Yoga Equity at the Workplace
Yoga, a holistic Indian wellness philosophy is now rapidly spreading to the western corporate world. More and more companies are coming to recognize yoga as a low-cost employee perk. While the costs for offering this perk are low, employees and decision makers alike cannot overlook the tremendous benefits that are offered through these workplace yoga programs.
Contributed by KKanchan Raste.
According to researchers from the stress reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Yoga in conjunction with meditation is proven to relieve stress and improve work performance. The research involved delivering meditation and yoga-based classes to working people from all walks of life, ranging from judges and correctional staff to the Chicago bulls, and a five-day retreat for CEOs of various top-notch organizations. A majority of the research participants reported a lasting decrease in both physical and psychological symptoms of stress. They also experienced an increased ability to relax, greater energy and enthusiasm for life, improved self-esteem, and increased ability to cope more effectively with stressful situations.
While larger companies have been offering wellness perks like gym memberships for many years now, smaller and medium sized companies are gearing up to promote healthy living amongst employees by offering onsite yoga programs. The demand is two fold where companies and human resource professionals are embracing yoga as part of their employee wellness program, while at the same time, employees have started demanding a balanced lifestyle and yoga seems to be a perfect fit.
Some of the other ways through which companies and employees can benefit with the help of a yoga program are:
Reduced occurences of occupational health related ailments: Yoga alleviates ailments related to long times spent in front of the computers, and sitting in the same place for desk jobs and repetitive motion injuries in the manufacturing sector, resulting in better posture and reduced back, neck, joint, muscle and problems.
Reduced worker compensation claims: A company can save huge sums of money that go in paying work related injury and accident claims, as yoga, through its set of exercises and meditations helps reduce such injuries.
Increased productivity: Yoga enhances the overall wellbeing of the employees thereby contributing to increased productivity.
Reduced absentism: Yoga increases the body’s immunity thereby reducing occurrences of seasonal ailments like cough, colds and influenza.
Improved relationships: Yoga changes our perspective/ outlook towards others by separating a person from the work he/she has to this. This greatly improves the relationship between the coworkers as well as staff and management
These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg when you consider other benefits like decreased employee turnover, a boost in staff morale, improved posture, anger management and a gradual lifestyle change towards leading a more balanced and fulfilling life.
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