Yoga in the Workplace

I was sitting at my desk today, peering out my window into sunshine, lamenting a season that had worn on too long, and reflecting on how little is actually asked of the human body over the course of a day. Wouldn't it be extraordinary, I mused from my cubicle, if we could somehow engage both body and mind more mutually, as a matter of course? Which got me thinking about corporate yoga.

It's a subject that occupies the minds of an increasing number of folks these days, as the concept of doing yoga on the job bridges successfully the divide between "out there" and "in here."

Health Canada did its bit to legitimize the idea with an "active living at work" initiative, whose recommendations for access to physical activity in the workplace and office cafeterias that offer healthy food choices, among other things, it encouraged Canadian employers to embrace.
Currently, some 15 million Canadians can assert the dubious claim that they spend at least half of their waking hours at work. What's more, an aging workforce exacerbates the problem with lots of sick days and a demonstrated tendency to be just as sedentary at home as on the job. Research cites a link between active living and individual employee well-being, and Health Canada highlights lower health-care costs, absenteeism and turnover rates; along with higher productivity and improved employee morale, as rationale enough for getting active on the job. The fatigue, inattention, accidents and low productivity that are the hallmarks of non-active corporate life are also hauled out as incentive for employers considering unveiling an active-living component to the workplace.

Still, corporate yoga is a curious beast. On the face of it, the practice asks individuals to combine something that is quite intimate and personal with something that is quite structured and public.

But it can be successfully pulled off, as employees of the Yukon Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, could attest. This Whitehorse, YK, government office, under the direction of its "wellness committee," maintains a "wellness program" which encourages at-work fitness, an attention to work and home-life balance and wellness educational programs. At lunch, employees are encouraged to participate in any of a number of fitness-oriented activities, including yoga and "fusion fitness," a combination of yoga and pilates.

"Including a yoga class in your corporate wellness program can improve productivity, decrease health-care premiums and improve job satisfaction," says Mary Delle Donne, a yoga instructor from Toronto who spends some of her professional time leading corporate yoga classes.

She believes that corporate yoga is on the climb, given the indisputable increase in job-related stress. Yoga, she says, is quickly becoming an essential part of corporate wellness programs because of the benefits it brings to employees and its relatively low cost of implementation.
"Yoga can be introduced to employees at any physical level, of any gender and age group," Delle Donne says. "Yoga's a low-impact activity that improves strength and increases flexibility. In addition to this, yoga develops concentration, relieves fatigue and restores energy."

It is this shimmering reality I ponder now. Chained as I am to a desk. Peering out my window into sunshine.