Blog | St. Louis Corporate Yoga

Your Memory –An Important Asset

Having a good memory is an asset to every part of your life – and your career, too! Are you able to remember everything you want? This can be a challenge – not surprising given the times we live in.
Information overload is our reality at home and at the office. The good news is: you don’t have to remember everything just the most meaningful and important things.

The tips below will give you information on how to boost your memory.

Yoga and Exercise

Getting regular exercise can also improve your memory! Exercise isn’t just good for your body, it’s also excellent for your brain. Exercise increases the oxygenation level in your brain. Plus it can be beneficial to the chemical balance in the brain.

Practicing yoga is an outstanding method to help your brain manage information overload. Those relaxed 50-60 minutes you spend on the yoga mat give your brain cells to chance to process information. Hopefully you have a chance to practice yoga during the workday as part of an on-site wellness program!

Get Enough Good Sleep

Sleep is critical in letting out bodies recover and regenerate from the day before. Without enough sleep the brain can become compromised. Forgetfulness and memory lapses? This is what happens when we are sleep deprived. Research has shown that during the deepest parts of our sleep cycle, memory consolidation occurs. Without proper sleep, you can be sure that your memory will be negatively affected.

Try to get enough sleep every night! What is enough for you? You need to find this out as everybody has slightly different needs. Some people are happy with sleeping only 6 hours per night. Some others need their 8 hours. What is your number?

Laugh and Have Fun

Laughter is a blessing for your brain! When you laugh, you brain is engaging several areas at once, and giving you a good mental work out. Laughing helps you to think more broadly and improve your free associations aka creative thinking.

Laugh often! Funny movies, the latest jokes or even laughing at yourself and you will be helping your overall mental health! For more inspiration read our article “Laugh Stress Away “.
Spend time with people who make you laugh. Stick around these people and you will feel happier and have more fun for sure.

Manage Stress

Those senior moments? When you are stressed, you can become forgetful. Stress can actually damage the part of your brain – the hippocampus – which helps in recalling old memories and creating new ones.

Spend time each day using stress reduction techniques including meditation, deep breathing exercises, listening to relaxing music or anything that calms your mind and body.

Train Your Brain

Give your brain a workout to improve your memory skills by doing crosswords, brain teasers, word searches, and logic puzzles. There are plenty of free resources online to keep your mind active on a daily basis. Here are 2 resources we recommend:
http://sharpbrains.com/brainteasers/ – a selection of fun and enlightening brain teasers for adults of any age.

http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/ – addictive games for challenging your brain!

Being In The Present

Being in the present – this is one of the best things you can practice to increase your well-being in life! How many times do you spend time reminiscing about the good old days? Or spending time just daydreaming about your golden future? Nothing wrong with daydreaming by the way… if you take action on reaching those goals!

Many people are so used to thinking in the past or future that they have a hard time staying focused on the here and now.

It is the present where magic lies! To motivate you to practice being in the now, we gathered a few amazing reasons why staying with the present moment can benefit your life:

Enjoy Food More

How many times do you eat while watching a show or typing on your laptop? It just seems that you save time but you have to pay a high price for saving a moment or two! You will likely barely notice what you are eating. Chances are, you won’t even remember what you ate a few minutes before. Not only that, you won’t fully process feelings of being full and satisfied and this can lead to overeating.

Stay present while eating and your experience will completely change. Think about how the food tastes in your mouth. Focus on how it smells, its texture and taste. Is it crunchy, soft, sour, sweet, or bitter? You will be eating slower and will have a vivid memory of this meal. You give your brain a chance to register when you are full. When you eat mindfully, you will enjoy your food more and eat less of it.

Control Bad Habits

You need to start a new project but you catch your brain wondering constantly instead of concentrating? Do you feel resistance creeping into your workdays? Feeling those bad procrastinating habits getting the better of you at the office? Observe your behavior mentally and make note of it. Ask yourself, what is going on and why are you having difficulty focusing. Just the act of putting your attention directly on the problem will help you work out better ways of dealing with it.

Have A Deeper Understanding

Focus in on what is happening here and now and you will gain a deeper understanding of what is really going on in any situation! You will miss less verbal and non-verbal cues in every situation. Just imagine how useful this will be in any office communications. For example, if you are meeting new co-workers for the first time, try to be as present as possible. Absorb everything they are saying, listen to their voice, notice what they say and do. You will observe and gather valuable information that lets you in on who they really are and how to best work with them towards success.

