How to Yoga in the workplace

Move the desks to one side ..its time for some Yoga in the office!! In fact wherever you work, office, warehouse, tractor or car, we all need some daily Yoga for our bodies and our minds!

Before your health and safety representative starts to have heart palpitations, we don’t need to start rolling out a Yoga mat to actually do Yoga in your workplace.

Understanding how this is possible comes from firstly understanding that Yoga isn’t just stretching on a mat… although that is a really great part! 

Any Yoga practitioner will tell you that the postures (asanas) we practice on the mat are just a very small part of what Yoga actually is. Yoga is as much for your mind and spirit as it is for your body.

In your workplace, Yoga for the mind could really help you, your colleagues or your employees to manage any periods of stress, change and disruption, work level increase, or work level decrease and the worry that might bring.

These top 5 tips (one for every day of the week) on how you can practice Yoga at work could help, and be the start of Yoga in your workplace!

Meditation Mondays

Just 5-10 minutes of meditation, at the start of your day to clear your mind immediately of any negative ideas, could be incredibly beneficial to your productivity levels.

Give yourself a ‘mantra of the week’ perhaps, something to hold on to that will almost guid you, something positive like “I’m energised and ready to tackle the week ahead!” 

For more tips and to understand the benefits of meditation we have a dedicated meditation blog on our website, along with meditation and progressive muscle relaxation videos to follow along with on our Instagram page.

Chair Tuesdays

Bring a little movement in on Tuesday, something you can do at a desk or car (as long as you’re not actually driving!) to keep yourself feeling energised alongside your mantra.

Some ideas below for postures that you can do seated:

Sternocleidomastoid stretch - Neck

Seated Cat & Cow - Spine
Seated Pigeon Pose - Hip flexors 

Seated Side stretches - Obliques 

Seated Twists - Spine
Seated Tricep stretch - Triceps
Seated Forward Fold - Spine
Eagle arms - Shoulders
Hand to big toe - Hamstrings

These stretches alone can really help. Through movement and shifting energy it can really make you feel lighter physically and with your mental well-being - give it a go!

Breath work Wednesdays 

If you’ve ever been to a Yoga class you’ll know that in most classes the breath is something that’s given quite a bit of focus. It's the breath in a Yoga practice that guides the student through each posture. We use the inhales for creating space and the exhales to deepen postures, as a way of relaxing and softening into them.

Away from the postures and physical movement, the breath work of a class can be taken off the mat and used for the same purpose. The inhale to find space and clarity, and the exhale to release and relax.

It can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like.

Just 5 slow and deep inhales through the nose and an exhales through the mouth can really leave someone feeling energised but also relaxed. Great for times of increased stress in the workplace, or as a way to focus on work if home life or something else is causing tension. 

You could also include something like alternate nostril breathing. A Pranayama practice used by many to calm, balance and focus the mind.

In a comfortable seated position placing the left hand onto the knee, palm facing up. Take the right hand as follows:

Setting up

1) Using the right hand curl the index and middle finger into the palm. 

2) Rest the tip of the right thumb on the bridge of the nose just above the right nostril.

To begin the breath

1) Press the right nostril shut with the thumb and inhale through the left nostril.

2) At the top of the inhale, close the left nostril with the third finger, release the thumb from the right and exhale.

3) Inhale through the right nostril, close the right nostril at the top of the inhale, release the third finger and exhale.

This would complete one round.

Most beginners would start with 3 - 5 rounds and build from there.

Thirty minute Thursdays 

If you have space in your your workplace, why not have a Yoga teacher come in at the start of the day, lunchtime or after work, to provide a 30minute energising flow. This will not only help with the mental wellbeing of staff or employees but also the physical well-being.

For many people who work behind a computer all week, or sit behind a steering wheel, unless they go to a gym after work, their working week can be incredibly sedative, which isn’t good for their physical or mental wellbeing, and in turn won’t help with engagement or their productivity at work.

For an employer bringing something like this into the workplace can really show employees how valued they are, and that you want to support them.

Flexible Fridays 

Yoga classes at studios in the week, are quite often at times of the day where it would be a real struggle for someone to attend and be at their place of work in time to start. For some this means they won’t go, for others they might choose to go but then have to rush so much by the time they’ve got to work they’ve lost any sense of calm they had from attending class. 

Why not introduce a flexible Friday where staff can either come in a little later or leave a little earlier if they are attending a Yoga class. This will support with their physical and mental well-being, engagement and productivity.

This not only shows support to your employees but it shows them you’re really invested in them as people outside of work, as well as in work, and this in turn will invest them in you! 

Want to know more?

For information on corporate Yoga days please contact info@yogacourse.com

To gain a better understanding of Yoga for yourself please take a look over the courses section of our website.