Blog | St. Louis Corporate Yoga

Working Women’s Survival Show Yoga Presentation

Clayton Yoga presents at the Working Women’s Survival Show this upcoming February 23rd + 24th, 2013. For the very first time, Michelle Maue will demonstrate yoga to this lovely group of people. It will be a thirty minute yoga demonstration to put people at ease with practice of learning yoga. We will present yoga at 4pm on Saturday, February 23rd, 2013 and 12pm on Sunday, February 24, 2013.

Did you know how yoga increases our resiliency to stress? Yoga opens up energy centers in our body and helps us reconnect with our natural energy flow. This creates better health and greater overall confidence.Are you aware that stress itself is actually healthy for us? In this fun and important yoga demonstration, Michelle will show you just how to breathe and feel great.

Yoga postures are over 2,500 years old and designed to open the nadis or energy centers throughout the body. When we practice yoga and breathe deeply, we give ourselves a chance to connect with natural vitality and feel refreshed, recharged and centered.

Yoga and meditation is a very powerful medicine designed not only to support better health, but also provides us with a great system we can customize to meet our own particular needs. Most of us for example, have a great deal of anxiety and stress in today’s modern world. In navigating through the present moment and in relationships with our coworkers, we can sometimes get stuck in a rut.

We may find that we often get upset with others or ourselves. Rather than being a perfectionist, yoga helps us release control of the situation and remember to trust. Rather than being fixated on getting someone else to change, yoga empowers us to let go and simply let good.

Yoga when done properly connects us with our body and our heart chakra. This is where we find our empathy and reconnect with universal intelligence, rather than the use of brute force, we find natural vitality and trust again. It is there that we get back into balance with the earth and transform this world by being an example as Ghandi once said thus making it a great collaborative place to live.

In addition to covering these main yoga points, we will also be giving away free gift bags and empowering yoga handout tips on better ways to find relaxation, courage and success. And of course, the very best part is that we will share with you, just how easy it is to get yoga started for your company!

For over ten years, Clayton Yoga has delivered corporate yoga wellness classes throughout the greater metro St. Louis area. Currently we offer 11 corporate yoga classes each week to many different companies and organizations.

Research shows that students who attend corporate yoga wellness on-site classes have fewer doctor’s visits, greater vitality and productivity at the workplace.

Please come out and join us! See why thousands of women will be interested in attending such a fabulous show as the 26th Annual Women’s Working Survival Show. To see more information about purchasing your tickets, please go the following website at www.wwssonline.com today!

Sitting is Silently Killing You!

There is mounting evidence that sitting for longer periods at a time can be very dangerous for your health. The same is true for your employees and colleagues, too of course.

Let’s look at research done in the last decade to understand the threat that sitting at work poses in the workplace.

The dangers of sitting too long during your waking hours:

Heart Disease

Several studies indicate an association between sitting for extended periods and heart disease. According to a study in the “American Journal of Epidemiology,” sitting for more than six hours daily leads to an 18 percent greater risk of death from heart disease. Research conducted at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center found that extended sitting results in a 54 percent greater chance of a heart attack.

Other Chronic Diseases

Many studies also indicate an association between extensive sitting and cancer, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. The 2008 “Diabetes” study posited that the 47 million cases of metabolic syndrome — a condition that leads to diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular problems — in the U.S. are linked directly to a sedentary lifestyle characterized by extended sitting. Unfortunately, even if you exercise for the recommended 30 minutes per day, five days per week, it doesn’t compensate for sitting eight hours daily.

Mortality

Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. James Levine describes sitting as a “lethal” activity, according to The Wellness News. While this may sound dramatic, studies back his assertion. A 2012 study of more than 222,000 participants found that people who spend more than 11 hours per day sitting have a 40 percent greater chance of dying in the next three years than do those who sit for four hours or less per day; participants who sat from eight to 11 hours per day had a 15 percent greater mortality rate. The increased risks weren’t affected by other health factors, such as participants’ age, weight and physical activity levels. Further, the most inactive participants in the study — those who spent the most time sitting each day — had more than twice the mortality rate of those who sat the least. Similarly, a 2011 study at the University of South Carolina found that men who were sedentary for 23 hours per week or more had a 64 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease than men who were sedentary for 11 hours a week or less.

