practicing yoga asanas during the workday can enhance your wellness at work.
Years ago when I worked in a physical workspace, I looked forward to the opportunity to attend yoga classes in the middle of the day. Classes were also offered after 5 p.m., but being a newer mom with the obligation to get to daycare by a certain time, I was unable to attend. Knowing at the start of the week that I would leave my desk from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s gave me something to look forward to, and it was always fun to catch up with co-workers I hadn’t had the chance to speak to on a regular basis.
After class was over and it was time to get back to my responsibilities, I was in a better mood, better able to cope with my relatively toxic work environment. In additon, I felt stronger, my body was in less pain, and if I may say so, I looked great. Although I loved doing yoga asanas, I didn’t really think about or have a clear understanding of the benefits.
Today, as a certified yoga instructor, I have a deep understanding of the benefits yoga asana practice provides for all who take part in this ancient practice.
Physically, practicing yoga can help your body in visible and invisible ways. My favorite benefit from practicing yoga is that it has helped increase my flexibility. I’ve noticed that since creating a consistent practice, my muscles don’t feel as tight as they have in the past, especially in my calves and lower back.
Other physical benefits of practicing yoga regularly can include reduced inflammation, increased strength, a boost in immunity, improved balance, increased heart health, improved sleep, and improved posture.
Without a doubt, these physical benefits can help improve the quality of one’s life. At work, I believe it’s tenfold. For example, sitting at a desk all day does more harm than good for our backs, legs, and ultimatley our hearts. Practicing yoga asanas helps to alleviate the tightness that occurs in the hip flexors and hamstrings that comes from sitting in one position for long periods of time. It also helps the blood to flow throughout our body thanks to the consious breathing that is practiced throughout yoga asanas or during pranayama (breathing) exercises.
Yoga also has immense benefits on emotional and mental health, specifically by reducing anxiety, increasing mental health, and lowering stress levels. I can attest to this firsthand, as taking yoga breaks in the middle of an extremely stressful workday proved beneficial for me in coping with workplace stress. It also gave me someonething else to focus on, which essentially was my health, and I upheld the belief that if I could overcome holding myself in bridge pose, I could certainly overcome the temporary discomfort I was facing back at my desk. Don’t get me wrong, practicing yoga asanas is not a fix for a troubled company culture, but as far as coping mechanisms go, it is extremely helpful!
If your company doesn’t currently have a yoga program, work on starting a yoga club where you and your colleagues can meet for an hour. If you’re an organization looking for a yoga instructor, drop me a line, and together we can determine how I can best help you or your organization.