Have The Power To Change

You really only have control over what is happening in this moment. Try as you might you cannot change the past and you can’t dream the future into existence without taking action. Instead use the present moment to its fullest and you will realize your goals step-by-step. You can make changes going forward and that can only happen now, in the present. Make the most of the present and you will take control of your destiny!

Boost Your Self-Esteem

Do you envy your superstar colleagues bursting with self-esteem and a “can-do” attitude? Would you like to increase your confidence levels?

Self-esteem is a set of beliefs you have about yourself. These beliefs are based on experiences you’ve had and messages you’ve received from others especially in your early childhood.

Sometimes you lack confidence due to various early experiences: feeling as the odd one at school or not getting the parental approval you were seeking. Other examples later in life might include workplace failures or being in abusive relationships.

Whatever the reasons for low self-esteem, there are ways to improve it in order to become a success at the office! Here are a few tips to help you give yourself a boost!

What Triggers You?

What makes you feel like you are not at your best? What situations, comments or places trigger feeling less confident? A difficult work situation, live presentations, sales conversations or yearly reviews with your boss? These are the situations where you might have a low opinion about your abilities and your chance for a better future. It is important to identify these areas in your lives so you can be prepared to handle them. Knowing where the issues are stemming from is the first step in making sure that our self-esteem is not eroding blindly.

Not Just Black And White

Often times, we tend to see things as positive or negative only. But there is almost always a middle ground. If you don’t succeed at a task, for example, that doesn’t mean you are a total failure!
Retrain your thinking so that you are not generalizing with each accomplishment or failure. If you made a mistake in the financial calculation of a project and you caught the mistake: you can view this as a failure but also can see it as a success in reviewing your work. No one is perfect and there are times when you won’t be able to accomplish a task 100% for the first time. When this happens, remember all your other achievements so your thinking doesn’t become too one-sided.

Forgive Yourself

Everybody makes mistakes and truly successful people make even more! Without mistakes you would never learn! Please remember that mistakes are just nature’s way of moving us closer to our ultimate goal.
Having some successes and some failures is part of life, so when the inevitable happens, forgive yourself, learn from your mistakes and move on! Getting stuck in feeling incompetent is not going to get you to where you want to be. Be kind to yourself and treat yourself with compassion like you would treat a friend.

Focus On Your Success

It is much easier to notice and remember those moments of failure, isn’t it? How many times do you forget about the small successes in life? Be sure to take note of all of your accomplishments. One great way to do this is by keeping a Success Journal. When you are feeling a bit down or low, you can open up your journal and remind yourself of all you have achieved. Read your journal for an instant self-esteem boost!

The benefits of improved self-esteem can help in just about every area of life!

6 Ways To Take Care Of Yourself Every Day

You know how important it is to take care of yourself. The question that always comes up is this: how to get it done during your busy workweek with so many other obligations filling up life?

There are 6 ways to practice self-care we suggest you try to integrate in your everyday life. Just pick one to start with as you don’t want self-care getting on your major stressors’ list!

Exercise

Have you found the form of exercise that you are actually willing to do regularly? If working out in the gym or at home does not excite you, then it is time to try other forms of exercising until you find something that you look forward to doing.
There are so many ways you can get active! Have you tried yoga, pilates, walking, swimming or bicycling? Even if you tried an activity years ago and didn’t really like it – give it a try again. We change so much during the years, maybe those activities are more fitting to your needs now.
Don’t forget about fun activities! Dancing can be a strenuous form of exercise!

Eat Healthy

Before you get on the next diet, start listening to your body as far as knowing what to eat. Over time, you will figure out what makes you feel good, what keeps you full between meals and what kinds of food gives you the energy you need to make it through busy days.

You can take the first step today towards making healthier choices! Please read our recent article on our Clayton Yoga site about how to move from junk to healthy food through substitution.

Make Your Health The Priority

If you want to practice good self-care, you will need to put your diet and exercising ahead of everything else. If might mean getting up 30 minutes earlier to get in a yoga workout before going to work. Or eating the healthy lunch you brought from home while your colleagues eat cafeteria food. You are worth it!

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is one of the most underrated parts of taking care of ourselves. Getting enough sleep is paramount to your wellbeing!