The above excerpt is from an excellent summary article published on http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/health-problems-sitting-day-work-1827.html.

One solution is to provide employees with standing desks or even treadmill desks. But not every company is willing to make the investment in these innovative desks. Plus it seems that after the initial enthusiasm is gone, the usage of these desks declines among office workers. Sitting is still more comfortable and associated with “doing your job”.

Walking and moving around during the workday will bring huge benefits if done consistently. These methods don’t cost you a penny, either. The only thing you need to get the most health benefits from these easy activities is your unwavering commitment.

Some ideas to get you stand up and move during the day:

Walking down the corridor to talk to colleagues instead of writing an email
Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
Standing while talking on the phone
Standing during meetings
Taking a walk during lunch hour

Company yoga classes are also an excellent way to get employees moving and away from their desks for an hour. Yoga practice can offset the health destroying impact of sitting for hours every day.

From the testimonials we get from our corporate yoga students, we know that yoga had many very favorable changes to their well-being and health. Would you like to hear some of our happy students speak about their experience of St. Louis Corporate Yoga classes at their workplace? We gathered a testimonial video collection on our Praise page: https://stlouiscorporateyoga.com/praise/

We would love to help you bringing better health and outstanding productivity to your employees. Please call us at 314-630-1677 to set up a complimentary consultation on creating the best fitting corporate yoga program for your company.

St. Louis Corporate Yoga Benefits St. Louis Corporations

The effective antidote for the stress of modern-day challenges in business and in life: Yoga.

The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital found in survey after survey, that Americans identify stress as their number one health concern today. More than 50% of adults in the U.S report high stress on a daily basis. Untreated, stress can seriously affect, performan, health and well-being. St. Louis Corporate Yoga brings yoga right to your doorstep! St. Louis Corporate Yoga offers business professionals a great way to unwind, learn how to relax in their own workplace, increase positive energy, and team bonding.

Corporate all level yoga classes are designed for all levels and backgrounds. That is because the emphasis is not on achieving advanced postures but learning how to stay calm moment to moment. We work with negative emotions such as impatience, fear, anger, aggression toward one another and develop a systematic program to learn how to shift into stress-free appreciation, team bonding, and courage.

Clients who have worked with St. Louis Corporate Yoga say that it is the convenience of having such a course right at the workplace that they love the most. Yoga has been proven to lower blood pressure, improve sleep and alleviate stress. According to Thomas Perls, M.D. and director of the New England Centurion Project at Boston University, “It isn’t the amount of stress that matters, but how you manage it.”

Begin now to notice your posture, and style of breathing. When you do not sit up straight and hunch your shoulders forward, you are cutting off circulation between the body and brain. This requires a huge amount of energy to keep circulation going. Try in this moment, to sit up tall, relax the shoulders and take a few simple, deep breaths.

A study done at the University of California at San Francisco has confirmed that stress really does age you. The reason is that constant stress causes the telomere, or tiny caps on cell chromosome which govern cell regeneration to get smaller. When the cell’s telomere become too short, the cell stops dividing and eventually die. Greater relaxation then leads to a longer life span for the telomere and rejunvenated energy throughout the body.

Please read our list of benefits for Corporate Yoga Program here as well as click on our St. Louis Corporate Yoga Video to see just what it is like to be in one of our on-site yoga and wellness classes.

Benefits of Corporate Yoga Programs:

Improved morale in the workplace
Increased productivity and communication
Increased efficiency
Increased concentration
Decreased anxiety and tension
Decreased muscle tension and pain
Decreased sick time and absences
Ability to manage emotional stress

To start a corporate yoga on-site program and boost your employee morale, simply give us a call or email today. One of our company representatives will be happy to answer any of your questions.

You can reach us at (314) 630-1677 or info@claytonyoga.com.

