Every Thursday, structural technologist Alan Hocking and a few colleagues look forward to tearing down the office boardroom.

They dismantle the large corporate table in practiced unison, carefully stack the sections, and then haul out the comfortable chairs.

Moments later the room fills with well-used yoga mats – and from noon until 1 p.m.

the group strikes various postures that relax, relieve and rejuvenate their physical and emotional well-being.

Mike Sturk, Business Edge
Yoga instructor Trish Robbins puts her clients through the paces during a noon class to alleviate workplace stress.

“This is a perfect opportunity,” says Hocking, a consultant at Jacques Whitford, a Calgary-based company specializing in environmental, geotechnical and risk management.

“We are all looking for breaks part way through the day that provide more energy. And this definitely does it.”

In Alberta and British Columbia, yoga in the workplace appears to be a growing trend.

Teachers say that in the past five years, yoga – particularly Hatha yoga – has become a more accepted and growing part of the corporate culture. (Hatha yoga is a physical- exercise regime that utilizes different poses for the purpose of strengthening, opening and cleansing the body.)

“I’d say it’s definitely a growing movement,” says Edmonton’s Marcia Langenberg, past-president of the Yoga Association of Alberta, who teaches Hatha, breath work and some concentration techniques to a number of corporate clients.

Employers are opening up space during noon hour or immediately after work in an activity that teachers say helps the bottom line by reducing sick days and increasing productivity.

Langenberg, like many practitioners who go on to teach, started yoga more than a decade ago because she was suffering from burnout and health problems.

“If people have physical pains, they get some relief from the yoga,” she says. “If it’s postural I can help them . . . and they are definitely appreciative of the relaxation aspects.”

From a workplace perspective, Langenberg can teach techniques to help deal with fatigue and release mental tension.

“And there are poses that help in the flu season, to help clear the chest area and open up the sinuses,” she says.

“So instead of going to bed and lying in a curled-up position that locks up your body, there are some poses that can help relieve the symptoms, and bring back some energy if you have to carry on, even though you are sick.”

Beyond the physical gains, another important concept is the notion of “centredness” and how it can apply to the daily stress of the workplace, allowing people to stay calm in difficult situations.

Says Langenberg: “You can be with it (the problem), be aware of your sensations in your body, your thoughts and your feelings, which has a powerful effect.”

Yoga is also on the move in Vancouver’s workplaces. Sunny Trim started Vancouver Corporate Yoga, a “mobile” teaching class 18 months ago. Instead of having a studio, Trim and her staff go directly to downtown offices.

“The most wonderful thing about corporate yoga is the yoga virgins,” Trim says. “We get to market ourselves to people who would never in their lifetime step into a yoga studio.

“The only reason they are doing it is because a co-worker is doing it and telling them to come along. And they don’t have any excuses because we are right there in their office. They don’t have to go out, to do anything, just change (into comfortable clothing).”

Her mobile business venture was born through a touch of serendipity. A year and a half ago, a client asked her if she’d teach a class in his law firm of about 100 employees.

One class turned into two classes, and then into four classes a week. And as word of mouth spread, so did business. Today, Trim has four yoga teachers and two Pilates instructors on staff.

“It’s wonderful to see middle-aged women who lead sedentary lives going ‘Oh, my God, my arthritis is gone,’ after doing the yoga classes,” she says.

“But what’s great is they become these yoga junkies.

A lot of times they’ll quit our classes and become members of a yoga studio so they can do it more often.”

Trim can talk about the benefits of yoga for hours. She became a practitioner and then a teacher after yoga cured the constant pain she’d suffered in her neck for 15 years.

“I’d tried everything, and this worked,” she says. “I was hooked. It’s natural healing.”

While women make up the majority of her clients, Trim does work with many athletic men who want to become more flexible.

“We will also get these big guys dragged in by the ear by a co-worker,” she laughs. “And, once they try it, they say, ‘oh, this is cool.’”

In Alberta, the provincial yoga association says that about 10 per cent of its 1,200 to 1,300 members are men.

In the noon-hour class at Jacques Whitford, Hocking estimates that of the 20 people who have attended sessions over the past year, about six are men, including managers.

Hocking has dabbled in yoga on and off for about 20 years. Active – he plays hockey, lifts weights and loves golf – yoga adds the perfect balance to his weekly activities.

“I like the variety,” he says. “Plus yoga seems to be something that will help me into old age. And the longer I can keep a full golf swing, the happier I’ll be.”

Web watch:
www.yoga.ab.ca
www.vancouvercorporate yoga.com

(Mike Dempster can be reached at miked@businessedge.ca)