Blog | St. Louis Corporate Yoga

Why Does Yoga Give Us So Much Energy?

One of the most fundamental tools to great yoga and a healthy body is the yogic breath. Learning how to breathe the yoga breath is surprisingly easy. What is difficult is to keep going. This style of breathing will bring incredible levels of energy and vitality to your day. Higher levels of energy boost your mood and ignite creativity. When we are inspired spiritually speaking, contribute new insights and become a better team player.

In essence, the yogic breath has profound mind-body-spirit benefits. Our body is built on a network of wiring called the central nervous system. This system is made of a balance between two important and different functions called the sympathetic and parasympathetic. When we breathe from the belly, we initiate the well-being aspect of our physiology. Even sitting at our computer or desk, we can practice this yoga breath. Deep, calm, regular breathing mirrors feelings of safety, support and that the world is safe.

The Buddha once said, I live in two worlds, that of being and doing. What he meant was that he was able to accomplish everyday tasks, doing with staying present and calm.

Using our primary muscles of breathing, we inhale, expanding the abdomen, allowing the diaphragm to release, the lung tissue to expand and the deep, rich oxygenated breaths to flow. When we stay connected to our breath, we let life unfold without attaching to results. We circulate the body with life force energy and wire our brain to stay calm, confident and centered right in the center of change.

Yoga also works great for the overall toning and conditioning of the system because it stretches and releases tension in some of the deepest and tightest areas of the body. Shoulder and hip opening postures place tensile pressure on key areas which then help us to unlock anxiety, fear, stress, tension and transform this into vitality, support and feeling good.

When we use our body’s own natural resistance, and hold weight bearing postures for long periods of time, we increase the level of synovial fluid and hydrolauranic acids located in the connective tissues throughout the body. These vital life force energies bring tremendous stamina and strength both to the mind and body and help promote healing, health and balance to the system.

Postures taught by St. Louis Corporate Yoga are both safe as well as challenging. Students learn proper alignment techniques as well as important anatomy tips to help break apart difficult postures and learn how to build one’s practice.

Vinyasa Yoga or literally “moving with breath” is one of the safest, healthiest and beneficial exercises available today. All corporate yoga classes are open to any student, level, background, or ability. Clayton Yoga corporate teachers have been described as warm, friendly, helpful, intelligent and articulate.

Practicing yoga has helped many people find tremendous peace, gratitude and joy. Let St. Louis Corporate Yoga help you design a yoga program that uniquely fits your company’s individual needs today! For a private free consultation about how to get corporate onsite yoga started in your workplace, please contact, Clayton Yoga, at 314-630-1677. Namaste!

How To Manage Your Corporate Yoga Program

Setting up corporate yoga classes at your organization is the first step. You need to continuously manage the classes to get the most out of the wellness programs.

Here are a few tips we would like to share with you – these tips are based on many years of experience offering yoga programs to different organizations in and around St. Louis:

Have a corporate yoga coordinator who is responsible for communication flow between yoga teacher, company and yoga students. This will cut back on confusion many times thus saving time and sanity for everybody involved.

Explore the demand for on-site wellness programs before you begin looking for a supplier. You need to have a very clear idea about the preferred wellness options of your employees. Also, the number of interested co-workers makes a huge difference in your negotiations.

Ask your employees about best times for yoga classes. The easiest way is to set up an online survey with a few timing options. You can use SurveyMonkey.com for setting up free surveys (up to 100 respondents) or ask your IT department for help.

Promote the new yoga program as soon as you sign the contract with the yoga teacher. Let everybody know about the new classes so they can begin scheduling this new activity in their week.

Pay or no-pay classes? In our experience most yoga students have no issue with paying a small fee per class. Usually it is max $4-5. It is great savings for the people with the added flexibility and time saving as the class is offered at the workplace. Of course offering the new yoga program free of charge is also a very welcome idea.

