Office Yoga | St. Louis Corporate Yoga

Garland Pose with St. Louis Corporate Yoga Teacher Alyssa Ward

My name is Alyssa Ward. I have been teaching as a yoga instructor at Clayton Yoga since 2010 after I received my 200-hour certification. I typically teach an open level Vinyasa flow class on Friday evenings from 4:30-5:30pm. I would love to have more students drop by and try out my class! I have previously written a blog post about pigeon pose. In this post, I will discuss garland pose, which in Sanskrit is called malasana.

I like garland pose because it is accessible to all levels. It can be modified by sitting on the edge of a chair if needed. If you are able to squat all the way to the floor, but the heels lift up off the mat, you can roll a mat underneath the heels for support. I like that this modification only requires a yoga mat because I can use it in my corporate classes where I typically do not have props available to practice with as well as in the studio.

To prepare for the pose, yoga journal suggests trying baddha konasana (butterfly) to open the hips and stretch the groin. It can be performed seated or supine (supta baddha konasana). You could also prepare for garland pose with upavistha konasana (dragonfly) or virasana (hero). After finishing garland pose, uttanasana is a good counter pose.

To get into the pose, come to a squat with the thighs wider than the torso, lean forward with the torso keeping the spine long, press the elbows into the inner knees and bring the palms together in prayer to open and lengthen the torso.

There are many benefits to garland pose. It helps to counteract the effects of sitting in beds, chairs, or cars for many hours at a time, like most of us tend to do. When we sit in chairs for hours, we often use poor posture and over time, we can lose mobility in our hips and back. Garland pose opens the hips. It strengthens the back torso, ankles, and groin muscles and tones the core. In addition, it is great for pregnancy. It helps to prepare for labor and delivery by opening the groin and hips and also aids in digestion. It can also be used during labor and even during delivery. In this pose, the birth canal is in an upright position for delivery enabling the baby to find its way out more easily. For labor, it can be modified using ropes or sitting against a wall.

While in garland pose, it is possible to add a twist, pressing one arm against the thigh as the other arm opens to the ceiling. If I am working on arm balances for a class, I often rest in garland pose before having students balance in crow. I think the transition between those two poses is very smooth.

Garland pose has many benefits, great for prenatal yoga, aids in digestion, and stretching the hips, finally strengthening the back torso, ankles, and core. I would suggest making garland pose (malasana) part of your practice.

Would you like to join us for a yoga class at Clayton Yoga? Everyone welcome. Please go to our website, www.claytonyoga.com, find a suitable class time, and feel free to simply stop by our studio. Life is a stretch!

What To Eat After Your Corporate Yoga Class?

Our onsite yoga classes utilize the lunch break usually. So this question comes up frequently: “what to eat before and after the class?”

In a previous blogpost we gave you a few smart ideas around what to eat before the yoga class. Fresh or dried fruit, veggies sticks with dips, an apple with peanut butter or natural yoghurt with added fruit – all delicious and healthy choices! Here is the link to the article: https://stlouiscorporateyoga.com/what-to-eat-before-a-corporate-yoga-class/

After your corporate yoga class you will feel purified and clean, empty of negative emotions, relaxed and ready to face the second half of the day. And most probably you will feel hungry at least a bit.

Before getting back to your desk take some time to fill up your stomach with some healthy food to give you energy during the afternoon.

Do you feel very hungry and your stomach is grumbling loud? Eating a big meal is not your best choice if you don’t want to get into a major energy slump by 3 pm. Are you craving a real lunch not just a light meal? Either bring your own home-made lunch to the office or search for a few lunch options near your office. A nice fresh salad with turkey, tuna or eggs is a filling but healthy choice.

Bring your lunch

Use your leftovers to make a filling lunch:
Leftover soup from the evening before
Fresh salad plus meat/fish from last evening
Prepare an extra smoothie for the office
A bag of vegetable sticks and a home-made dip
A vegetable burger
A sandwich filled with leftover meat, cheese and lots of green salad – just look in your fridge and improvise!
A selection of fruits: bananas are a clear favorite plus any seasonal fruit you can get your hands on. And lots of berries!

You will be thirsty!

Always have water with you so you can quench your thirst after a yoga class. We believe in drinking lots of spa water, lots of flavor and no extra calories! Here is a website with lots of different spa water recipes for every taste:

You can try lemon water or mixing unsweetened apple juice with water (1 part apple juice and 9 parts water).