While you are sleeping, your body is busy repairing itself. By getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night, you’ll be healthier, happier and fitter.

Be In The Company Of Likeminded People

It is just easier to keep your focus on taking care of you if you associate with others who have the same goals. Do your friends are constantly getting fast food, eating donuts and sitting on their couch watching TV? Invite them to yoga class or plan the next get together at a spa. Look for activities for healthy cooking or take organized bike rides.

Always Look For New Ways To Pamper Yourself!

Finding new ways to practice taking care of your self is very important because you can get into a self-care rut, too. A spa day, a wellness massage or simply walking in the part can be exciting additions to your routine.

Practice these six things and enjoy the perks of practicing extreme self-care! You will be happy you did!

Free Yoga Class At Clayton Yoga Studio

Would you like to try out yoga and see how you can benefit from the practice? Or would you like to add extra yoga practice on those days when you don’t have corporate yoga classes at your workplace? We have an easy solution for you!

In November you will get a free yoga class voucher to our Clayton Yoga Studio located in the heart of Clayton, MO!

All you need to do is to sign up below, just fill your name and email and click the “send my voucher” button.

Your free voucher will be sent to you in an email, please print it out and bring to the studio to take advantage of this offer. You will able to use this free class till December 15th, 2014.

The free voucher will come with a subscription to our monthly newsletter (only for our new subscribers!) – but if you don’t find our newsletter interesting and bringing value to your inbox you can easily unsubscribe any time.

Why would you want to sign up to get a free class at our local studio?

This is an excellent opportunity to give yoga a try totally risk free.
Maybe you heard about the benefits of yoga already but procrastinated on giving it a real try? Let this be the nudge you need to take action.
Investing 60 minutes per week into your well-being is the best use of time – just ask any yoga student at the studio.
You simply deserve taking care of yourself!
We have classes at different times during the day so you are likely to find one that fits your day.

What type of benefits do our yoga students get out of practicing yoga? Here are a few enthusiastic accounts of what has changed for them as a result of consistent yoga practice:

“I lost 40 lbs over the past year. Yoga has helped me lose and maintain the weight loss and made me much stronger in the process. I love yoga!” Darlene Rich

“Yoga gave me more flexibility in my joints, and I have better control of my stress and shoulder aches have disappeared.” Nora Pullen

“My blood sugar is down to 5.5 from 6.2. Yoga works!!” Carla Johnson

“My blood pressure has dropped 50 points and nothing seemed to work. I love to practice yoga and I can feel my health is now in my own hands. Thank you so much!” Helen Zhou

“I bought a Groupon and went to my first class today. What a wonderful surprise! I’ve taken a few classes at other studios/gyms (I’m new to the area). Yoga always felt like something that I should do–it would be good for me to stretch and relax. But until today I never understood why people actually LIKED yoga. It was relaxing and the environment was fun and supportive. I can’t wait to go back.” Allison

Sign up now to get your free yoga class voucher today!

Studio Location: 4 South Central Avenue, Suite #2, Clayton Missouri 63105

Please find our Class Schedule here.

We can’t wait to meet you at the Studio!

Laugh Stress Away

Is it really possible to laugh stress away? Yes! Laughing is the best medicine!

A good laugh will increase your oxygen intake, stimulate your organs and relax your stress response. Who can think negative thoughts when laughing? No. You will feel happy and that state can even strengthen your immune system. All great benefits to have every day of your life. That is why it is so important to make sure to get your daily dose of smiles and laughs!

If you are having an especially stressful day, use our tips to feel lighter. (Depending on your work situation, you might not want to engage with these tips when you are at your office. What about right before and after your workday?)

Create a humor journal. Gather the funniest jokes and comments which make you laugh out load. When you feel less than energized, just read this journal for a few hearty laughs!

Learn to tell a joke. You might need to practice this skill if you are not a stand-up comedy talent. But once you master this skills, you will be able to entertain your co-workers and lighten up stressful situations at the office.

Can you laugh at yourself? Everybody fails and makes mistakes – don’t take yourself too seriously. People who can actually laugh at themselves have a higher self-esteem compared to those who cannot.

Just smile. Even if you don’t feel laughing out loud, you can still create a big smile on your face. You will feel happier instantly!