Find Your Mind-Body-Spirit Center

What is stress? Why does it take its toll on our body? Stress manifests in our body as ‘gruntis’ or knots. When we have anxiety or deadlines to meet, and misperceive ourself as unable to meet such needs, we feel stressed. When we are friendlier with ourself, we feel we have more ability to take more risks and our belief in the self increases.

Our Corporate Yoga Classes teach and train students how to deal with the stress of everyday life, when they are asked to play the edge in every yoga posture and then remain calm.

When just the right amount of pressure, tension, stress and resistance, we can all excel and become stronger. Challenges we face in the everyday life are hidden gems in disguise.

Human organisms don’t thrive under cozy conditions. They thrive when conditions are a challenge and the organism is fighting to become stronger. A very famous French literary author Jean Paul Satre once said, we are all doomed to find within us our destiny of freedom. I believe the freedom he was referring to was the opportunity to provide yourself constantly with life’s second chances. Or those moments when you face mistakes with a smile knowing these moments to be pivotal stepping stones for personal change and evolution.

The first teachings of the Buddha were that life is difficult but the good news is that we need not suffer. When we develop or cultivate a warrior heart approach to life, we face the harsh wind and soften. We develop a wisdom and knowing that life will knock us down again and again, and it is human to resist, but honoring our resistance is saying yes to the whole journey of transformation, not just the parts the suit us.

When we slow down at first initially, it may feel quite different, even painful to explore some of these dried out and neglected spaces within our own psyche. This is why Pema Chodren says that it is essential to touch lightly our suffering and to always be gentle.

All challenge in our life is said to present itself as a personal obstacle course designed to teach us to move from our center. When we do, we encourage newfound gentle wisdom to arise and allow the waters of our mind to settle and become clear. It is then that we may access the prajna, or living wisdom of the heart, and find a solution. Albert Einstein once remarked that you cannot solve the problem from the same place it was created.

The practice of awakening or enlightenment is to discover our own hero’s adventure lies within. It is never too late to pick up again our sword and defend our own honor. Rather than fighting the dark, we understand the power of simply turning on a light. Gentle loving kindness is the way. Stiffness, tension, too much flexibility, all of these attributes define the way we view our world.

Do you Live in a Friendly World or a Hostile One?

Have you noticed when you have more energy, you are more inspired and get more done? You have happier thoughts, are in a better mood and find more creative new ideas?

Albert Einstein once said that whether you live in a friendly or hostile world was the most important question of our time.

I used to look outside and wait for others to be kind. Guess what? I was spell casted into believing that someone else would one day bring me my happiness. As I practiced and taught more yoga, and opened up more about my true feelings of inferiority, I found that more people were drawn to me and inspired by my willingness to be authentic. I realized that right in the middle of our stressors, it is possible to pause, and come back to my center, to discover the creativity, vitality and wisdom within.

And wow, did I attract lots of business, new clientele and have lots of energy. No longer content with waiting for other people to change, I wanted to learn the tools to do that myself. And I discovered many cool things changing in the workplace too!

In 2001, when I began teaching corporate on-site wellness, to be honest, I really did not have much idea about what I was doing except I had faith. I believed that what I was teaching would one day bring about fantastic results and 10 years later after teaching 2,000 corporate yoga classes and training yoga instructors around the world, I believe that came true.

Since practicing yoga, I am lighter on myself and can even laugh at my own imperfections and weaknesses more somehow, just knowing, that is where the light is. For example, I am a terrible driver; I just don’t enjoy being behind the wheel and going places, except for the good music that sometimes plays on the radio. I also am not a very good cook. Despite many halfhearted attempts, and with a very busy teaching schedule, my cooking over the past ten years has not changed very much. But all of that is okay. In fact that leaves lots of room to enjoy and collaborate with the strengths of others.

Enjoy another great corporate yoga video celebrating 10 years of success for St. Louis Corporate Yoga (Clayton Yoga Studio).

With the practice of daily breathing, I have the increased energy, and perspective to go past the daily dramas and labeling and evaluation of everything and just be in a state of gratitude and wonderment. It is there that I understand how to prioritize better, laugh more and just lighten up! As I do that I recover my spirit, feel even more energy and thank the sky, the sun, the moon, and these cycles that are teaching us, anyone can do yoga, anyone can experience profound love and anyone can fly!