The most important thing is to pay attention to your body: when do you crave something to eat? Already during class? In this case you could try to eat a bit more before class. You might not be hungry at all right after class – but wait 30 minutes and you are starving.

Have a healthy dark chocolate or protein bar around as emergency food when the big hunger hits. Dried fruit and nuts mixes are a great choice, too. It is always better to have your own emergency food around – at least this way you will not succumb to buying all junk you can get your hands on because you are starving.

Enjoy your on-site yoga class and don’t forget to ask your yoga instructor about her favorite after yoga meal!

Breathing With Awareness

There are many special breathing exercises we share with our corporate yoga students during on-site classes. There is really an appropriate breathing style for nearly all ailment of body and soul.

A healing journey teaches that yoga is life and all life is interconnected. When we practice stretching, we access and expand 72,000 energy openings called Nadis. Watching our breath, we step to the edge, and ignite our spirit!

Yoga is not about having the most flexible or strongest body. Real yoga is developing the ability to maintain an equanimous mind no matter what is happening. When we push ourselves to the edge, breathe and remain gentle and calm, we begin to rewire our mind. The parasympathetic calms, soothes and repairs our system. As well, we also experience all of the following benefits as well.

Breathing with Awareness

■lowers high blood pressure
■slow digestion
■increase blood flow to the skin and surface of the body
■provides constant stimulation
■slows down an irregular heartbeat
■helps the mind rewire and change a fear of constant threat to
■work with the root causes of disease in the body

Watching our breath or meditation, helps us shift from the unconscious to the conscious. This “witness of breath” helps raise the parasympathetic nervous system where we may quiet and raise the balance energy of our nervous system.

As soon as we feel sensation, the Buddha taught, we have been conditioned to compete, react and judge, thereby limiting our true experience. We will show you how the issues of your life are trapped inside the tissues of your body.

Tension in the body is just trapped energy. Yoga does not seek to manipulate the mind. Rather, we work with opening up the web of life found in your body. And when you learn to move your bodies in a sacred way we wake up the life force and feel good. With constant practice and application of the tools we share with you, you will learn how to transform the reactive places in your mind/body experience, expand on new possibilities, find greater levels of inner peace and have fun.

When you live from your truth, from your joy, and from feeling good every day, you become abundant. Practicing like this on a regular basis will bring about greater transformation, magic and rapture! Yoga develops longer response time, and increase our ability to make better choices. This results in activating parts of your limbic system, and brain to make better choices based on motivational living. The more we practice this kind of yoga, the more we expand our circles to inspire and motivate others by our own example.

Our yoga classes are all level style and a great fit for both brand new beginners to yoga as well as those who are more advanced. Our corporate yoga clients report a much greater overall level of joy, life satisfaction, vitality, and improved energy.

We would love to schedule a complimentary phone consultation at your earliest convenience – just call us at 314-630-1677. Namaste!

Energy Dynamics In The Workplace

From the moment we are born, gravity is working to compress, compact and tighten our cells and tissues. Overwhelming sensations can get trapped in the body, emitting a vibrational pull that will attract more of the same experience until we learn. If we don’t understand that this is just energy dynamics at work, it is easy to feel overwhelmed.

Yoga postures encourage us to stay with the sensations of discomfort. In a consumerist culture, we are lulled into thinking that distractions and quick fixes are the best solution. After some time, distraction and excessive consuming not only did work but also possibly heighten the challenges. Rather than taking more responsibility for our job, we are fired, we get seriously sick or a relationship breaks up.

When we breathe deeply, we understand that we are in relationship to everything else. Yoga practice helps us stay grounded and become more present. The understanding of how or when energy dynamics start and stop present themselves in the form of bodily sensations. Do you feel supported, grounded or nervous and anxious? When you feel animated, you are strong. When you are scattered, you lose momentum.

It is those moments that we have an opportunity to step back, not react and like the witness or scientist, stay calm. The more awake, the more aware, the more we can practice, engage soul and develop clarity.

Years ago, I used to be very uptight around budgeting. Finances, was just something I was never good with, after all look at how little my parents showed me, I told myself. My tipping point came when my daughter was about 3 ½ and I remember just never wanting her to see her mother worry about money or security like that again. I began taking action steps and reading all about finances. It took me several years, and it was a very slow, gradual steady amount.

When we feel empowered to take care of our self, to take greater self-responsibility, we will not be afraid of our shadow. We can then become more responsible for the management of our own energy, zoom out and not take our fears so personally or literally, we begin to really grow up.