One idea to try: gather the contribution your employees pay towards the yoga classes and use the funds to support a charity or company cause. Maybe help an employee in need with the funds? There are so many possibilities to use this money in the spirit of compassion, cooperation and support!

Pick a room for yoga with the help of the yoga teacher you are engaging. Let the instructor have a look at the available rooms and help you decide which one to take. You need some space around the yoga mats while practicing yoga – it can get very uncomfortable if you don’t have a big enough room. Also, the yoga teacher might need some space to store a few items between classes (e.g. mats, props, etc)

Share the company yoga experience in your newsletter to attract a continuous flow of students to the classes.

In case of changes due to holidays, vacations, or emergencies, try to notify all people involved as soon as you can. Please notify the yoga teacher immediately. It makes sense to create a separate mailer or email list of employees who are involved with the classes so you can reach them easily and quickly.

One class is not enough? Try to add classes and even different time if yoga got really popular at your organization. Offering yoga classes on-site is an excellent investment and brings real ROI to most businesses.

St. Louis Corporate Yoga will help you design the best program for your company. Just give us a call at 314-630-1677 or send an inquiry through the Contact page.

Help Your Employees Deal with Job Stress

Is your organization one of the very few companies worldwide whose employees have only moderate stress? It is no secret that stress is commonplace and even expected in a work environment.

While some stress will actually increase productivity, there is a fine balance between stress that helps and stress that destroys performance. Conflicting personalities and work methods, increased responsibilities, pressure from management and peers – it all adds up to increasing stress levels for your people.

How can an organization help its employees to better deal with work related stress? Yes, it is possible to ease the burden of stress with simple and cost effective methods!

Create an environment that supports a great work climate. If there is a chance to involve your employees in creating their own work spaces, definitely take advantage of that. Even if all you offer is to decide on the color scheme of the office, your employees will be happier to work in a room they helped design. Soft uplifting colors, some selected art pieces on the walls will work wonders to keep employees inspired all day.

Invest in ergonomic furniture if all possible. Sitting for hours in the office is a cause of many dangerous health issues. People who suffer from constant pain have very low tolerance level for stress. Fortunately there are many healthy options out there, special chairs and even standing desks enabling working standing up. What a blessing to be able to choose the position that minimizes any discomfort. These ergonomic options might cost more at first, but will pay back in the long run.

Add a plant to every office. Large plants will clean the office air and adding to the wellbeing of your employees. Their vitality and lovely green colors will cheer up everybody.

Adding an aquarium to an open office or to the entrance area will soothe the eyes of not just your people, your visitors will enjoy the sight, too.

Many companies had good experience with using Feng Shui (Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing the human existence with the surrounding environment) principles when designing the workplace.

Offering seminars and programs around health, nutrition, and overall well-being gives your employee an opportunity to heal what ails them. Having speakers come to speak on subjects of yoga, exercise, and healthy food choices gives an employee the opportunity to learn techniques and tactics to de-stress on his or her own.

Financing corporate wellness programs is an investment although many times employees are more than happy to contribute to the costs.

St. Louis Corporate Yoga brings yoga to the workplace! On the basis of more than a decade of offering yoga classes at the office we know that when you take an interest in the well-being of your employees’ it will reflect in your office atmosphere. This is a win/win situation.

Would you like to take the first step in adding yoga to the workday? Let us advise you how your organization can integrate yoga in order to have healthier and happier employees. Just call us at 314-630-1677!

The Best Start to Your Workday

Do you find that the beginning of your day has a major impact on your whole work day? Have you ever had a real bad start that didn’t want to stop until you finally dropped into bed?

The preparation for a great workday begins in the evening before. The more prep you can do before going to bed, the more stress free your morning become. Now, this doesn’t sound as the most unique tip ever, right? But how many of us do this?

