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Even the most chill atmosphere won’t stop your employees from being (occasionally) subjected to workplace stress. While there’s no way to fully prevent it, there’s a proven method to combat it. Studies show that corporate yoga classes are very effective at reducing stress, improving mental health, and lowering physical pain associated with an office job. How do such wellness programs work in practice? And what are the benefits of incorporating yoga into our work routine? Let’s find out.
How does workplace stress affect us?
From endless meetings to impossible deadlines – modern jobs can be a great source of stress. In fact, as much as 80% of people consider work to be their most common cause of anxiety1. And experiencing high levels of stress for extended periods can do a lot of harm to both our physical and mental health.
When our sympathetic nervous system is faced with a constant influx of adrenaline, it releases cortisol, the stress hormone, which elevates the brain’s use of glucose and leads to high blood pressure, problems with cardiovascular health, muscle tension, and even weight gain. Not to mention anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues that are slowly becoming a plague of our times – in the U.S. alone mental health care costs oscillate at around $300 billion per year2.
That's why to combat stress-related illnesses, as well as save up on some of the largest employee-related costs, more and more companies are looking for tools to relieve workplace stress and create a safe and comfortable environment for their workers instead.
Benefits of corporate yoga
As one of the most popular health and well-being activities out there, yoga should definitely become a part of your corporate wellness program. It is proven to help employees deal with work anxiety, optimize their performance, and create a better office atmosphere. How exactly do yoga classes achieve that? Here are its most powerful benefits:
Stress reduction
There have been multiple studies that show yoga interventions carried out at the workplace are very successful at limiting perceived stress among employees3. By combining meditation, stretching, and breathing techniques, corporate yoga classes promote relaxation and help decrease cortisol in our blood flow. This serves as a big tension relief for employees and teaches them how to control their level of stress using natural and healthy methods.
Improved employee health
A corporate yoga program has a positive influence on your employees’ physical health as well. After all, it’s a great exercise for strength and flexibility that can reduce back pains, muscle strains, and musculoskeletal problems like carpal tunnel syndrome. Yoga classes are also very beneficial for our cardiovascular health and can even decrease the risk of heart disease4.
Better performance
Corporate yoga and other wellness programs are valuable not only from the employee’s pov – they can also help cut down on healthcare costs and create a more harmonious workplace, which results in a better atmosphere, increased motivation, and optimized performance. When your employees are healthier and less stressed, they simply do their jobs better. This way, the company benefits almost just as much as the workers.
Stronger team
There’s nothing like a good workout session to help people bond. That’s why corporate yoga classes are a good way to improve communication skills among your staff and make your employees feel more connected to each other, which serves the entire organization and strengthens team morale.
Yoga programs in the workplace
Given all the great benefits of yoga, you may be wondering how to design a wellness program that incorporates such helpful classes into your company’s well-being activities. Lucky for you, the possibilities are endless – from turning your conference room into an impromptu gym class to hiring a professional yoga instructor or holding online yoga sessions instead of long meetings, incorporating a little stress-relieving-movement is not as difficult as it may seem. If you need help with wellness program design or are looking for ways to engage your employees so they can truly reap from the abundance of corporate yoga advantages, we got something just for you. Check out Fitbout – a workplace fitness app to get your workers moving. By promoting healthy competition through gamification and healthy challenges, Fitbout can set your company on a path to a successful, benefit-reaping corporate yoga program.
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