Every time you make a stand for yourself, you will strengthen your vessel and you will allow an external or internal set of dynamics to control, manipulate or dictate your fears. Exceptional people will feel challenges and disappointments as a blessing which then inspires others to become victorious.

Yoga is a journey to go past the commercials, past our rational mind and listen from inside.

Rather than look outside for power, we want to teach ourselves how to breathe correctly, and reconnect to our life source. As we realign to spirit, we will be challenged and purified at the deepest level. The still and small place inside will gather courage and compassion, resolve the traumas in the tissues and know that wherever we are, it is with the highest peace.

We truly hope you have enjoyed reading this article on practicing energy dynamics. To pick up a yoga class in your workplace, give us a call at 314-630-1677.

Got Breath?

This blogpost offers an introduction to deep belly breathing at the office! For over ten years, St. Louis Corporate Yoga has offered more than 2,500 yoga classes to the corporate clientele in St. Louis, Missouri. Learn here in this wonderful blogpost why deep yoga breathing works and how easy it is to implement a daily deep breathing yoga practice.

Deep yoga breathing unlocks the diaphragm muscle, associated with courage. When we breathe correctly, we ignite the parasympathetic nervous system and calm the anxious mind. Breathing deeply massages all the internal organs, reconnects us to our lightness, strength and inner peace. When our mind is calm, the body is at peace. Widespread scientific evidence tells us that deep relaxation and breathing lowers blood pressure and causes a decrease in the bodies cortisol or stress hormone levels.

Breathing correctly reignites our natural presence and desire to be open, curious and explorative both in our thinking and discussion with others. Deep breathing ignites our courage, up levels of positive thinking, and increases feelings of trust, connection, motivation and appreciation. Breathing soothes the nervous system, helps us to remain grounded and seek out solution based practices. Shifting our focus onto the breath, wherever we go, we can find the natural ability to awaken and realize our natural state is joy!

Wayne Dyer once said, change the way you see something and what you will see changes. Friendly people live in a friendly world, hostile people live in a hostile world, same world.

Here is a beautiful yoga breathing exercise written by one of our favorite yoga teachers, Nicole Thompson, who currently teaches corporate onsite yoga for St. Louis Corporate Yoga.

Breathing Practice

“Lie flat on your back and close your eyes. Breathe naturally. In through the nose, and out through the nose.

Begin to deepen your breath. Inhale, 1,2,3,4. Exhale, 1,2,3,4. Feel the breath fill your lungs. Exhale slowly, completely. Inhale. Feel the space it creates between the ribs. Exhale slowly. Breathe into your side ribs. Notice how the chest expands, creating space from your collar bones down to your abdomen.

With each inhalation, scan your body. Notice any tightness or tenseness and breathe here and as you exhale, release the tension. With each breath in, locate some area where you’re gripping or holding tension, even just a little bit, and with each exhale, release that part of the body. You can start to cultivate Ujayii breath and ride the breath in and out of the body. We do this by slightly constricting the passageway in the back of the throat to create an audible hissing sound on the inhale and exhale. It can help throughout our practice to return to this breath when our mind begins to wander or we find ourselves struggling in a pose.

Place your hands on your belly and breathe into your belly. Let the inhale pour into the belly and fill the lungs. Exhale completely, getting rid of all of the old air to make space for fresh air. Feel your belly rise and fall slowly with each breath. The breath is a wave. Follow that wave in and out of the body slowly, consciously. Listen to the sound of the waves.”

If you are interested in reaping the tremendous benefits of onsite corporate yoga and joining the ranks of our many different corporate yoga clients, why not set up a personal consultation phone call to see how onsite yoga classes can bring positive change at your company. Just give us a call at 314-630-1677! Namaste.

Take A Power Nap To Increase Energy

Do you feel tired and unmotivated in the afternoons? Wishing you could go home and sleep or go out and breathe fresh air to feel more energized? Trying to increase your alertness by drinking energy drinks or coffee? Oh, and isn’t that the time to get the candy bars out for a quick sugar rush?

You try very hard to avoid falling asleep when actually a short nap could be the solution to this afternoon energy dip.

When was the last time you napped? Taking a few minutes to enter the wonderful world of sleep? Maybe a nice siesta in the afternoon during your vacation?

Did you know that in Japan there are “nap salons” where people can take a short nap on daybeds before they return back to their workplaces? Sounds awesome, right?

