Yoga is nearly 5,000 year old science that helps build strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental well being.
Thanks to gentle techniques it uses, Yoga is becoming very popular worldwide. Consequently, every year, June 21 is celebrated across the globe as International Yoga Day.
Increasing number of companies small and large are now encouraging employees to perform Yoga. Yoga is proven to increase performance leading to better productivity.
Research proves benefits of Yoga
A comprehensive study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the US government has proven beyond doubt that Yoga improves quality of life.
The UK’s National Health Service carries extensive information about how Yoga can help prevent or alleviate dreadful diseases like arthritis.
The NHS website further says: “Dozens of scientific trials of varying quality have been published on yoga. While there's scope for more rigorous studies on its health benefits, most studies suggest yoga is a safe and effective way to increase physical activity, especially strength, flexibility and balance. There's some evidence that regular yoga practice is beneficial for people with high blood pressure, heart disease, aches and pains – including lower back pain – depression and stress.”
The International Yoga Day will be a celebration every June 21. India has several world renowned Yoga masters. This includes Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravishankar among others.
Corporate Yoga: Growing exponentially
Increasing number of organizations small and large encourages employees or conduct in-house Yoga sessions to boost productivity. A classic example is of the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration hosts Yoga sessions for astronauts, scientists and other staff who perform highly stressful jobs.
Nowadays, militaries around the world are waking up to benefits of Yoga to keep their personnel in great physical and mental health. There are several ways in which Yoga can help boost productivity of your employees and family.
Yoga promotes team-building and capabilities
Holding Yoga sessions daily or at frequent intervals for employees has proven to increase team building. Further, it significantly increases individual capabilities of staff.
There are many reasons for this. Firstly, long commutes and stressful lifestyles leave little or no scope for employees to engage in personal wellness programs.
Consequently, you have stressed workers at every level that adversely affects overall productivity. Several institutes offer special Yoga training for companies.
You can organize this at workplace or other venues. Further, Yoga camps of various durations are available too for employees.
Yoga helps to relieve muscular tension
Interestingly, the link between mental stress, anxiety and muscular tension is proven by medical science.
Here is what American Psychological Association (APA) says: “. When muscles are taut and tense for long periods of time, this may trigger other reactions of the body and even promote stress-related disorders. For example, both tension-type headache and migraine headache are associated with chronic muscle tension in the area of the shoulders, neck and head.”
It is well known that staff with headache cannot perform well. Yoga is conclusively known to relieve muscular tension.
Benefits on blood circulation
Yoga improves overall blood circulation in your body. Consequently, blood flow to the brain also increases. As a result, your brain becomes more alert and active.
In turn, this leads to better focus on jobs at hand and increases your work productivity. If you perform specific postures of Yoga, you will definitely experience higher levels of alertness. This will definitely boost your staff or your productivity.
Yoga helps remove confusion and mental clutter
Yoga is a fairly gentle way of training body and mind. Therefore, there are no rigorous or physically taxing exercises you need to perform. You can practice one or more Yoga postures at home or work.
These help you to relax the mind. Subsequently, you develop great mental control. This in turn helps keep your mind free of confusion and mental clutter due to routine activities.
Yoga is useful to maintain workplace discipline
Understandably, practicing Yoga is not very easy. It involves rigorous discipline. Again, Yoga is a great cure for negative emotions.
This involves anger, hatred, anxiety and mood swings. For this reason, you will experience lower attrition and better discipline among staff.
Personally, you too will benefit by lowering these undesired thoughts from your mind. As a result, you will witness higher productivity.
Better work postures with Yoga
As we describe earlier, Yoga involves physical and mental training. In fact, many doctors prescribe Yoga over physiotherapy for people suffering from muscle or bone problems.
Undoubtedly, practicing Yoga will help improve your overall body posture and movements. Your employees engaged in physical work will find Yoga very beneficial. Mainly, it helps your body to become very flexible.
Increasing energy levels during work hours
Any physical workout leads to increase in energy levels. However, nobody will ask staff to indulge in rigorous workout during work hours. Therefore, Yoga is the best choice.
Practicing Yoga before starting your day or during a work break helps increase your energy level.
Higher energy and superior mental awareness will reward you with greater productivity. Above all, it will prevent you from dozing off during a busy day.
Get rid of common ailments
Nowadays, back pain, stiff neck, eye and vision problems, headache, joint pains, muscle cramps and all sorts of aches are pretty common at workplace.
Part of this is caused due to stress. Sometimes, a hidden medical problem may cause them too. These minor pains are a vexing problem for all organizations.
Productivity of staff suffering from these is prone to suffer. However, you can eliminate or reduce these problems by encouraging staff to perform Yoga daily.
Eliminate addiction problems with Yoga
As a matter of fact, there are no known medical cures for alcohol and drug addiction. However, Yoga has proven to be useful to quite some extent in helping addicts recover from their habits.
For one, Yoga helps strengthen the entire body, which addicts desperately require. Addicted employees, if any, will find great benefits with Yoga.
Cure for sleep disorders and insomnia
Undoubtedly, sleep disorders are on the rise. Research indicates that one in every three employees suffers from sleep disorders.
This is due to various reasons: Stress, financial or family problems, consuming alcohol before sleep, too much TV and lots more. Eight to nine hours of sleep is vital everyday to keep your body fit.
In addition, good sleep is also essential for keeping a calm mind. If you have sleep disorder, Yoga provides the perfect answer.
In conclusion
Yoga is not an esoteric science. Indeed, it is just a form of training body and mind for a better life. You can find a treasure trove of resources about Yoga online.
Alternatively, you may visit your nearest Yoga training center to get more details. Remember, Yoga can safely be performed by people of all ages.
