What Effects do Yoga and Meditation Have on Work?
Stress reduction, improved attention span, reinforced self-control. There are many benefits to performing relaxing activities. For several years now, disciplines such as yoga and meditation have made their way into the working world. Yoga and meditation is another tried and tested method for improving and managing anxiety, which you exercise on our virtual corporate yoga sessions and workplace guided mindfilness mediation
This article, originally published on the Julidesk blog. It explains why companies offer this kind of activity and its benefit.
How do yoga and meditation work?
Yoga
Though the popularity of yoga is relatively recent in Western societies, in India this practice has existed for millennia. The objective? Connect the body and the mind to help a man make contact with his inner self in order to find unity. The most popular technique in the West is Hatha Yoga, which is based on a combination of physical and breathing exercises.
Meditation
When we talk about meditation in France, we refer to full consciousness or “mindfulness” in English. The technique, based on Buddhist meditation, has since been secularized. It consists in being one with oneself as well as with the world by paying attention to one’s breathing, bodily sensations and to the noises that come to us from the outside world.
The benefits of relaxation in the workplace
Stress reduction is beneficial to productivity
In November 2017, the consulting firm, Stimulus, which specializes in psychological health at work, published a worrying study concerning employee stress levels. It revealed that out of 32 137 people working in 39 companies in various sectors, 24% are in a state of hyper stress. “i.e. at too high a stress level and therefore at risk for their health.” However, many studies have shown that stress limits productivity! As a result, the practice of relaxation activities in companies seems an obvious solution. These two disciplines have been known to promote serenity and lucidity. Moreover, as Capital magazine published in July 2017, “with the implementation of the Health at Work Plan (2010-2014), companies now have an obligation to achieve results in terms of reducing psychosocial risks, in particular by acting on the stress of their employees, and by taking preventive actions against burnout and depression.” In fact, by offering employees the opportunity to practice a relaxing or refreshing activity, companies are also honoring their social responsibility.
An improvement in employee experience
The practice of yoga or meditation at work also presents an effective solution to improve the employee experience. In 2015, a survey conducted by OpinionWay for Éditions Tissot showed that employee loyalty to their company was more a matter of quality of life than salary. Offering employees the opportunity to discover a personal development activity is therefore also a way of making them understand that the society in which they live is one concerned with their well-being and the way they experience work
“By promoting well-being at work, companies can contribute to individual and collective performance”
The Benefits of Yoga and Meditation
As psychiatrist Christophe André explains in a Huffington Post article entitled “Thoughts on meditation and work,”meditation has proven benefits on brain function, including improved attention span, better emotional regulation and better impulse control. However, according to him, “the regular practice of mindfulness also leads to an evolution in our ways of living on a daily basis (employees become more calm, lucid, attentive, conscious, present, etc.) and thus more capable of managing their work.” These qualities are essential in the world of work, so the positive impact that the practice of meditation can have on the workplace is clear: By promoting well-being at work, companies can contribute to individual and collective performance. In addition, it also helps to harmonize employee relations and redefine managerial leadership. In a thesis entitled “Mindfulness and management: the effect of mindfulness on relationships at work and managerial leadership” (Université Grenoble Alpes, 2016), Daniel Françoise concluded that “mindfulness is a psychological construct that can offer a dual benefit to managers: by supporting a more positive work-life balance and encouraging the adoption of more positive and effective leadership behaviors at the same time.”
Here at Inbloom, we explore different techniques, including posture and movement, breath awareness exercise, relaxation, and meditation. you will find some of the services we offer to help introduce, revamp, or complement your internal wellbeing culture. We would love to help if we can, just simply email us.