Before we talk about “scientific” napping, let me ask you this: What do you think about people who nap? Do you approve? Or do you think that anybody who takes a nap time is just simply too lazy?

Why nap? When you lose concentration as your energy declines during the day, your body would like to get a few minutes to regenerate itself. Also, after having a heavy meal at lunch, your body needs all its energy for digestion so taking a few minutes to nap restores your energy so you can continue with your work.

The power nap is one of the most effective way to rejuvenate your brain power!

There are four main stages of your sleep cycle. The first two are relatively light sleep, while the third brings you into a deep slumber. The final stage known as rapid eye movement (REM) is where most of your dreams begin. The benefits of napping are tied to the length of time in which you are asleep.

During naps 10-20 minutes in length you only have time to enter the first two stages. Your brain begins memory consolidation, in which information you learn is processed. Waking out of these stages has shown benefits including; increased productivity, increased cognitive function, enhanced memory, boosted creativity and most importantly, feeling less tired.

Beyond 30 minutes you enter stage 3 which brings you into deeper sleep. You will experience sleep inertia when awakened in this stage. Because your body is coming out of a deep sleep, motor dexterity is decreased and you can feel grogginess up to 30 minutes.

If you experienced sleep inertia after a nap, you might falsely believe that naps are not good for you when in fact you just napped a bit too long.

If you manage to nap for 90 minutes, your body goes through a whole sleep cycle. It is perfect if you couldn’t get a full night’s sleep. A long nap can improve emotional memory and creativity.

Maybe it is not yet possible to take a power nap at your workplace although there are some forward thinking companies like Apple and Google where napping is allowed. Still you can take advantage of the benefits of a short nap during your vacation and the weekends.

Isometric Exercises For The Office

Most of the companies offering corporate yoga classes for their employees present 1 or 2 yoga classes during the week. What if you wanted to include more movement and exercise into your workday?

After experiencing the wonderful benefits of yoga and movement during the busy workday, many students ask what other exercise they could practice at the office. Doing isometric exercises at your desk might be the solution.

What is an isometric exercise? According to Wikipedia “isometric exercise is a strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction. Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic through a range of motion.”

Even if you weren’t aware of this, you are already doing isometric exercises during a yoga class. A static hold during performing an asana is the type of exercise we mean.

Isometric exercises are used to prevent muscle atrophy in a limb that has been immobilized by a cast following a fracture and to fight the disuse syndrome experienced by astronauts as a result of living in a zero gravity environment. Also these exercises are used in rehabilitation after muscle and joint conditions.

One simple example: holding a glass of water in your outstretched hand. After a few minutes, this really simple and easy exercise will get your muscles tremble with exhaustion.

Why are isometric exercises a great choice for the office? Mostly you use your own body weight as resistance. Also, these exercises don’t need full range movement as they are static. Basically most of these exercises you can practice at your desk and nobody will notice you practicing.

We have found an entertaining article listing isometric exercises for every major muscle group: “Deskercise! 33 Smart Ways to Exercise at Work”.

Here are a few of the hilarious exercises for a short workout at your desk. We selected them from the article mentioned for a full workout in a few minutes time:

“The Silent Seat Squeeze: Believe it or not, some deskercises can be kept under wraps, and this isometric glutes exercise is one of them. To start toning, simply squeeze the buttocks, hold for 5-10 seconds, and release. Repeat until the agenda wraps up or the glutes tire. The results will be uplifting in more ways than one.

The Grim Reamer: Scope out the office for a ream of paper, or a sealed package of printing paper. While seated, place the stack in between the knees and press legs inward, engaging the inner thighs. Continue squeezing the paper ream in place for 30-60 seconds while sorting through the morning’s flood of emails. (Now that’s multitasking!)

The Namaste: Whether you’re praying for a project extension or for more defined arms, this move has you covered. Seated upright with feet flat on the floor, bring the palms together in front of the chest and push both hands together powerfully until you feel the arm muscles contract. Hold the prayer hands pushed together for 20 seconds. Release and repeat the sequence until you feel a little more zen.

The Nape Shaper: Turtleneck season is over—it’s time to tone that neck! For the first isometric neck strengthening trick, put your head in your hands as if exasperated by the workday (you may already be in this position), and press your palms into your forehead as if trying to push the head backward. Resist the motion by engaging the neck muscles. Next, clasp the hands behind the back of the head and try to push the head backward, resisting the motion with your hands. Hold each deskercise for 5 seconds, or until The Evolution of Ryan Gosling has finally loaded. Slowly release, rest, and repeat 5 times each.

