My students often tell me about how yoga helps enhance their productivity at work. It helps to bring about positive changes in their lives – changes that extend beyond the physical. Not only do they find themselves becoming fitter physically, they also find their mental abilities improving. They find that they are more focused and hence more productive in their professional spheres. There are a number of ways in which yoga helps us improve focus and productivity at work.
Being grounded
Yoga is a mind-body activity that engages not only the muscles of the body but also involves the mind. It helps us become more grounded. The breathing exercises in yoga and the meditative element train the mind to become centered. We become more mindful of each activity that we do and we learn to become more fully present in that moment.
We learn how to cut out distractions and mental clutter to fully concentrate on the here and now. We waste less time in unproductive things and learn to prioritize and streamline processes. This obviously has positive impacts on one’s ability to focus and hence makes one more productive at work, while studying etc.
Peace of mind
Yoga brings us peace and calm – both in mind and body. Yoga is known to be an excellent relaxation technique that can help us reduce stress. Once we are able to quieten the mind, make it calmer and more at peace, this will automatically help us do our jobs with greater efficiency. This in turn helps us make better decisions as well.
Overcoming restlessness
Regularly doing yoga helps us control that feeling of being hyper restless or anxious about work or other issues in life. We become more adept at managing our emotions so that they don’t interfere needlessly with processes. Improved focus is a by-product. Think about muddy water that is allowed to stand still in a glass. We see that after a point, that mud in the water settles to the bottom of the glass. Yoga helps us achieve that stillness and clarity of mind, thereby improving focus and productivity at work.
Improves physical health
Yoga undoubtedly makes us healthier. It improves circulation and hence organ functioning, it shores up immunity, improves flexibility, digestive processes and more. All of this means that we are less preoccupied with aches and pains, problems with digestion or constipation, and we fall ill less frequently. Our stamina and endurance increases, all of which helps contribute to our levels of productivity.
Reducing fatigue
The positive impacts of better health and fitness include increased energy and vitality. My students often find that doing yoga at a specific time, especially in the morning, fills them with energy and the ability to tackle the day ahead. It may sound contradictory, but it is a fact that doing exercise does not deplete our energy but actually increases our energy levels.
Enhances creativity
Being healthier, more relaxed and less stressed means that our mind is freed up and is able to function optimally. Physical activity not only improves physical fitness but also mental fitness. The brain is able to think up its best ideas. We can become not only more productive at work but also more creative as a result.
Promotes discipline
When you know that you are supposed to go for your yoga class at a particular time of the day, you know that you have to organize your day accordingly. It becomes something that is a part of your day, something that you look forward to. As you do yoga with full commitment, this carries over to other aspects of your life. You commit to whatever task you have at hand wholly, with all of your concentration and your energies. All of this makes you more disciplined and helps with time management.
Employee wellness programs
Increasingly, companies and organisations find that yoga helps improve performance and productivity in the workplace. They find that yoga sessions organised in the work place can be a rejuvenating and reinvigorating experience for employees, which has also been my own experience. Yoga helps offset the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle with little or no time to eat healthy, making it ideal for busy corporate professionals. There can be no doubt that yoga does in fact help us improve focus and productivity at work.