stress | St. Louis Corporate Yoga

Stress Be Gone!

Stress be gone! How many of your employees and colleagues have this deep wish in their soul every day of the week?

Would you like to guess? What percentage of your colleagues suffer from stress on a daily basis? 10%? 50%? Or even more? Here is the scary answer: Around 75% of US population experiences physical and/or psychological symptoms as a result of stress. When did life get so stressful for most of us?

What is causing our stress?

The top 3 causes of stress are

job pressure,
money and
health.

Job pressure means co-worker tensions, work overload and difficulties with bosses and supervisors. If you ever experienced any of these situations, you know how difficult it is to get things done in an efficient productive manner every day at work. And the impact of this stress doesn’t stop as soon as we leave the office, either. Fatigue, headaches, stomach pain and other health issues make life less enjoyable every minute of the day.

The major reasons why we stress about money is the fear around losing our jobs! Worry about covering living expenses during retirement and paying for medical expenses adds to the money stress.

Health is an important stress factor in other respects, too not just financially. Health crisis, terminal or chronic illness are high on the list of things we worry about constantly. Nothing has greater impact on the quality of life than the lack of health.

Nearly 50% of people say stress has a negative impact on their personal and professional life. 31% of employed adults admit that they have difficulty managing work and family responsibilities.

Employers face very high costs as a result of stress related health care expenses and the cost of missed work. The annual costs are around $300 billion!

Stress impacts corporations not just financially, of course. Tension among co-workers, bad corporate climate, and low employee job satisfaction add to the crisis on a human level.

It is interesting to see that the work life causes most of the stress we experience nowadays. But does it have to be this way? Is there anything companies could do to help their employees to enjoy a more relaxed life in the office and after work?

What if there was a way for effective stress reduction? What if your people didn’t even have to leave their workplace to get a few serene moments of relaxation? What if the results for your organization were easy to measure and prove? Would you be interested?

St. Louis Corporate Yoga has proved its yoga corporate yoga programs work. We recently ran a case study with impressing results at one of our recent partner companies.

We would be more than happy to share the case study results with you! Please call Michelle to get the details and explore how your employees could experience the same increase in their quality of life! Call us a t314-630-1677 or email to info at claytonyoga.com. Can’t wait to design the perfect solution for your organization, too!

All statistics by http://www.statisticbrain.com/stress-statistics/.

Having a Spirit of Cooperation in the Workplace

Michelle Maue, owner of Clayton Yoga began St. Louis Corporate Yoga in response to needs of her clientele seeking to reduce stress in the workplace over ten years ago! Since that time, St. Louis Corporate Yoga has over 4 corporate yoga instructors teaching onsite wellness classes throughout St. Louis. With over a decade of experience, St. Louis Corporate Yoga provides over 9 weekly classes in a courteous, prompt and professional manner.

Many yoga corporate clients report overall greater resiliency to challenge, increasing greater cooperation, teamwork and levels of support. Our long standing corporate yoga programs have also shown a marked increased in improved employee morale and better communication between employee and employers. Sometimes, we begin our yoga class with a heartfelt and sincere prayer of gratitude called the Heart Meditation by Deepak Chopra.

In this simple and powerful story or meditation, students are prompted to recall any situation at work where they feel a certain grievance toward a particular person or situation and using their imagination create space and allow their energy to shift back to the breath, lengthening in a calm way, new positive states of mind.

When we begin to take a make a more conscious effort and choose to focus on the positive side to our circumstance; we slowly can make the shift. We can very often learn from resistance how to transform our own mindset. The journey from resentment to gratitude is very productive to our energy, health and mental well being.

When we live from a place of appreciation even for the setbacks, we and allow the healing life force to move through us. Sometimes the greatest of mistakes, can often later become the greatest stepping stones to our success! The following is a written copy of this exact meditation for you to enjoy…

[box]Heart Meditation by Deepak Chopra
Experience gratitude in your heart by considering all the things in your life for which you are grateful. Think about all the people in your life you love and the people who share their love with you. Spend a few minutes reviewing the gifts in your life for which you are appreciative.

Keeping your awareness in your heart, let go of all grievances, resentments and regrets. Repeat, every decision I make is a choice between a grievance and a miracle, I relinquish all regrets and grievances and choose the miracle (Repeat 3x)

Think of anyone that you may be holding a grudge or resentment against. Visualize them in your awareness and practice forgiveness, recognizing that everyone is doing their best from their state of consciousness. Have the intention to forgive others and yourself from any actions that have resulted from pain.

Having let go of resentments, grievances and regrets and having embraced forgiveness, bring your attention back to your breathing.[/box]

It’s great to have a healthy body, but the rewards of creating a healthy attitude and appreciative spirit is far greater. When we release our judgement, we set ourself free! We become more compassionate with the complexities of the working world and find things in our coworkers that have allowed us to do things we never could achieve alone. As one yoga corporate yoga client said, “yoga classes have made me more aware of just how interdependent we all really are”.