The Fab Abs Squeeze: Another silent deskercise, this one can be covertly executed when walking down the hall or seated during a call. Simply take a deep breath and tighten the abdominal muscles, bringing them in towards the spine as you exhale. Stay squeezed for 5-10 seconds and release. Repeat for 12-15 reps.

The “Crunch Time” Crunch: The deadlines are looming, as are hopes for a six-pack by summer. (And maybe a six-pack of Corona, too.) While most jobs don’t condone in-office boozing, you can get the other six-pack with some seated isometric crunches. With both elbows on the thighs, try to curl the chest in towards the legs while resisting the movement with the arms. Hold for 10 seconds, release, and repeat times 10.”

Please read the whole article to get more exercise ideas… and to check out the hilarious titles and descriptions of those moves.

Although isometric exercises look totally harmless, there is fair warning if you suffer from high blood pressure:

“Isometric exercises can raise blood pressure significantly for the duration of the exercise. While it will return to a resting level soon after, this can be dangerous for people with hypertension or any form of cardiovascular disease. Even if you don’t suffer from high blood pressure it is important to breath continuously throughout the exercises. Breath holding will only compound any increases in blood pressure.” http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/isometric-exercises.html

Have fun exercising at your desk! Every bit of movement counts toward a healthier lifestyle!

5 Minute Breathing at the Office

There are many benefits associated with taking five minutes at the office place to breathe deeply. Let’s explore the topic of breathing a bit further in the office environment. When we take our breath for granted, most of us as adults tend to breath shallow.

There are many negative side effects to short, shallow upper chest breathing. Our body interprets this kind of breathing for one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes. When we do not breathe correctly, we tend to have more dominant, intrusive, fearful thoughts. Simply put, we think too much and become anxious, irritable or depressed. No wonder modern life is still trying to catch up with nature. Computers and globalization still leave us all feeling as if we are wanting something more…

Did you know? We are breathed correctly as babies!

The importance of utilizing proper breathing not only provides us with oxygen, one of our primary nutrients for all metabolic function. It also allows us to activate the cleansing process in the alveolar sacs which exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. Each day alone, we get 22,000 breaths and if we placed all the alveolar sacs together: they would take up the size of over half a tennis court. Just by comparison, our skin or largest sensory organ is only 3 square feet by 3 square feet. What a difference!

We had this perfect yogic breath when we were babies! Our whole body expanded as we breathed on an inhale and softened as we exhaled. According to yoga, we are not quite sure why we began breathing incorrectly. Maybe it is our tendency to look outside too much. We do know that we during the course of reaching adulthood, most of us lost have lost the art of deep breathing.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

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. The diaphragm muscle has been associated with courage. In yoga, we understand that as a living healthy organism, we must undergo change in order to remain healthy. 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.

From the first breath, we feel lighter, more at ease, more connected to our natural vitality and joy. As we exhale, we allow the belly to soften; the diaphragm will lift up back under the heart and push air out of the lungs. Placing our focus on the breath, we practice meditation, we let things fall apart and we stay centered.

The way you know your yoga is progressing is your ability to take on more stress with less effort. True mastery is really living your everyday life sweetly.

For more information on how to train your employees on how to breathe or to bring corporate onsite yoga to your workplace, please contact, Michelle, at 314-630-1677. Let us help you design a special program for your organization’s unique needs today.

Strawberry Times At The Office

Let’s think luscious red today! From time to time we love to mix up the topics we write about in this blog. Now that it is officially summertime, let’s talk about strawberries.

Do you get your daily 5 servings of veggies or fruit? For most of us this is clearly a challenge! Many times we just blame it on not having time or the energy for healthy eating. It is just so much easier to pick up some fast food or order in.

What if there are easy and quick ways to add some berries to your diet this summer? Fast food a’ la strawberries! Prepare these meals at home, take to the office and you never have to compromise for unhealthy fare – at least not during the berry season.

Strawberries – plain and simple

Clean 1-2 pounds of strawberries at home. No, you don’t need sugar on top! Enjoy the natural flavor of a strawberry, they are just heavenly! Cut them up or leave them whole – it is easy to transport those berries to the office. If you packed too much of the good thing… I am sure your co-workers will be happy to enjoy this summer treat with you!

Did you know that you can add vinegar to the water when you wash those berries? Let it sit for a few minutes to work its wonders. Vinegar will help get rid of dirt and fights harmful bacteria in the process. Rinse well afterwards!

