5 Powerful Ways Yoga Can Boost Your Career

Stressful job? Here's how yoga can help with stress and keep it at an all time low - Nicolle Spohn

Reading time: 5 minutes

Another day of back-to-back meetings

7 new emails in the last 5 minutes

Quick lunch, then, pitch presentation

Fingers crossed for the promotion

Email coming in…

Oh dear, revised timings and costings for the pitch

OK, that means no lunch, but I have a Snickers, that will do

2nd DM from Lilly ‘Have you booked the hotel for the girl's trip this weekend?’

Nope! Please bear with me, Lilly, sorry!

Pitch presentation updated…phew, just in time

2 pm - ok, let’s get this show on the road!

Where are my lucky heels?

Shoot…thought I left them in my desk drawer…no?

__________

Does that sound familiar to you?

Life in the corporate world can be super stressful and challenging.

Tight deadlines, budget cuts, long working hours, office politics, performance reviews, and competition wherever you look.

If you are working on building a career for yourself, you have to be on your game 24/7. You snooze, you lose.

Yoga can be a great way to relax and unwind from such a demanding and stressful environment.

But what if I told you that yoga can also help to boost your career?

Yoga? Yep, that’s right!

If you have been struggling to reach your career goals or find a career that feels in alignment with you, yoga can give you some powerful insights and learnings about yourself that can help to bring your career back on track.

Meaning, you basically get both, the bliss and your career.

Work smarter, not harder.

But decide for yourself…

1. Yoga can help to boost your focus and productivity

In yoga, you link breath with movement to create unity between body, mind, and spirit.

Yoga starts with breath and conscious breathing soothes the nervous system.

As your mind becomes clear and free from any distracting thoughts, your body can relax.

As your body relaxes, it recharges at the same time, setting you up for success:

To-do list of the day, done!

Demonstrating excellent time management skills, tick!

Meeting goals and targets, tick!

Consistently delivering to these standards sets you apart from your competition.

And in addition to this, you are building a strong reputation internally, making you an indispensable partner for your company.

2. Yoga shows you that you can do anything you want

On the mat, you learn that through regular practice and a clear focus, you can achieve anything you want.

Yoga will transform your body and you will build physical strength. Over time you learn to trust your body, and you start to develop self-belief.

Believing in yourself gives you confidence in your capabilities. It allows you to step outside of your comfort zone and you will find yourself taking on more challenging projects.

Self-belief will also motivate you to strive higher and set more ambitious career goals for yourself.

You show your employer that you are determined and committed to your career as well as the company, making you an excellent candidate for talent development for future leadership roles within the company.

Long-term career planning, tick!

3. Yoga helps to set clear boundaries

In your yoga practice, you will be challenged with discomfort (aka boundaries), physically and mentally.

But instead of pushing through these boundaries, you get to understand that there is a difference between what your mind (ego) wants and what is healthy for you.

By honoring your personal limitations and needs, you establish a healthy relationship with yourself. You start to cultivate self-respect.

Having a healthy relationship with yourself allows you to set clear boundaries at your workplace which will demonstrate your strength and protect you from over-committing.

But most importantly setting clear boundaries will enable you to have a work-life balance.

You will find yourself having more time to spend with your family and friends, enjoy your hobbies, have time to exercise, prepare yourself a healthy meal, etc.

This will positively impact your emotional and mental well-being, helping you to live a more meaningful and balanced life overall.

4. Yoga reveals your truth

Yoga is a practice of self-awareness.

By focusing on your breath and the physical sensations within your body, yoga encourages you to be fully present and connect with your true self.

Self-awareness will make you aware of your values and passions, allowing you to make career choices that are more aligned with who you truly are.

And we all know what happens when you do something you are passionate about.

Time at work will fly by, you are likely to be more motivated and you are happy to invest extra time and effort to further develop your skills.

Matching interest and passion is a real career booster and being happy with your career choice will always bring you more joy and fulfillment overall.

5. Yoga teaches you self-worth

Yoga takes you on this beautiful journey to get to know all aspects of yourself: strengths, weaknesses, imperfections, and flaws included.

Along this journey, you start to cultivate self-worth.

Self-worth is the magic ingredient for any successful career.

Self-worth enables you to be confident, freely share your thoughts, it fuels your motivation to thrive and it allows you to handle criticism and failures constructively.

Leaders with healthy self-worth value the potential of their team members.

They are all about empowerment. They allow others to shine and stand out and promote opportunities for growth and development.

There is no ego that stands in the way. These kinds of leaders are rare. But they are deeply inspiring.

Healthy self-worth allows you to lead with example, grace, and integrity.

Be the leader you wish to work for.

__________

For many years I was working in global advertising agencies in London. I can very much relate to the pressure within the corporate world.

Looking back at my own carer, my biggest learnings were setting clear boundaries and revealing my truth.

I worked right through my first burnout as I didn’t know any better. But after the second burnout, I knew I had to change something.

I shifted the focus more towards myself and my own well-being and along this journey of self-discovery, I learned more about my passions and how important it is to live and express these passions.

But I have one last reason for you how yoga can help boost your career. Looking at my yoga classes, there are a lot of women and men who come and join me on the mat looking to relax and unwind after a long day at the office.

Meaning, the yoga mat has become a pretty good place for networking these days.

And who knows, maybe your next down dog will guide you to your dream job.