Why Yoga Can Make You A Better Executive

Does the yoga mat deserve its place alongside the artificial putting green in your office? Here’s an argument why both can co-exist and make you a better contributor in the office, and even complement your gym pursuits.

If you’re feeling increasingly stressed by the hectic pace of the office lately, you’re not alone. According to recent research, a recurring theme from the return-to-office (or RTO) movement is management’s increasing focus on productivity. Read: more work. Of course, if AI can help with that it wouldn’t be so bad but productivity is still focused on outputs. For example, reducing your workflow steps by 10 percent through automation won’t matter if your KPIs were doubled by the company. The result is still more stress. A recent Peter Attia podcast also highlighted the increasing amount of anxiety that has afflicted the workplace after COVID. Short vacations may be a temporary escape. You’re actually better off re-thinking your approach to stress management permanently. That’s where yoga comes in.

Despite its popularity, many men still think yoga runs counter to the norm of body-building and being ‘strong’. The reverse is true. With its emphasis on practising ‘stillness of the mind’, a yoga session should be seen providing incremental benefits that ultimately build ‘strength’ in the mind instead. This helps be more relaxed, allowing you to re-set your focus. By being more mindful, you’ll be aware of your body’s response to stress and dial back the velocity when you need to. No surprise that the World Health Organization (WHO) includes yoga in its list of recommended activities. And don’t worry. More men are increasingly taking this on so chances are, you’re not going to be the odd one out in classes anymore. 

Let’s break down those benefits a little more.

Better Breath

Practicing yoga postures or stretches is the ‘end game’ but you’ll learn that it can only be successful through the right breathing technique. It seems trivial until you go through a few classes yourself. As you improve your breathing, your stretches start to be deeper. So, while achieving the poses may seem like the ‘end game’, better breathing is the big benefit. This really improves your circulation and vitality.

Improved Balance And Coordination

Yoga is a whole-body experience with a lot of the postures improving balance and coordination. If you don’t believe it, try executing the ‘crow pose’ in class. If you’re a fitness enthusiast, trying any pose will challenge your perception of ‘strength’ and maybe even expose you to weak-spots to work on. You’ll benefit from bad posture avoidance. On a personal note, doing yoga made me realize how weak and underdeveloped my leg and ab muscles were, forcing me to work on those in the gym.

Increased Energy

Yoga can help to increase energy levels by improving circulation and reducing stress. The physical postures of yoga can also help to tone the muscles and improve the body's ability to use oxygen efficiently. Aided by better breathing, this really helps your body feel so much stronger overall.

A bonus for many is the way ailments and joint pain get alleviated once you improve your flexibility and range of motion. I experienced endless knee join pain from running until I started stretching my calves and hamstrings through yoga. It made a world of difference.

Practise Accessibility

You don’t need to venture far to find classes either; the yoga movement hit an inflection point during the COVID pandemic as beleaguered adults looked for new ways to stay healthier. Today, chances are you’ll find a yoga studio in your neighbourhood or office block. Once you’ve attended a few classes, consider practising at home in micro sessions as often as you can afford to. 

To be fair, many would argue that no large-scale clinical trial has been run to prove yoga’s many benefits in alleviating ailments or health issues. For all its popularity, yoga’s benefits are still considered anecdotal by the medical establishment. But I’ve not come across anyone who gave up yoga because they hated it. And millions of people now practise it regularly, attesting to their belief it’s benefits for them. It took me some time to be ready for it and only then, because the office building I worked in had a studio which offered trial classes. I haven’t looked back since then although I sometimes wonder how I would’ve coped if I never discovered yoga and enjoyed its benefits since. My advice to you is that there’s nothing to lose and possibly a lot more to gain.

You don’t need to attend regular classes forever. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can incorporate the simplest of poses whenever you want to. Start with a few minutes of yoga regularly and gradually increase the amount of time you practice. Make yoga a part of your self-care routine. And don’t strive for perfection but go for incremental improvements over time. 

Overall, yoga has made me cope better in the office. It helped me dampen the effects of too much sitting and desk-top hunching. More importantly, it helped me manage my stress and improve my well-being away from work. The worst thing you could do is to give it a try.