Bend Over Backwards For Your Boss

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday January 30, 2008

Kate Hilpern and Gillian Cook. With Guardian News & Media

Yoga at work is on the rise, whether you like it or not, write Kate Hilpern and Gillian Cook.

Investing in employee wellbeing used to mean a bowl of fresh fruit and a gym membership. Now you can add corporate yoga to the list, as growing numbers of employers ask their staff to swap their business suits for tracksuits.

The idea of spending more time with colleagues learning yoga may fill some workers with dread but advocates say lunchtime classes and weekends away improve staff morale, raise motivation and, ultimately, productivity. The trend is gaining ground in Australia and Britain.

"The effects of yoga, when you do it correctly, can be immediate," says Daniel Harte, managing director of Ibiza Yoga, which provides retreats in Spain for British companies.

"When we first started out seven years ago, we had a group of Google staff, who raved about it in terms of releasing tension and relationship building. Since then, many other employees have come away saying their minds are more focused, their energy levels are boosted and they've combated stress," he says.

In Australia, Natalia Napper of Samadhi Corporate has been running yoga retreats for companies for the past 18 months and says interest is definitely growing.

"There are some companies that are ahead of others and they recognise that there is a need for the top performers, who have much higher stress in their jobs, to [do] yoga," she says. "[We usually provide] a combination of various wellbeing services like massage, yoga, meditation and relaxation."

Yoga is a combination of exercise and meditation taken up by people of all ages. There are dozens of schools in Australia, most of which incorporate breathing exercises, meditation and posture techniques that stretch different muscle groups. Advocates say it can reduce back pain and headaches, lower blood pressure, improve heart and breathing rates and alleviate insomnia.

Nicole Sceresini and Eliza Johnson, owners of the Sydney company Yoga Suits, believe there is a growing consciousness at a management level about the need to look after workers. "People do not want to spend the whole time chained to a desk," Sceresini says.

Johnson says yoga is a good alternative to the gym. "In a corporate setting it is a lot more intimate and it is almost one-on-one with the teachers because the classes are smaller and the people know each other."

Jane Moses, 31, a pathology collector, attends in-house classes run by Yoga Suits at Sydney IVF and says lunchtime yoga allows her time to rejuvenate. "It is really easy to forget to take a break at work and forget to let your mind rest and I don't know any other exercise that lets your mind rest like yoga does," she says.

Moses believes that corporate yoga is good for more than just your health. "There were people turning up to the classes who I actually had never met before and I found it a really good way of mingling with my colleagues."

Voluntary classes can boost productivity but British corporate psychologist Ben Williams warns companies against forcing employees to do yoga or taking unreceptive workers on yoga retreats.

"Corporate yoga as a team-building exercise is as bad as insisting on a spontaneous group hug," he says.

"And corporate yoga as a compulsory weekly activity is as bad as forcing people to go to the gym or eat salads in the workplace canteen. If you push people into doing an exercise they may hate, they will simply put their tongue in their cheek and pray it's over quickly.

"Management need to appreciate they are employing adults, who should be free to make their own choices."

Subhodh Gupta, a British corporate yoga teacher who trains celebrities such as Simon Le Bon, also warns that with the wrong teacher staff can end up hurting themselves.

"It's not like teaching yoga in a health club, where people tend to have pretty good fitness levels," Gupta says. "One employee might do no exercise at all, another might be pregnant and another might be super-fit. There are other things to be wary of too. If you have an eye-related problem, for instance, any posture which is what's called 'inverted' will put more pressure on it. If you have high blood pressure, this will also restrict you."

With Guardian News & Media

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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