Go to bed early or at least earlier than usual. It is easy to think that you can cut back on sleep. In fact when we have too much on our plates, this might be the first solution we try: let’s burn some midnight oil and get that last pieces of stuff done before we fall in bed. Now this can function for some time, even for weeks. But inevitable the day comes when your body will send you warning signals. Maybe you will find it difficult to fall asleep even if you feel very tired. Or you cannot wake up and sleep in. Or your stress levels explode. Don’t wait until this happens. Respect your sleep and never cut it short except for emergencies.

Get up a few minutes early. If you had enough sleep to replenish your energy, it will be fairly easy to hop out of bed. Did you know that we sleep in 90 minute cycles? If you can time your wake-up at the end of a 90-min cycle, it will be a breeze to wake up the next day. This is how you can easily calculate when you should jump in bed: if you want to wake up at 6am, go to bed at 10:30 pm for getting a good night’s sleep (7,5 hours).

Arrive a few minutes early at the office. Just imagine arriving 5 minutes early instead of 2 minutes late? Do you feel your stress level going down? You ca use the extra 5 minutes to arrive calmly and breathe out when you get to your desk. Maybe making a short action list for the day? Or looking through your projects and making a priority list? Or have a short chat with a co-worker?

Mindful beginnings. Now that you have a few extra minutes in the morning, you can take just 1 minute to be mindful. Take a deep breath, exhale slowly. Then another deep breath. Focus on your body. Breathe in to welcome the day, then breathe out to let all stress flow out of your body. Try this mindful breathing sequence and see the results it bring to your life!

You can repeat the same mindful breathing at lunch break, too. This way you prepare yourself for a stress-less afternoon.

Does your company offer corporate yoga classes at the office? Definitely take advantage of those! And if you don’t have a corporate wellness running at your workplace yet, please talk to the HR staff. Please refer them to this site to learn about the benefits corporate yoga programs offer to all participants!

Energy Boosting Foods For You

Do you feel lacking energy to get everything done at your job? Balancing your work and your personal life seem to be an unachievable goal? Do you wish for more energy during the day?

Let your food be your energy booster! We show you how!

Here are 7 top food choices to boost your energy during the day:

Water: Without drinking enough water during the day you will get automatically tired! Dehydration will cause fatigue plus you will not be able to absorb all those valuable nutrients you receive from healthy foods. So take a water bottle with you to the office and drink often. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty as that is too late you are already dehydrated. Introduce a new habit: drink a glass of water every hour.

Bananas: No wonder most of us love bananas, they taste sweet, easy to transport and eat “on the road”. The best healthy convenience food! Bananas will energize you due to their high potassium content. Bananas are great smoothie ingredients, too. A few days ago we made a banana- raspberry smoothie and it was divine! Just throw a banana and frozen raspberries with a few ice cubes and milk into your mixer. Do you crave ice? Just use the banana with the frozen raspberries without adding any liquid. No added sugar needed!

Almonds: Looking for mental clarity? Adding a few almonds to your daily menu can work wonders. These little nuts are chock full of monounsaturated fats and Omega-3 oils, essential to combat fatigue and low energy levels. Always keep a pack of almonds with you. They will be your “lifesaver” snack on those low energy afternoons.

Chocolate: Yes! Chocolate is good for you. Of course you need to choose dark chocolate not the full-of-sugar milk chocolate you usually eat. Dark chocolate increases your energy level with the compounds known as tyramind and phenlethylamine. Moderation is the key, of course. Usually you will feel totally satisfied with just a few small pieces of good quality dark chocolate. Mix your almonds with a few chocolate nibs for a divine afternoon snack!

Green tea: If you drink tea pure, you’ll get the perk you need to stay awake and keep on going. If you absolutely need a sweet kick, add Manuka Honey to your tea. Manuka Honey is unique as it tolerates being added to hot tea without losing its healing properties.

Oats: Perfect morning food option! Eating oatmeal for breakfast can set you up to have energy throughout the day. Oats provide B vitamins that can turn carbohydrates into energy.