Yoga Research Findings Enhance On-site Corporate Wellness Classes

Dr. Benson at the Harvard Medical School found that a certain amount of stress is good. A little stress is a good thing. Whether you are doing a job, playing a game, raising a child. Some stress motivates us to adapt to more difficult situations. A little stress can be fun, motivating and even interesting.

But too much stress is a bad thing. Dr Benson uses a graph to show how increasing stress raises your performance and efficiency until you reach a certain point – after that point, more stress causes your performance to decline and efficacy to reduce. Also too much stress can cause a person’s locus of control to be placed outside of one’s own experience.

In recent survey taken at the Mind Body Institute, 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 performance, health, and well-being. This chronic type of stress the never lets up weakens the immune system, making us vulnerable to disease, and harder to recover from illness.

Dr. Andrew Weil has also found that even in remote parts of Africa, more and more patients are visits doctors for stress related symptoms such as ulcers, headaches and indigestion. More than 60% of all healthcare visits are related to mind-body stress induced conditions.

The key according to Dr. Herbert Benson, is to break the chain of everyday triggers or thoughts that worry us. The Dalai Lama says there are two types of problems, one the kind we can do something about and in that case, it is very important not to worry and in the second type, this problem is something we can do nothing about, and also not to worry! When we take deeper breaths, or go for a walk or bike ride, our heart beats slower and our brain waves slow down.

According to Mehmet Oz, MD, the average person’s breath is between 16 to 20 breaths per minute. Researchers found that 23 women and men who recited Om mane padme hum and the Ave Maria prayer slowed their breathing to a rate of about 6 breaths per minute compared to spontaneous breathing and random talking. What this suggests is that prayer or mantra chanting slows the “internal metronome” lessening the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Chanting or saying prayers increases our concentration and synchronizes cardiovascular rhythms creating a sense of calm and well-being.

Also it has been reported the best physiological benefits include pulse rate decrease, respiratory rate decrease, blood pressure decrease, galvanic skin response increase, alpha wave increase, posture improves, endocrine function normalizes, endurance increase, energy level increases, immunity increases, sleep improves and energy levels increase.

There is without a doubt then, through the scientific research findings here that just with a few minutes of practice, our breathing can break the chain of stress and bring about nourishing, nurturing healing energy to the brain and body. For more information on starting a corporate on-site yoga class at your company, call us at 314-630-1677. Namaste!

One Minute Meditation at Work

“A few times per day, while sitting at my desk, tension begins to creep in and take over. I may be sitting too long and working too hard.” Most people agree that work related stress is the single worst contributor to poor health.

Did you know there is a way to transform our tension without having to get to a yoga class? Research shows that deep breathing is the single best way to counteract anxiety and keep the mind calm, clear and empowered. When we breathe with more awareness, we breathe deeply and nourish our heart, support better digestion and even improve our immune system too!

How about One Minute Meditations? When we breathe deep even for one minute, we find our center, and have greater access to sustained levels of energy throughout the day. Try this, as soon as the moment of tension arises, take a step back, and notice your own unique breath move through the nostrils. Take a few deep and natural breaths in and out. Allow yourself to sit comfortably with your back to the office chair. As you begin to make any adjustments, give yourself permission to sit tall, and relax the shoulders.

Notice any muscles that are still tense, the shoulders, face, arms and see if you can release their tension on the exhale breath. Begin to notice how the breath slows down and lengthens the more you place your focus upon it.

Continue to breathe a few more rounds. Take the breath from the belly first, and also exhale from the belly first. If you like to try a counting breath, think of 4 on the in breath, pause and 8 on the out breath.

Small moments of meditation at key moments when tension is arising can be very useful in finding again greater ease at work. This will flood the body with feel good hormones such as serotonin. We can increase peace of mind and take good health back into our own hands.

Everyone has a unique breath and different lung capacity and tidal volume. Allow your breathing to feel natural and supportive to you. If your mind begins to wander and you have gone away too, simply reassure yourself that every one of us does the same thing too. It is as if we have two brains, one that is intimately connected to our peace and one that is hardwired for distraction and survival.

Staying with the breath reminds us how to access the higher mind and simply experience what is actually happening. For each of us, life is constant change, and there is no amount of controlling it, that will stop this unfolding process. When we stay with our breath, we can witness without attachment, and experience greater space, inner security, pleasure, and joy!

St. Louis Corporate Yoga currently offers 9 weekly yoga onsite wellness classes to various companies throughout St. Louis. If you would like to get a yoga class started, please contact us at 314-630-1677 or info@claytonyoga.com.

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.

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!