Make humor part of your days. Look out for funny films and good jokes. You will be able to find a lot of funny entertainment online, just search Google or YouTube. Set up your own fun channel on YouTube to have your favorites in one place.

Here are 4 videos randomly from our own selection:

No Soup For You! This is a classic that still makes people laugh – from Seinfeld

The weird things couples fight about – so hilarious! Next time you feel stressed with your partner, just watch this together.

Everything is amazing and nobody is happy – in the mood for some comedy?

What is your favorite joke or funny video? Feel free to share it below in the comments section so we can have a good laugh with you!

Top Quotes About Jobs And The Workplace

We gathered a few great quotes about the workplace and jobs. Some of the quotes are inspirational, some of them will make you nod in agreement and hopefully there are some that make you laugh.

Enjoy! And feel free to share it with your favorite co-workers.

“Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.” – Paula Poundstone

“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.” – Niels Bohr

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” C. N. Parkinson

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.” – Ben Franklin

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas A. Edison

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs

“An unfulfilled vocation drains the color from a man’s entire existence.” – Honoré de Balzac

“What is it that you like doing? If you don’t like it, get out of it, because you’ll be lousy at it.” – Lee Iacocca

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius
“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” – Sam Ewing

“Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou

“A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.” – Dean Acheson

“Eventually the person who tries to fix the problem will be blamed for causing it.” – Robert Brault

“Your Business clothes are naturally attracted to staining liquids. This attraction is strongest just before an important meeting.” – Scott Adams

“I’ve used up all my sick days so I’m calling in dead.” – Author Unknown

“Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.” – Douglas Adams

“Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.” – Author Unknown

“Researchers at Harvard say that taking a power nap for an hour in the afternoon can totally refresh you. They say that by the time you wake up you’ll feel so good, you’ll be able to start looking for a new job.” – Jay Leno

“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?” – Edgar Bergen

“Actual meanings of various terms: TEAM WORK: Having somebody else you can blame it on. HARDWARE: The part of a computer you can kick when there are software problems. IMPATIENT: Somebody who is waiting in a hurry. INFLATION: Paying today’s prices with last year’s salary.” – Author Unknown

Small Acts Of Kindness At The Office

You spend one third of your life at your workplace… bring a smile to the office to celebrate World Smile Day (October 3rd) every day during the month of October.

We gathered a list of small acts of kindness to brighten the workday. Just a pick an easy activity and watch the office atmosphere get better and cooperation begin amongst colleagues!

Bring a bunch of flowers to the office. Budgets for decorating are usually the first to go to save money at the office but that doesn’t mean you cannot create a nice environment around you. A few plants will not only brighten your work day, they also clean and freshen the air inside. Golden Pothos, peace lilies, philodendrons and spider plants are great for office space.

Offer help. Many people find it difficult to ask for help at the workplace. They might feel that they are seen less competent and fear the consequences. So if you see one of your co-workers looking overwhelmed, overworked or just frustrated, offer to help them. I am sure they will appreciate this gesture! Who couldn’t use a creative idea, a new way to implement or a pep talk? Never be afraid to offer your help!

Give your attention! Really pay attention – take a few minutes of your busy day to attentively listen to what your colleague has to say. Many misunderstandings can be avoided this way. Plus we all want to know that our ideas, challenges or experiences count.

Bring fresh fruits and veggies to the office! If you have a garden with a surplus of produce, share the bounty with your co-workers. Most of them don’t get the necessary amount of veggies and fruit. You will not only make improve the health of your office colleagues but brighten their days, too! Please pay attention to your own intake of fruits and veggies, too.

Have a stash of high quality dark chocolate on hand in the office. If there is any conflict, bad news or shocking discoveries… a piece of good chocolate can put many things into perspective.

Offer encouraging words to your co-workers – can we ever have enough of those? Stressful moments are plenty at the workplace. One of the easiest small act of kindness is to give a nudge, say a few inspiring words to a colleague. Just say that you understand what she/he is going through. You might not be able to offer a solution but you can definitely show your encouragement!

Say thank you! These two words are guaranteed to light up the eyes of your colleagues. When was the last time you thanked your boss?

Are you a student at our Clayton Yoga Studio in Clayton? If you purchase any of our yoga class cards this month you can bring your best friend or co-worker to participate in free yoga class at the studio. (The guest invitation is valid till the purchased yoga class card expires.) This can be a small act of kindness to a person who needs all the benefits yoga can offer.