Would you like to get more details on getting yoga classes started at your company? Feel free to contact us at St. Louis Corporate Yoga or call us at 314-630-1677 and get your corporate on-site wellness class started today!

Yoga in the Workplace Produces Stronger Bonds

When challenge surrounds you, and time pressures feel overwhelming, that is the time to keep your cool. Have you ever noticed the complainers at your workplace, are the ones who usually have the least amount of responsibility?

Before I began my yoga practice 15 years ago, I too, was very judgmental and hard on myself. I suffered from the disorder called perfectionism and many people today, not just woman, or those who are experiencing a setback, also feel this imminent pressure around them especially at work.

I would now clearly argue that the pressure is a great step toward a new future opening or opportunity.

In our yoga postures, we are all taught to play the edge. When we push against our resistance and breathe, we learn to remain calm. Our body’s own nervous system becomes rewired to withstand even greater pressure. Staying calm, we provide the body with the opportunity to strengthen our central nervous system. Have you ever noticed when you feel depressed or down, you are more susceptible to getting sick?

Many research findings are proving now that the mind and body are not disconnected but are indeed the same. A healthy mind cannot be separated from a healthy body!

Here is a short corporate yoga video to enjoy sampling a yoga class with Clayton Yoga.

Regular yoga practice at work can be a great way to relieve stress, build up one’s immunity system but even more importantly find new creative ways to collaborate and work better with people. When people take yoga classes together, they build better avenues of communication and trust between one another and even have fun.

Would you like to get more details on getting yoga classes started at your company or practicing at Clayton Yoga, please feel free to contact us through our Contact page!

Find Your Om in the Office

St. Louis Corporate Yoga offers local business professionals a way to get into shape, and relax right in their own workplace. Our 10 year experienced yoga staff deliver great corporate yoga classes for both beginners as well as more advanced students.

These corporate yoga wellness programs help to decrease stress, increase positive attitudes, better problem solving skills, and overall greater company morale.

There are many various way to compensate financially such a program. Management can help to lower the cost. Insurance companies may offer direct reimbursement to St. Louis Corporate Yoga, and larger size yoga classes keep average price points low.

Our current client, St. Louis County, is happily being covered by their insurance company Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Another corporate client with St. Louis Corporate Yoga, the Thomas Eagleton courthouse group, are saving a bundle paying out of pocket with larger group classes of over 20 students. Their corporate yoga on-site program has been expanding now for over 8 years.

In 2008, St. Louis Corporate Yoga which ran its name under Bella Yoga, was featured in the St. Louis Business Journal for its work with Gallop, Johnson and Neuman, a local law firm in Clayton. Please click here to read this wonderful article: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/02/08/story13.html

Robert Droney, an attorney with Gallop Johnson & Neuman, helped spearhead the effort to bring yoga classes to the law firm. Droney said that taking a yoga class over lunch once a week gives him an energy boost and helps him clear his mind. “It is encouraging to have a wellness-minded employer. In addition to flexibility, it has helped with my balance and posture, and it has helped develop more core strength in my abdominal and back muscles than what I have experienced with running, biking and swimming,” he said. Students though need not be athletes to reap the benefits of on-site corporate yoga.

If you are interested in helping to increase employee wellness and vitality in the workplace, please contact us today at314-630-1677 or info at claytonyoga dot com.

Namaste!

Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Give Your Company the Gift of Yoga this Christmas!

In survey after survey, Americans identify stress as their number one health concern today. Untreated, stress can seriously affect performance, health, and well-being. With more than 50% of Americans identifying high stress on a daily basis, it’s time to implement a strategy for corporate on-site wellness classes today.

Our YouTube video demonstrates a typical all levels yoga class. Students from all different walks of life enjoy the teamwork, peace of mind, and fitness that a great yoga class brings both to the body and mind. The idea in yoga is not to compete with oneself, but to move the body compassionately through a series of challenging postures developing a strong, more flexible state of mind.

