Did you know that 58% of Canadian workers are stressed at work on a daily basis? Stress is an everyday occurrence for most of us, and in some ways can even make us more productive at work. However, when stressful feelings begin to dominate, it’s no longer healthy and can affect our physical as well as mental health. Whilst there are lots of ideas on how to combat stress at work, yoga tends to be associated with spiritual relaxation. However, did you know that practising yoga can help reduce stress in many ways too?
The benefits of yoga for work related stress
It is vitally important to reduce mental stress at work to avoid the negative effects that stress can have. These include forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating and constant fatigue. Yoga is a beneficial way to relax the body and mind. Stress makes muscles tense and causes our mind to become frantically busy. Certain yoga poses have a deeply calming effect on our body as well as enabling muscle relaxation. The meditation aspect of yoga – concentrating on poses and sequences along with focusing on breathing – allows our mind to focus on one thing and therefore fights the frantic thoughts associated with rising stress levels at work.
Better Quality Sleep
Practicing yoga in the evening can help you sleep better which gives your body time to relax and process your thoughts. This reduces stress by giving your mind time to process information and therefore reducing your frenzied thoughts. The better quality sleep you have, the more productive you are likely to be at work and in turn, this decreases stress levels.
The principle of yoga is that mind and body are one. Taking this principle into account, we find that when our body is relaxed, so is our mind and vice versa. Different yoga poses which lengthen the spine or stretch the arches of the feet are geared toward relaxing our muscles which in turn benefits our mind and stress levels.
Along with the physical aspects of yoga, the fact that you are taking time to do yoga poses and stretches removes you from your other tasks as you need to focus on the exercises. Taking this time forces you to take a break and take your mind off any problems for that period.
Different Yoga Styles
Yoga has many styles, forms and intensities. The most common style, Hatha Yoga, is one of the most beneficial for stress management. Hatha yoga is slower paced and has easier movements than some other types and is perfect for beginners as well as more advanced practitioners.
In addition to these benefits, yoga can be practiced almost anywhere for as much or as little time as you want. If you only have 3 minutes before a conference call or 5 minutes before eating lunch, it’s still enough time to fit in a quick exercise to facilitate your breathing. Practice this before an important meeting to relax your mind or at the end of your working day to help you leave the office at home.
Article provided by Jane Acres, Freelance Writer