Last Friday, I was invited to share simple and practical yoga techniques to manage stress and anxiety at the workplace.
It was for a business processing team who worked from 5:00 pm to midnight. I’m glad that Ron, a former student who invited me, is taking the initiative to introduce ancient yoga practices to her team to help them overcome stress and anxiety and develop the capacity to stay calm, stable, centered, and peaceful in their daily life.
Did you know that Philippine workers have been identified as the most stressed out in Southeast Asia? A study called “State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report” released by Gallup surveyed more than 68,000 employees in over 140 countries. The Philippines ranked the highest in Southeast Asia in experiencing stress every day. We also ranked second in experiencing daily sadness at work, third in feeling daily anger, and seventh in daily worry.
A lot of people miss out on symptoms related to stress.
Headaches, upset stomach, back pain, fatigue, muscle aches, tension, poor memory, difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, anxiety, and depression are often signs and symptoms of stress. In call centers, studies show that stressed employees suffer eye soreness, blurred vision, light sensitivity, and headaches. Over time, uncontrollable stress can increase the risk of chronic health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
As energy is diverted from work-related activities towards coping with stress, job performance suffers, job satisfaction decreases, conflict at work with co-workers and managers, and conflict at home escalates. As a result, highly stressed employees become less devoted to the company’s mission resulting in a decrease in professionalism and, ultimately, burnout.
For the class, I focused on quick, 3-minute meditations for the event to reduce stress and anxiety and increase vitality.
I am always happy to share meditation and yoga techniques with your workplace, group, or organization. There are hundreds of meditation techniques in the practice of Kundalini Yoga, so if there is something you want to work on, that can be worked on too.
If you’re stressed now, take a pause. Breathe in, then breathe out. Imagine that stress leaving your body. See how you can do that in just a minute? May that help you with whatever challenges you’re facing.
In loving service,
Rosan