Yoga benefits a healthier and stronger back, less anxiety and tension, as well as introducing higher levels of serotonin or feel good chemicals in the body. The true benefit of yoga is learning to be more accepting and compassionate with one’s weaker areas. Yoga helps every muscle in the body to relax.

Yoga also helps te mind become stable and focused which helps give people a break from the stress and strain going on in their daily lives. Twists and stretched postures improve the functioning of endocrine glands, digestive organs and heart. Yoga when practiced on a daily basis reduces high levels of blood pressure as well.

Please watch our YouTube Video of a corporate yoga class!

Don’t just take our word for it, hear what another student has to say about St. Louis Corporate Yoga:

“Yoga helped me to detach from the problems, lower my stress and anxiety, push distractions away and increase my flexibility. I also love the music and quiet soothing instruction. I find that many of the movements alleviate my back pain and I can even do it in my office. I highly recommend Clayton Yoga at Work to anyone,” Tom Hinton, Chief Investigator for the U.S. Federal Government.

Can we help you share the gift of yoga at your company? Please contact us today at 314-630-1677 or info at claytonyoga dot com!

Practice Yoga and Find your Peak Performance

When you feel centered, calm and empowered, chances are that you feel energized and inspired to perform at a higher level. It is natural to want to excel and become a better version of yourself. In yoga, we help train you in the art of single-pointedness. Even in disappointment and setbacks, we learn to grow. Yoga immediately improves our mental concentration and focus. Breathing is a fabulous coping tool to help us achieve a state of self-mastery.

When we practice staying calm and move our body through challenging postures, we find naturally that we want to take more and more responsibility for our life. If we project or blame, we will never be empowered or happy. But by creating more space, we increase our awareness and find a greater ability to be more loving with our imperfections.

When we experience greater self-acceptance, old habit patterns of self-doubt break free and we find a whole new clearing. Stress teaches us in a good way how to adapt using creative new goals and newfound inner strength. None of us are here to have a mediocre existence. We are here to thrive and expand and be great.

For me, yoga continues to remind me to find more fun in the everyday, more appreciative for all the blessings that come my way, and find more laughter, and more love.

There is never a better time to invest in a new yoga corporate program and motivate yourself, to greater health, peace, and happiness.

Would you like to start a corporate yoga program at your workplace? Please contact, Michelle Maue, at 314-630-1677 or through the Contact page!

10 Super Reasons for Getting A Corporate On-site Yoga Class Started Today!

The Mind and Body Medical Institute found that in survey after survey, Americans identify stress as their number one health concern today. More than 50% of adults in the US report high stress on a daily basis and more importantly, untreated, stress can seriously affect performance, health, and well-being. Also the Journal of Retired Persons found that according to Dr. Thomas Perls, MD with Boston University, Centurion Project, “it isn’t the amount of stress that matters but how you manage it”.

St. Louis Corporate Yoga keeps its clients healthy with up to date research findings, yoga sequences to practice at home, healthy nutritional ideas, and other preventative lifestyle tips too! Studies and research prove now that a regular yoga practice, or at least practicing 30 minutes 2-3 times per week, has shown itself to be an effective antidote to the stress of modern-day challenges in business and in life.

Here are 10 Super great reasons to get a corporate yoga on-site program started today!

1) Improved sleep

2) Energy level increase throughout the whole day

3) Blood pressure decrease

4) Endocrine function normalizes

5) Fewer sick days

6) Less back pain

7) Better problem solving skills

8) Quicker response time

9) Happiness

10) Stronger Team Bonds

There is never a better time to invest in a new yoga corporate program and motivate yourself, to greater health, peace, and happiness. Let’s begin to move some sacred energy, and bring ourself to our full potential and creative possibility now. With corporate jobs’ increased resilience upon technology, employees suffer a huge amount of physiological stress from sitting all day at the computer. Yoga is an excellent form of cross-training for all students, improving energy and group morale.

Would you like to start a corporate yoga program at your workplace? Please contact, Michelle Maue, at 314-630-1677 or through the Contact page!

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