If you're a self-proclaimed yogi (I like to consider myself one) then you already know about the bountiful benefits of practicing yoga—including improved strength, balance, flexibility, stress management, better overall health and self-care. You can read the full list of yoga benefits from Johns Hopkins, my alma mater!
This week, let's look at how the benefits of yoga go beyond physical wellness to elevate your professional goals:
If you have been struggling to reach your career goals and find contentment, your yoga practice may be the solution to increasing happiness at work. While career tips often focus solely on external achievement and are rigid or formulaic, to be happier in your work life, you need to have a career plan that is variable and nuanced. Having the clearer, grounded and more flexible mindset that yoga brings is a career advantage. (Forbes)
In this post-pandemic era where organizations are actively looking to support employee wellbeing and combat burnout, the gap between the corporate world and spiritual wellness is narrowing.
Here are 5 ways yoga can help you at work (Forbes):
Remember to thank yourself: The hard part of doing yoga is often rolling out your mat and getting started, so you should thank yourself for simply showing up—extend this intention to the workplace. "Each morning when you sit down to your desk, thank yourself for showing up and playing a part in a world where peace, purpose and joy can become the norm in your work life."
Recognize the presence of ego and ignorance: Channel the strength you feel while performing difficult or powerful yoga poses when dealing with dysfunctional dynamics at work. "The employee or leader that brings the warrior pose into work is stronger and more confident, and therefore open to the vulnerability required to create a work environment that is kind, agile, productive and innovative."
Stay rooted in your beliefs: Bring your body, mind and soul into the workplace. Being loyal to who you are and your core values while at work "will see a host of benefits: you will know your worth and your power, stop accepting a work existence that drains you, help others achieve their potential and learn to be patient with your flaws and the flaws of others."
Reach for higher goals: Practicing yoga promotes balance and stability while also pushing us outside of our comfort zones. "This stability should remove, or lessen, the underlying insecurities that cause you to play small in your career or ignore your dreams." So take risks and be bold!
Welcome a state of non-doing: "Imagine a yoga class with no breaks in the flow and no poses that encourage rest—sounds terrible, right? Yet many of us create a work life that fails to acknowledge the restorative power of rest and states of non-doing." This inevitably leads to burnout that will stun creativity and productivity. So, just like in yoga, build breaks into your work routine to protect your wellbeing.
I'll be holding my yoga poses a few seconds longer this weekend and I hope you'll join me! Sit deeper in your pigeon pose and bask in the power of your warrior pose! Practice gratitude and know that you have everything you need to conquer your professional dreams.