The Benefits of Yoga in the workplace

Did you know that Google offers several weekly classes before work, during lunch, and after work as part of their commitment to promoting a work/life balance?
Did you know that Danone has a great Yoga room in its headquarter building, Boulevard Haussman, in the heart of Paris?
While large corporations may have fitness centers with rooms meant for exercise, smaller companies do with what they have—classes may be held in the lunchroom or conference room and pushing chairs and conference tables on the side can be part of the game! Another challenge of yoga practice in the workplace, is that students have a limited amount of time. They're often at different levels. Some show up late or leave early due to pressing deadlines. But in the end, everybody agrees that these 60 minutes of body postures, breathing, relaxation and mindfulness are really a great investment.
Human Resources people understand perfectly why it's beneficial to have an healthy work environment as it impacts greatly on performances and balance. An intial talk with employees and HR is key to define what  the company's most prevalent health issues are and adapt the yoga class accordingly. From  poor postures due to long hours in front of a computer, repetitive strain injury or recurring headaches, yoga can help. Office workers, for example, tend to sit hunched at a desk all day, working without breaks and breathing shallowly. Others have to deal with unhappy customers and need practical tools to release tension in their mind and posture.
Bringing yoga in the workplace enables to reach out to people who would have never set foot in a studio. For instance, employees who have long daily commutes to their workplace often lack of time and energy to enroll at yoga or fitness class once back home after the working hours. But when the company is encouraging them to take a healthful break on the spot, they might walk as far as the conference room, where they can learn ways to unleash their creativity, cope with job-related stress, or broaden their perspectives about life.
As a conclusion, yoga may not always make people love their jobs, but it can give them tools for accepting their work and coping with stress and live happier.

Happiness on the Global Agenda

  

Did you know about the United Nations Resolution 65/309, placing “happiness” on the global agenda? 
“Conscious that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal” and “recognizing that the gross domestic product [...] does not adequately reflect the happiness and well-being of people,”U.N. Resolution 65/309 establishes Gross National Happiness (G.N.H.) as an alternate model to Gross National Product (G.N.P.) as a measure of national progress.       

This initiative, supported by The King of Bouthan, the Prince of Wales,the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the economist Jeffrey Sachs, is intended as a "landmark step towards adoption of a new global sustainability-based economic paradigm for human happiness and well-being of all life forms to replace the current dysfunctional system that is based on the unsustainable premise of limitless growth on a finite planet”.

(photo: courtesy of the New York Times)

Le petit manuel du Bouddha

"Par l'intermédiaire de nos  sens, le monde nous apparaît. Par l'intermédiaire de nos réactions, nous créons l'illusion. Sans réactions, nous percevons le monde clairement".

Qu'est-ce que l' Aṣṭāṅgayoga?

Ashtanga अष्टाङ्ग est un terme sanskrit qui désigne les huit étapes du yoga (aṣṭāṅgayoga)^[] mentionnées dans les yogasûtras de Patañjali qui consistent en :
1-Yama, règles de conduite envers les autres ou discipline sociale soit, la non-violence, la sincérité, l’absence de convoitise, la canalisation positive des énergies, la mansuétude et la compassion,  la stabilité et droiture.

2-Niyama, règles de conduite envers soi-même ou discipline personnelle soit, la pureté (hygiène corporelle et mentale), le contentement, la sobriété, l’étude...

3-Asanas: les postures

4-Pranayama: la discipline du souffle
5-Pratyahara: l’écoute sensorielle intérieure
6-Dharana: la concentration
7-Dhyana: la méditation

8-Samadhi: l’état d’unité, la réalisation du soi.
Aṣṭāṅgayoga est également utilisé pour désigner l’Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga tel qu'enseigné par Shrî K.Pattabhi Jois, élève de Krishnamacharia, philosophe indien 1888-1989 ayant largement contribué à démocratiser  et adapter  l'enseignement classique du yoga et de la philosophie indienne à la vie moderne et participé à sa diffusion en Occident.

Cependant, il ne faut pas confondre l'ashtānga-yoga de Patañjali auxquels se réfèrent toutes les formes de yoga et l'Ashtānga Vinyasa Yoga de Pattibhi Jois qui consiste en un système d’apprentissage de séries de postures dynamiques (âsanas) constituées d’une centaine de poses effectuées en séquence toujours identiques synchronisant le mouvement avec la respiration.  Chaque pose est tenue pendant cinq à dix respirations. La pratique est accompagnée de l'usage de 3 bandhas (contractions musculaires au niveau du périnée, de la ceinture  abdominale et de la gorge) ainsi que de la maîtrise de la direction du regard (drishti : "vision"). Enfin, il faut insister sur le fait que la respiration est la clé du yoga et doit être le premier pilier de la pratique.