What to Prepare for Office / Corporate Yoga
- Yogini Summer
- Oct 17, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 15, 2019
"Yoga doesn't require anything." Yes, it is true. All you need is your body. But if you want to make Yoga more accessible to a wider range of people, some props would be nice to have. Just like a corporate meeting, preparations make the experience much smoother without any hiccups. The last-minute fix can be stressful for all the parties involved. That is not the point of a mindfulness/wellness program.
Depending on who you are, here are the three things you will need.
Office, Management or Wellness Managers:
Open Space (Clean Floor)
Proper Temperature
Employees Time
Office Employees :
If the company doesn't have a generous budget to purchase proper props for employees, here are the three things ;
Change of clothes
Thick Long Towels /Thinner towel =Yoga mats
Thick books (ideally two of the same thickness) = Yoga blocks
Three Things Yoga Instructors
Arrive 30 minutes earlier
Extra towels, blocks or mats ( if you can carry )
Music/White Noise
Office, Management or Wellness Managers:
Open Clean Space
What is your office look like in general? Is it dusty and sticky?
This may be a good opportunity for Konmari your office.
No one wants to put the face on a floor with coffee stains, dust all over the place, or dirt on.
Secure a room, Yoga mat + 10 inches (20cm) around it for each person.
Proper Temperature and air circulations
At the end of the day, it is the office. When I was managing a team at the office, I received a complaint about my team member being smelly. It was very distracting and I needed to escalate it to Employee Relationship Team how to communicate. He had no idea that he was causing such a discomfort around him until I carefully deliver the news to him. I was very nervous that I would offend him. My time was taken away to communicate the news, the rest of the team's productivity got dropped. There was nothing good about the odder issue. To avoid the situation, it is not a bad idea to invest in fans closer to those who likely to sweat.
Employees' Time
Employees are paid during the session as well as they operate a business. The best time is utilizing business downtime. When their productivity is low. This varies depending on the types of business, employee demographics, and size of the company. You can narrow down the time slot and day by asking the following questions.
What are your operating hours?
What % of employees are you willing to pull out from business as usual?
In general, are your employees willing to participate in the mindfulness/wellness program?
Understanding seasonality, peak time and productivity of own business help setting up a successful mindfulness/wellness program as well as core business.
Many companies implement, productivity monitoring system to optimize the human resources, productivity tracker, project management tools, call monitoring systems, salesforce and you name it. Incorporate the program into the system to monitor effectiveness.
Office Employees :
Change of clothes
Although Epiphany Life does offer "Yoga in Suite" program, where employees can join yoga session just as they would come into a meeting, we highly recommend they bring the change of clothes to stay comfortable in other Yoga sessions. First of all, it is easier to feel the stretch and be in poses with 100% capacity of the body fo a full experience. Second, you can stay comfortable in case you sweat. Third, you avoid wrinkles in your regular clothes!
Thick Long Towels /Thinner towel =Yoga mats
Unfortunately, the office floor is not the cleanest place though the company tries the best. Usually, Yoga studio requires people to take their shoes off but we don't at the office.
Two out of ten students I had, they forgot Yoga Mat nor any towels. I had to have them stay on the floor. I shouldn't have introduced Low Cobra nor Child Pose to them. They probably felt very disgusted when they had to press their face on to filthy office floor.
"Saucha", Cleanliness or Purity is one of Niyamas, the five positive duties "Patanjali's Yoga Sutra" describes. Not only the physical but also mind purity we have to seek for. Today, I should have offered the other poses to be off from the floor.
Many non-yoga practitioners are tight and inflexible to reach toes or grabbing onto the hands behind their backs. A long towel can be used as a strap.
Two Thick Books = Yoga Blocks
Many guys are tight and inflexible to reach toes or grabbing onto the hands behind their backs. A long towel can be used as a strap.
Yoga Instructors :
Plan to arrive 30 minutes - 1 Hour earlier
If it's the first visit, I would recommend 1-hour earlier. Even after the second visit, we should arrive at least 30 minutes earlier to set the place up. Office building security nowadays is tight. You may have to queue up for the security screening, elevators may be slow, and space may have so much set up to do.
Collect waivers from the managers
Understand the general rules of the office, building if any.
Understand the lighting, airconditioning, shading situations
Class real estate, how to line up mats for everyone
Connect to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for music
Extra towels, blocks or mats ( if you can carry )
If you are driving and already have many props, bring them with you. If you are unable to carry the extras, bring at least one extra set to offer clients.
Music/White Noise
If the office is located on the busy street or other meeting rooms are close by, noise can be destructive. Music can alleviate the situation.
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