Salmon: Perfect choice for a light lunch or dinner. Just add a salad or steamed veggies and you have an easy, quick meal on the table. Extra virgin olive oil, a healthy dose of lemon juice plus some pink (Himalayan) salt will transform this fish into a symphony for your taste buds. The Omega 3 acids in the salmon will help you stay alert and maintain a high energy level.

Don’t forget about your weekly yoga classes, either! They will support you to get through even the toughest day. No corporate yoga classes at your workplace? We would love to help, just call us at 314-630-167!

Busy? Busyness?

Do you feel busy all the time? But are you really busy? Or is it just busyness that fills your life?

How often do you tell your kids or co-workers: “I just don’t have time for going out, looking at your homework, reading a new book or just listening to you!”

How many times will you give a list of your to-dos if somebody asks for your help? Like this: “I would be really happy to help you out on the weekend but I have to finish my project by Sunday, I have an invitation to the new art gallery and need to cook for the week. Plus must take the kids to soccer practice and visit my mother-in-law.”

There is no doubt that we all have more than enough on our plates. More than it is doable, more than it is achievable in a day.

Every minute of the day and night is filled with activities. Multitasking is the new skill you can be proud of. Cooking while helping your offspring with a project plus talking on the phone with your mum. Or driving to a meeting while you give instructions to your assistant and getting the news on the traffic – all at the same time.

What if you weren’t busy? What if you had free time? Would you really want not being busy all the time?

Could you admit having 5 hours of time to fill on a weekend? How would that feel? And how would your friends look at you? A person having free time??? She must have an insignificant life. All important and accomplished individuals, they just do not have time. We all know that, this is our new reality: you must be busy to be somebody. If you are not plagued by tons of to-dos, you don’t seem to be somebody worth knowing.

Let’s admit it, having lots of things going on gives you status. Busyness became a virtue of current times. Empty hours -earlier known as free time- might just freak you out. Who are you if you are not always in motion taking care of stuff, organizing, being at the forefront of knowing what is going on? Did you become obsolete? Is having free time so 20^th century?

Now for just a moment think about this important question: who are you if you are not your to-do list?

The next question to think about is free time. What is free time for you? Do you consider yourself busy when you play Candy Crush? When you talk to your friend on the phone? When you sink into FB’s rabbit hole for hours?

Now, just admit the truth (don’t worry, nobody will hear it), you might actually have a few minutes of free time every day. How will you spend yours? Taking a yoga class is a wonderful activity. Your coworkers and friends might even ask you: “How do you do it that you even have time for yoga?” Just smile…..

Happy At Work Through Finding New Perspectives

Do you feel happy at your workplace? Can you even imagine being happy at work?

Even if you feel stressed during the workday, sure you can find parts of your job that you love. On maybe your coworkers make a great team and support you during those stressful intervals.

As with many things in life, feeling happy and optimistic about your work is a decision. You can decide every morning to enjoy the 8 hours you spend at work. Of course you can also set yourself up to feel really miserable the whole long day if you view your job as a necessary evil.

Having the chance to take an hour out of your work schedule and enjoy a yoga class can make all the difference. That 60 minutes are yours to enjoy. Your employer organized the yoga classes to give you a chance to manage your stress levels and just take a break from your tasks.

Practicing the different yoga poses changes your perspective. As your body flows through the motions, your mind can wander and look for new perspectives for old problems. This flow helps you notice things that would never make a blip on your mind otherwise. Breaking up thought patterns that keep you from seeing through new eyes.

How can you facilitate the perspective change?

Try this: At the beginning of your class, pick a question that is occupying your mind. An example: you have a very difficult relationship with one of your coworkers. You try to avoid working closely with the person. But this time you are in the same small group project so you cannot avoid cooperating with your colleague.

Here is the question you can ask: “How can we work together successfully throughout this project?”

It is important that you inquire about the “how” not the “why”. If you ask the question: “Why can’t we cooperate?” – you will not concentrate on finding a solution. The “how to make this work” type of question will send your mind looking for possible solutions to reach your ultimate goal of successfully cooperating with this person.

