Yoga and meditation has more benefits than just greater posture and flexibility. Build your workplace stamina for the year ahead!
Over the last few years I have discovered the huge benefits of yoga in managing my career and business and raising a family with two very active sons. I have been running Mondo business for the last 20 years and the last few years have been probably the toughest years that I have seen, as social media and new platforms become another tool to hiring and finding the very best hidden talent requires more espionage. Yet my sense of peace, well being and calmness about the business world has developed. It might be ageing but I think and truly believe my regiment daily to do some yoga (even if only 10 minutes) has significantly helped me.
At a previous global recruitment NPA conference with our executive alliance partners I met one business owner from the Philippines who had been running her business for 19 years, Nerissa Reyes of Avante People. This lady seemed so energised and delighted in her business, like it was the first day of start up. I asked her for her secret, and ironically she said yoga! Nerissa said “I used to have severe back pain due to work pressure. The doctors have done surgery to ease the back pain; it was to no avail until I discovered the POWER OF YOGA.
In her words she said yoga does so many things but to name 4 benefits:
- YOGA creates FOCUS
YOGA teaches us to stay focused . It keeps us balanced and centred. There are so many activities that needs our attention daily, it is never. Yoga helps us do the balancing act between business and personal matters.
In the recruitment business, we can work 24 hours a day, especially with the global nature of business. Often, family life suffers while chasing that ambition to succeed in our business. By a daily practice of YOGA, we re-focus on what is more important..What does it matter if we gain the world but lose our soul?
- YOGA Breathing
YOGA breathing in & out comes from the core of our body; it clears the mind and releases stress; it is liberating and relaxing. When faced with operations problems in the office, take a deep breath to release tension; the solution may come more easily
- YOGA Meditation
YOGA teaches us to stay calm and listen to the environment. Just keep still and soak in the NOW ; the universe will flow through you and work itself out without pushing too hard.
- YOGA teaches ACCEPTANCE
We learn to accept things that we cannot change. There is a master plan of the universe. What was previously perceived as a hopeless situation seemed inconsequential and quite manageable in the greater scheme of things.
Yoga is the connection of mind to body and in our busy worlds where we so often run so fast with mobiles and email and social media driving our thinking that you do need a mechanism to ” defrag” the brain.
Prince Ea recently cited in his book called “can we auto correct humanity” that the average person spends 4 years of their life looking at their phone . There are also recent studies showing that 15 minutes of meditation has more dopamine and ” happy emotions” released than an antidepressant tablet. So naturally it makes sense to consider yoga and meditation to support you in your everyday life.
The simple definition of the word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means “to join” or “to yoke”( yoga.org.nz)
Yoga is a practical aid, not a religion. Yoga is an ancient art based on a harmonising system of development for the body, mind, and spirit. The continued practice of yoga will lead you to a sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with the environment.
A study led by scientists at UCSF found that schoolteachers who underwent a short, intensive meditation program were less depressed, anxious, and stressed, while also experiencing greater compassion and awareness of others’ feelings. The study was published in the April issue of Emotion.
In study researchers at UCLA found that long-term meditators have larger amounts of gyrification (folding) of the brain’s cortex, specifically in the area of the insula – an area of the brain whose many vital roles include emotional awareness, attention, self-recognition, decision making, and sensing. The researchers found a direct correlation between the number of years study participants had practised meditation and the amount of brain change, offering further possible evidence of the brain’s plasticity.
A groundbreaking study led by Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in 2011 found that as little as eight weeks of meditation not only helped people experience decreased anxiety and greater feelings of calm; it also produced growth in the areas of the brain associated with memory, empathy, sense of self, and stress regulation.
The practice of yoga makes the body strong and flexible, it also improves the functioning of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and hormonal systems. Yoga brings about emotional stability and clarity of mind. In the practice of Yoga the ultimate aim is one of self-development and self-realisation.
Think of this practice as being the means and tools to realign and re-balance your vehicle (body) on a regular basis. You take control and you can then become your body mechanic instead of having to pay someone else to do it (medical professionals). Because your body is finely tuned you will find that your chances for injuries and illnesses will drop as you are in a much more attuned state.
So when thinking about your year ahead – think about how you are making time to defrag your brain and what are your tools and resources to equip you with powering through the year ahead with ease.