Corporate Yoga

Yoga has a whole host of mental and physical health benefits for those who practice it, all of which can translate into significant benefits to your employees, such as their happiness and productivity. So, we’re here to talk a bit about the benefits of incorporating corporate yoga into your workplace, as well as examples of how you can do that to work with your budget.

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The Benefits for your business and employees

Yoga has a wide variety of benefits for employees that will benefit them and your business as a result:

Reduced levels of stress and anxiety, as cortisol is reduced and serotonin is increased, help people to generally feel more relaxed and able to deal with stressful situations in a calm manner.
Better sleep and more energy, with a focus on mindfulness, deeper breathing techniques, stretching the muscles and stress relief all contribute to this.
Improved physical health, with improved flexibility and joint health helping to reduce the risk of pain, as well as reduced blood pressure and heart rate.
Improved mental health, easing symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression in many people.
Better teamwork, as people approach conflict or difficulty with more patience.
Improved focus because of the focus on the breath in yoga can be taken into different situations.
Better self-awareness, with people being more conscious of their weaknesses and how to improve communication with others as a result of that.

From a business perspective, when you encourage your employees to do yoga, generally they will be less stressed, more focused and productive, healthier physically and mentally, and they will work better in a team. So, it’s a no-brainer when it comes to whether or not you should incorporate it at work!

How To Incorporate It Into Your Business

Now that you know all the benefits that come with yoga for employees, we’re here with some examples of how you can incorporate it, from more temporary yoga events to weekly sessions where you employees can really enjoy improved mental and physical health as a result of yoga.

Yoga and Wellness Events

A great way to initially generate some interest from your employees around yoga would be to host some yoga and wellness events. This could be a day event that is focused on wellbeing, including yoga sessions, nutritious foods, talks on mental health, and generally other relaxing activities that will put your team at ease and show them how valuable yoga practice can be.

There are plenty of places that host these kinds of events, or you could get creative in your office space if it’s large enough, or if there’s a function room you can rent, by getting an instructor in, ordering pre packed sandwiches and salads, having an iced coffee and matcha station, playing peaceful music, and so on. This will all depend on your budget; however, many businesses pump money into things like Christmas parties that revolve around drinking but forget about health-centric events that are much more suited to many employees.

Weekly Yoga Classes

Another idea would be to put on weekly yoga classes, either at your office or a local studio if enough people are interested. Having everyone together and working towards a shared goal of improved mental and physical health can be really beneficial and a great perk that many people will enjoy and reap the benefits of joining yoga classes.

You could start with a 6-week course to really help people get used to yoga, as a one-off class isn’t enough for people to see just how beneficial it could be. From here, you could try and encourage more people to join in when people start to experience the benefits for themselves, then eventually you may be hosting them every week.

Discounts For Yoga Subscriptions

If you’re quite a small company or you’ve not had enough interest from employees to justify a whole class, then you could offer your employees discounts for yoga memberships. If there are yoga centres nearby or gyms that put on yoga classes, look into this as an option to provide to your employees to help them with their mental and physical health.

Many studios will offer corporate discounts, and you could even work with them on some of your weekly classes or corporate yoga events beforehand, so you can get a real idea of which studio suits you and your employees, as every studio and instructor offers something different depending on their interpretation of the practice!

Final Thoughts

There is a reason why yoga has been one of the most appreciated forms of movement for thousands of years, with those who regularly practise it mostly living happy and healthy lives. So, no matter what your budget is or how many people work in your company, look at ways you can incorporate corporate yoga and it’ll benefit both your employees and your business.

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