When you asked your “how” question, just let it go and don’t even consider pondering it during your yoga class. Just let it go!

When will you get answers to your question? You might get a new perspective during the class already or sometimes afterward. It is impossible to say when exactly you get the idea to help you create a better working relationship. But trust us on this, this will work! Just keep on open mind and listen to your hunches and intuition.

We hope this quick tip helps you create new perspectives around your work.

Your organizations doesn’t offer corporate yoga programs yet? Let change this soon. Why don’t you call Michelle at 314-630-1677 to learn about the customized wellness programs we offer in and around St. Louis? We will be happy to advise you!

Create Routines To Manage Stress

What causes major stress in your work life? There is a good chance that you will say things like this: unmanageably deadlines, cranky coworkers, unreasonable bosses, heavy workload and too much administration.

You would probably not answer “having to make too many decisions”.

Most probably you are not even aware of the fact that decision-making is a powerful cause of stress in your work and private life.

Every time you make a decision, whether it is about hiring an employee, scheduling a meeting, or choosing eggs or avocado for your sandwich, you actually create a state of mental tension which is a stress factor. Now hiring a new team member is more demanding than picking your sandwich for lunch and so is the stress tied to the decision making process.

Making many small decisions can wear you out quickly. This is the reason why it is exhausting to go shopping. The almost constant decision-making state you are in when you constantly have to choose between the different prices, qualities, brands, etc. Having an abundance of choice can be exhilarating, though. No wonder that shopping is a favorite pastime.

How can you reduce the number of decisions you have to make every day? Create some powerful routines! If fact create as many as possible!

Yes, creating routine doesn’t sound very exciting…. Hearing the word “routine” is enough to send some of us running the other direction. Routine in not “sexy”.

Just remember when you first learned how to drive. At first every move had to be considered and that is why you were driving slow, slow, slow. Then you got more and more experience and you developed your driving routine. Now you don’t even notice the zillion small decisions you make on your commute to work – it is all done automatically. Until of course something strange or unexpected happens like a fellow driver cutting you off and you immediately have a decision to make: get angry and curse or let it go.

What activities can you systemize and add as small routines to your life? You can create a morning and evening routine. A menu plan for the week. A master shopping list for the month. No more last minute shopping runs and buying all the wrong food choices. Wouldn’t that be just an amazing thing?

At work, you can set up weekly meetings with your team at the same time and place every week. A great example could be a weekly kick-off meeting on Monday mornings at 9 am. No more decisions to make around whether to meet or not and if yes, when and where and who should be invited, etc.

Taking corporate yoga classes can become a powerful routine in your life, too. Just make the decision once to take the class at your workplace. Plan it in your daily schedule. Then enjoy the benefits of a consistent yoga practice. The important thing is that you don’t put yourself in a situation where you have to ask every week: do I go to yoga or not? It is all set and no more decision is needed aka less stress in your day.

Reduce your stress by having as many routines as possible in your daily life as well as in your working life to reduce the number of decisions you have to make each day. Start today!

Health Is Your Wealth

How many times do you hear about health being your most important asset? In all honestly: Are you really taking care of your health?

Being ill costs a lot of money. If you ever had to deal with a chronic condition, you know exactly that financing the cost of healing can be a huge burden on any budget. An accident can throw your finances out of balance in seconds. Not to mention that some illnesses have a direct impact on your employment future. Getting ill is not a good “business move”.

How can you keep your body, mind and soul vibrant and strong? Let’s begin with nutrition!

It is true – you are what you eat. Now looking at what you ate today what are you building? A strong healthy body? Or a second-hand, run-down organism?

Eating healthy can be a challenge especially if you expect your eating habits to change from one day to another.

On the other hand, all those small healthier choices add up. What small changes could you integrate into your workdays to experience more vitality and health?

Eat less processed food! Eliminating all processed food from your diet might be not realistic for you. But you can start with small steps!

