“When we say ‘yoga,’ we don’t mean impossible pretzel poses. That’s not what we’re referring to. Yoga means to be in perfect tune. Your body, mind, and energy and the existence are in absolute harmony.”
-Sadhguru
Today, when you hear the word “yoga”, you generally think of a set of exercises that include stretching and complex postures. But what if we told you that is not so! On the International Day of Yoga 2021 at Sambaash, we did something exciting for our team’s well-being!
Yoga for Well-being
Yesterday marked the seventh edition of the International Day Of Yoga. The theme for this year’s International Day of Yoga was “Yoga For Well-being” and yes, indeed, investing in one’s health more than anything else has been an important lesson for us, because “time & health is the only wealth that we have been endowed with”. “Taking a few minutes of your time everyday to do these exercises would help your well-being immensely,” said Diana Jumaat, People & Culture Development Manager at Sambaash.
Sambaash organized a “Yoga For Immunity” with the guidance and support of Ben Peters, a software architect & a volunteer from Brisbane, Australia for Isha Foundation (a non-profit organization started in 1992 in India, founded by Sadhguru, a yogi, a mystic and a man whose passion spills into everything he encounters). Sudeshna Dhar, a content writer trainee at Sambaash says, “More sessions such as these can be helpful in showing us how to make yoga a part of our routine, and choosing which practice would benefit us the most, as well as help us to know the different types of yoga practices and their purposes.”
Work-From-Home is here to stay
This year and the past year have made us aware of the uncertainties of life. It has also marked almost fifteen months of our lives when we have just been bound to the laptop. Be it for work or for personal use, laptops have become our faithful companions while our house has turned into an “always open” office.
According to the findings in the Straits Times Graphics, 68 per cent of employees worked longer than their normal working hours. Another study by researchers at the University of Southern California published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the time spent for work (at the workstation) has increased by at least 1.5 hours than earlier. This indicated that the workers are also likely to have less job satisfaction, less communication with co-workers, decreased productivity and increased neck pain when working from home.
As per the same study, more than 64 per cent of respondents reported having one or more new physical health issues while working from home while nearly 75 per cent experienced one new mental health issue. The lack of physical movement and the redundancy of being “at work” for prolonged hours seems to be associated with these issues.
Farikh Ali, our Business Consultant says taking breaks in between working hours can be highly helpful. “Occasionally taking a break to do some stretching and breathing exercises can help in including a healthy living in today's work scenario.”
Various Practices
A set of practices were initiated by the instructor such as the Sashtanga, Makarasana, Simha Kriya, and Isha Kriya.
New Experience
It was only in 2015 that the United Nations started observing International Day of Yoga. It was also since then that a lot of us took to yoga. Around 86 per cent of Sambaash’s employees attended the session yesterday and a lot of them had never experienced yoga before.
Mimi Tan, our Business Consultant who also attended the session says of all the practices taught in the session, “Simha Kriya could be the most useful”, in these trying times. Simha Kriya is a powerful yogic process to boost immunity and enhance lung capacity.
Jose Christian Lee Elico, Implementation Consultant at Sambaash says, “It was a good new experience for me. A weekly/ daily time allocation in a day's routine for yoga could be very helpful.”
Hence, more than ever before, it has become clear to us that investing in health is the most important investment to make. Well-being isn’t an option, it is a necessary choice for us to make! “It will be good to be able to access the videos. Will start practicing the breathing exercise (Simha Kriya) before going to bed,” says Teo Meng Yee, Principal Consultant at Sambaash.
Collective Impact
If you observe closely, it has now become clear that we need to be together at this time. We need to be closely knit in spite of the physical distance in order to come out stronger at the end of this pandemic. Therefore, a collective session like this one can be a great measure.
“It has been refreshing to do the Kriyas together as a team; more so in the context of the impact that this pandemic has created on our life. It is so heartening to see the whole-hearted participation by the team and the inputs thereafter. It bodes well for the team collectively, if we all can regularise these practices on a daily basis, as it will be one more step in harmonising the people's culture within the organisation,” says Giridhar Nayak, Founder & CEO of Sambaash.
The ongoing pandemic has created a lot of stress and a negative vibe among people, in general. By practicing Yoga on a regular basis can help to maintain physical and mental wellbeing. “Yoga can provide the necessary tool for risk reduction, amelioration of stress and anxiety, and strengthening of the immune function. The online platforms provide a good media for Yoga training at workplaces and homes,” observed a study named The role of Yoga in working from home during the COVID-19 global lockdown as published in the National Library of medicine.
Thus, collective well-being efforts and yoga alone could help us in coming out of this pandemic healthily! “Simple yogic practices to combat complex modern era challenges was my takeaway from the session,” says Mangalram Prasanna, our Chief UX Designer.
Takeaway
A healthy lifestyle, eating right, and being restful could be some of the best ways to combat any or all illnesses. Hence, our rightful focus on these three aspects can go a long way. The session on International Day of Yoga initiated us into the process of taking control of our lives in a way that we can come out of the pandemic in a positive manner.
