Both meditation and yoga have been around since the dawn of time and every major religion in the world practices them in one form or another. And although they have been around for thousands of years, it’s only recently that their benefits have been recognized by the business world. They can be used as tools for personal development and self-improvement and are becoming more popular in the workplace, with companies offering sessions in one or both to employees.

Boosting Creativity

Yoga teaches you how to connect to your mind, body, and soul through meditation, poses, and breathing. And yoga can be an effective tool for tapping into your creativity. Scientific research is backing up what most practitioners have already discovered, that yoga helps foster creative energy. Morning yoga opens your state of mind, clearing it and allowing it to be more receptive to creative thoughts and ideas.

Stress Reduction

Mindfulness meditation helps us to be more aware of our thoughts, emotions, memories, and physical sensations. It also helps us to develop a better understanding of the present moment. Yoga helps with stress by reducing cortisol levels and improving mood.

Yoga offers a wealth of stress-relieving techniques, including exercise and learning to control your breath, clearing your mind, and relaxing your body. There’s a reason people say, “take a deep breath.” Deep breathing literally slows your sympathetic nervous system, and deep belly breaths lower your body’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as supplying your brain with more oxygen.

Another way to encourage mindfulness is to provide “stress breaks” during the workday. These breaks can be used for activities such as taking a walk, stretching, or meditating (more on this later). Not only will this help employees to feel refreshed and refocused, but it can also help to improve their overall health. If your business is located in a neighborhood with a high walk score (which means you’ll have parks, restaurants, and shops within walking distance), encourage employees to take a stroll during their break. Not only will they get some fresh air and exercise, but they’ll also have a chance to clear their heads and come back to work with fresh eyes.

Help With Work-Related Pain and Discomfort

A lot of work-related complaints come from back pain and headache that come from sitting in an office chair in front of a computer screen. Yoga is as good for easing pain and improving mobility in people with lower back pain. The American College of Physicians recommends yoga as a first-line treatment for chronic low back pain.

Many factors contributing to heart disease, including high blood pressure and excess weight, can also be improved through yoga by lowering stress and improving mobility. Yoga and meditation have both been shown to boost our body’s immune system

Good Habits to Start the Day

Everyone experiences bad moods time and again, but they can often affect how you relate to your employees, influencing work and productivity. Start the day by doing something that, upon completion, will leave you feeling accomplished. Yoga is the perfect morning routine. It adds a boost in alertness and enthusiasm and fewer negative feelings with routine practice. Taking time to meditate when you get to the office or reading inspirational messages can influence your decisions throughout the rest of the day, too.

A better start to your day actually begins much earlier by getting enough sleep the night before. Researchers have found that after practicing yoga for just eight weeks, chronic insomnia patients not only significantly improved the number of hours they slept each night but they also improved the quality of their sleep.

Meditating Makes Good Business Sense

Science has shown how meditation and mindfulness practices impact the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala. These are all parts of the brain that control your memory and your ability to learn new things. It plays, too. You’re already using these parts of the brain to complete tasks and make plans, so make them even better. With meditation, those parts of your brain become more effective. You might show more willingness to take risks because your stress reactions will be less. These can be invaluable traits for any business owner.

If you’re a business owner, not only can you benefit from mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation, but offering and encouraging those practices for your employees makes great business sense.

Lowering stress, increasing creativity and productivity, and even reducing lost time due to illness or back pain can not only improve your bottom line but also improve your health but that of everyone who is a part of your success.

Get Fit Maryville can help you design a personal training program suited to your body and needs. Get in touch with us today to learn how you can get started.