You can buy your own yoga class card at https://squareup.com/market/clayton-yoga and then come to class with your colleague! Our current yoga class schedule is available on our Clayton Yoga site!

The Productive You

Have you ever wondered how others manage to be more productive than you? Every person on earth has the exact same 24 hours every day and still some people get so much more done in that time every day. It is easy to get envious… but instead let’s look at 3 ways you can increase your productivity today!

Sleep more!

It feels like you will add to your productivity if you cut back on sleep. You will have more time every day to get stuff done. But it is all a lie. If you don’t sleep enough… you will pay a high price the next day: you will not be able to concentrate. Focus is the secret to getting tons done.

Now you might think that less sleep has no impact on your productivity. Well, you might get away with less sleep for a few days, even a few weeks without noticing the impact this has on you. But try to cut back on sleep for a longer period of time and you will not only lose your ability to focus – you might even get ill or put on weight!

It is better to find out how much sleep your body needs every night and protect your sleep time. Some people thrive on 6 hours rest per night – some others need 8 hours to jump out of bed ready for the day. Keep your sleep sacred!

Learn to say NO!

Is this a challenge for you? We were all brought up to say yes – it was the expected behavior at home and in school. Especially women feel that saying no to requests means letting the other person down. But what happens when you say yes to all new projects, new opportunities while still doing your routine tasks? You will guaranteed become overwhelmed and stressed. Nobody can do 120% all the time.

You need to set your priorities and adhere to them. Try to develop a “cooperative”, solution based communication style. It is important to be able to renegotiate priorities with your boss and coworkers. The best is to begin practicing saying NO today!

Never start a day without a plan!

Plan tomorrow already today – in the last 15 minutes at work or before going to bed. Take 5-10 minutes to write down the plan and if possible do some preparation, too.

If you have an important meeting the next day, you can gather and organize your presentation, write down your questions, pack up your materials, etc today. How calm would you enter that meeting without the drama of not finding the things you need? How confident would you feel totally prepared to answer questions and share your opinion? Taking the extra 10-15 minutes today for tomorrow’s success is so worth it!

If you just manage to get a good night’s sleep to replenish your energy, practice to say No and make a plan before you go to bed… your life will change – there is no doubt about this!

Increasing Productivity At Work

One of the many reasons companies decide to invest in on-site wellness services is to help their employees reach higher productivity levels. Higher productivity leads to more value creation – a very important factor in growth for any organization.

Here are the most important productivity killers in the office:
-constant interruptions
-lack of priorities
-low level of motivation.

Creating a company culture that values focus and concentration during the workday is essential. Putting up some boundaries around availability can be a challenge in a culture that still values constant availability during the workday and even outside of the usual work hours.

A never ending to do list without clear priorities is sad reality in most companies. It is easy to start a project, and another one, and still a new one…. What every organization needs is setting crystal clear priorities at all organization levels.

Listening to popular radio and TV shows gives us an impression that many employees are rapidly losing their motivation. This is such a sad development! We all need to believe in what we are doing or we turn into robots.

Is it possible to increase motivation at the workplace? The answer is a clear YES! Sharing the organization’s passionate WHY is crucial. Why is the company in business, what is the ultimate goal it has? Making money is a result of the company’s operations – not the ultimate why. Research shows that when employees know and identify with the passionate why of their employer, they give their best effort to make the company successful. Simon Sinek TED presentation gives an excellent explanation how this works in practice:

Does your organization offer corporate wellness programs? Not yet? At St. Louis Corporate Yoga we have easily customizable on-site yoga programs for companies in the St. Louis metro area. Our programs are flexible for smaller organizations as well as for big corporations.

We would be happy to share the benefits of a corporate yoga program and work with you to customize our program to fit your specific needs. All you need to do is call Michelle at 314-630-1677 or send a message directly through the box to the right.

Setting up an on-site yoga program does not have to take a lot of time, either. As soon as the financing of the program is approved, we will select the best yoga instructor for your company. All our yoga teachers go through our in-house yoga teacher training and certified through Yoga Alliance. We have been training yoga teachers for a decade. The best graduates have the opportunity to work with us in our local Clayton Yoga Studio plus with our corporate clients.

We also share the best practices to promote your new yoga program to your employees so it will be a success from the start. This is a win-win for everybody!