Try to eat clean! Avoid artificial ingredients in food. The best is to eat closest to its natural form. Snacking on raw veggies is easy to add to your day.

Drink more water! Most of us don’t drink enough water. Start measuring how much you drink per day. Are you drinking at least 6-8 glasses of water per day? If not, the easiest solution is to train yourself to carry a water bottle with you and drink every hour even if you don’t feel thirsty.

Drink less soda! Yes, diet soda counts, too! Cut back on your consumption of those beverages and you serve your body well. You consume less empty calories and sugar. High sugar consumption leads to many health issues – but of course you know this already.

Did you know that March is National Nutritional Month? We put together a few suggestions for easy and light meals for your corporate yoga class days. These delicious meals can be prepared at home. Just take them with you to work.

Veggie Sticks with different dips: Carrots, celery, cucumbers are great for dipping – add your favorite veggies to the mix. The different dips will turn the boring veggie pieces into a tasty meal. Prepare a quick avocado dip at home or take some organic hummus. Here is my avocado dip recipe: Clean the avocado, remove the seed then mash it up with a fork. Add a healthy portion of lemon juice, sprinkle with Himalayan or sea salt plus some pepper and you are ready to go.

Fruit Yoghurt: mix organic Greek yoghurt with your favorite fresh fruit mix. Frozen fruit will do too! Cut up the fruit at home then mix the Greek yoghurt with the pieces at the office. You don’t need any added sugar to make this a yummy treat.

Apple-carrot salad: Clean an apple plus a carrot, grate them, mix them. Add some lemon juice so the salad doesn’t turn brown and enjoy. You can add some honey if you would like. If you decide to do that, take Manuka Honey which has great health benefits.

Try these easy meal options on days when you have a corporate yoga class. Enjoy!

Walter Jones’ Corporate Yoga Testimonial

Walter Jones has been a housing specialist with St. Louis County for 18 years. Mr. Jones began taking yoga classes the first day our program began nearly 3 years ago in April. According to Walter Jones, the main reason for signing up for the yoga class was his desire to stay loose and gain greater flexibility. Staying healthy and in shape has always been important for Mr. Jones.

Walter found some success with weightlifting, bodybuilding and even Pilates. But in all honesty, he was looking for something that did not build bulk, but rather helped him to feel lighter and more flexible. In practicing yoga, Walter Jones really enjoys the relaxing and soothing breathing and the conscious way he notices how to listen to his body. He likes the fact that at work, his energy levels are very high. The social community that he finds with co-workers is also fun as everyone else apparently really enjoys participating in the yoga program as well. The yoga classes relieve lots of tension and stress during the workday. Walter Jones also states that he feels renewed and more relaxed at work.

“I go back to work feeling really relaxed and have energy and just renew myself. I love it. The changes I have noticed in myself, I am so much more flexible.” His job can at times be stressful and frustrating as he negotiates between homeowners & contractors. “I feel a lot less stressful, I tend to feel things will work themselves out if I take my time and not panic, just breathe.”

In addition to a healthy body and a relaxed spirit, Walter also finds that the yoga helps him to keep an open mind. In his job, there are always new things to learn. For example, new types of construction techniques and better ways of doing things. He enjoys the way yoga keeps him refreshed and able to absorb new information.

In a sense, yoga is not only a physical active part of his life but psychological too. Walter enjoys having lots of energy and doing things that make him feel good. He wants to share that feeling then with others. And no longer relies on just telling them, but being a person who acts as well in a way that demonstrations kindness and thoughtfulness too.

Walter’s last recommendation to other interested participants is “this is the best thing you can do for yourself”.

Clayton Yoga and St. Louis Corporate Yoga saves you time by offering professional, courteous service. Your employees will not need to worry about taking showers after class. Classes are between 50-60 minutes in length and always end on time. A proven, practical solution to help your company reap the benefits of offering corporate yoga classes. Call us today to set up your free phone consultation, 314-630-1677! Allow us to help you feel good, be good and do good too!