Strawberry salad

Clean and thinly slice the strawberries. Sprinkle them with extra virgin olive oil, fresh grounded pepper and some pink salt! Yes, you will love this salad! Even if you feel that peppers and strawberries don’t go well together – they are a match made in heaven. Add a few leaves of green salad if you would like to create a full salad and you have lunch ready to go.

Strawberry Soup with Cinnamon Croutons

Craving a filling soup for lunch? Here is a heavenly recipe from www.TasteOfHome.com with a prep time of only 15 minutes!

Ingredients

1 quart strawberries, halved
2 cups apple juice
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-1/2 cups half-and-half cream
3 tablespoons orange juice, optional
CINNAMON-SUGAR CROUTONS:
3 slices white bread, crusts removed and cubed
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon-sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Place half of the mixture in a blender; cover and process until pureed. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining strawberry mixture.
Stir in cream and orange juice if desired. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, saute bread cubes in butter until golden brown. Remove from the heat. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar; toss to coat. Cool. Stir soup before serving; garnish with croutons. Yield: 6 servings.

This recipe is from TasteOfHome.com http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/smooth-strawberry-soup Check out the site for more awesome recipes from the best home cooks of the nation!

Strawberry in chocolate – perfect for those low-energy afternoons

Clean the strawberries as usual. For this lovely treat it is best to use large strawberries – don’t cut them up! The other ingredient you will need is a good quality dark chocolate bar. Break it up into small pieces and melt the chocolate slowly in a glass bowl over a hot-water bath. (Do you need tips on melting chocolate? You can find them here: http://candy.about.com/od/workingwithchocolate/a/meltchocolate.htm)

Dip the strawberries one by one into the melted chocolate. You don’t want to cover the whole strawberry with chocolate, though – this will save on some calories plus it makes it easier to eat the chocolate covered strawberries in the office.

Place the berries on a baking sheet and either wait until the chocolate gets firm or place it in the fridge/freezer to save some time. If there is any remaining… take them with you to the office!

Enjoy these strawberry treats for a healthy lunch or as a snack. They are even light enough to eat after your corporate yoga class!

Aromatherapy To Lessen Stress

Workplace stress is one of the major stress factors nowadays. It begins in the morning when you dread going to work and never stops till the evening when you are worn out or even feel burned out from spending your time at the office. How sad is this? To be under stress every day with seeing no way out!

What to do when the typical stress advice doesn’t work anymore? When you feel stressed even in a job you love? Even if you close the door to your office to minimize distraction? When reading all the tips you can find online still doesn’t help you get a few stress free minutes per day?

There are some out-of-the-box thinking and practices to manage stress. Here is a great example where aromatherapy was used to help employees decrease their stress levels and increase their job satisfaction.

One recent study has shown that workers in one of the most stressful careers are successfully using aromatherapy at work to deal with their stress.

Imagine working in the cancer treatment field. Each day you’re dealing with life altering situations, where some patients die and you’re dealing with their stress on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis. Secondhand stress itself is something that affects us, too.

At the Oncology Nursing Society 39^th Annual Congress, a study was presented that showed nurses dealing with cancer patients were able to improve their own health and job performance using aroma diffusers in the office.

This career is one that suffers high turnover. The emotional impact of the job – as well as high demands placed on the workers – causes extreme burnout, so they often quit.

The James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio conducted the study – using diffusers to dispense essential oils over a 6-week timespan. They strategically placed them at a main nursing station.

They conducted before and after studies of workplace stress and measured four things: worry, demands, tension and lack of joy. Everything improved except lack of joy, but according to the study, that happened to coincide with an unusual number of patient deaths, so that’s understandable – because these nurses are caretakers of their patients.

Do you suffer from workplace stress? Why not try aromatherapy? You might seek out calming scents and invest in a diffuser or other aromatherapy method that won’t interfere with those around you. It could help you see your job in a whole new light.

Here is a detailed article about calming aromatherapy scents: http://stress.about.com/od/generaltechniques/a/aromatherapy_b.htm

The most important calming scents are lavender, rosemary, peppermint, lemon and ylang-ylang. Of course always ask your colleagues if they enjoy the scents, too. Some people have hard time tolerating some scents even if you personally love them. If they are allergic to a scent, your colleagues can get severe headaches and feel sick. So be mindful that you are not adding extra stress to your co-workers life!