By Adelena Gustafsson

Most of us know that yoga has many health benefits and the more you learn about it, the deeper the understanding of its many amazing benefits. Most of us do our best to find time to exercise, keep fit, build strength, socialise or just release stress. However, when work gets in the way, exercising would be the last thing on one’s mind especially if one has to beat the traffic to get to a fitness centre or yoga studio. This can be quite demotivating and that is why more and more companies around the world are adopting the idea of bringing yoga to the workplace. Commonly termed as Corporate Yoga, it certainly has its own benefits. Employees learn how to manage stress and anxiety, and corporate yoga can also bring teammates together which is great for the morale in the workplace.

Focus and mindfulness are of utmost importance at the workplace.

Without them one will lose productivity and motivation. Through guided visualisation in a yoga session, one can learn how to not only concentrate but also relax. With regular practice of yoga, a person can develop a more positive attitude and communicate better, and with better communication skills a person will have more confidence in oneself.

Besides improving flexibility and strength, yoga is known to help manage not only stress but also depression. Since the corporate world can be quite competitive, the stress level in its employees can be exceedingly high and if it is not managed well, it can lead to mental health issues. Many companies are suffering from recurring absenteeism of staff due to work- related illnesses. In fact, studies have shown that stress affects performance at the workplace. The findings of a study conducted by Cooper and Dewe (2008) revealed that 46 per cent of absenteeism from work is due to mental health issues such as stress, depression and anxiety.

Participants who did 50 minutes of yoga on a weekly basis for eight weeks showed tremendous improvement in terms of confidence level and general wellbeing.

by Hartfield et al. (2012)

The physical benefits of yoga are bountiful; the whole body becomes stronger, healthier and more flexible due to the asanas (postures) performed.

It has been proven that by just practicing yoga 50-60 minutes a week can already show a decrease in back pain.

Another benefit to having yoga as a form of exercise in the workplace is that it does not require any equipment. All that is needed is a clean space to hold the class, some rubber mats, and a good instructor to give you the right guidance. In the long run, the cost of having a weekly yoga session would be so much lower as you may be preventing many illnesses, burnouts, hostility between colleagues, depression and many other work-related health issues. Rather than forking out for exorbitant medical bills, or finding someone to replace or take on the work load of the staff on sick leave, wouldn’t it be better to have one or two hours of yoga a week at the work place? Happy and healthy employees make a better work environment.