UAE companies reap the benefits of workplace yoga sessions

With meditative breathing and yoga an increasingly popular way to wind down after work, some UAE companies are hiring yogis to conduct sessions during office hours to alleviate workplace stress.

Among them is Baker Hughes Oilfield Service Company.

Phillip Musher, regional director for reservoir development services, took the bold step of inviting his wife Pam Greer, a yoga therapist, to conduct stress-relieving breathing sessions with any of the 20 staff in his Abu Dhabi office that wanted to take part.

Ms Greer used a particular pranayama (meaning extension of the breath), which activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

“At least five people showed up on a regular basis, and as many as 14 came intermittently,” she says. “Attendance came and went because we were at a place of work, and people were busy. The class was 45 minutes to an hour long and people ended up walking away with something they could do on their own at any time, when they felt they needed to take some time to relieve stress.”

Mr Musher has a discretionary budget to provide well-being incentives at Baker Hughes, which he is also using to form a team for the Terry Fox Run.

But he admits that not everyone in his office was a fan of his wife’s sessions. “There was mixed feedback about it – some of the guys were very negative, but most were positive,” he adds.

Monah Shaltony. however, a Baker Hughes employee, says she found the sessions relaxing. “It was fantastic,” she adds. “It definitely gave me more energy to continue my working day. I’d never tried anything like this before but since then, I’ve been taking breathing classes after work and I’ve had an instructor coming to my house to do yoga with me too.”

Abdul Darwish, a 63-year-old geologist from Jordan, was also new to the idea of meditative breathing techniques, and was pleasantly surprised by the results. “I used to be a smoker, then I gave up – but I also stopped exercising. I found these techniques helped with my breathing. Pam gave us lots of exercises for keeping air in the lungs for longer. I’m hoping she will start the sessions up again – I appreciated it. It was only an hour a week, so it didn’t really affect our working time and it gave us a chance to rest, and to live more comfortably.”

Canadian Ms Greer’s sessions at Baker Hughes were held weekly for four months last year, until she went home for the summer. She is now resuming the sessions for this year.

“Companies moving into new offices should think about providing a place for staff to get away from their desk, to do whatever they need to do to rest”, adds Ms Greer.

Another company with a budget for such initiatives is the West Con Middle East – distributors of convergence, security, networking and mobility products and services – based in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone. Through Duplays, a company that organises corporate activities, employees were given five activities to do for one month, one of which was yoga.

“The yoga included cardio, but it was more about relaxation and stress reduction,” says office manager Meleetha Aroza. “We were able to go home on yoga days with a fresh mind.”

The class proved so popular that West Con is now in direct talks with the Italian yoga instructor Livia Anzaldo to provide regular weekly classes. Ms Anzaldo, the founder of Yoga Retreats, which takes yoga devotees to retreats around the world, provides workplace yoga sessions for two international and two local corporations. She is also in discussions with a local government department to also provide yoga sessions for its staff.

“Companies are starting to understand they have to look after their most important assets – their employees. It’s becoming more popular in the corporate world to offer these perks”, she says.

“Classes usually start with breathing exercises, for grounding, so they can get their minds off work and focus on their bodies. After a stretching warm up we do the yoga, focusing on joints and spines. Before I sign an agreement with the companies, I find out about working conditions, hours and postures, so I can focus on their needs. It’s usually the neck and shoulders people have problems with. One of my sessions is for jewellery company employees, who have bad posture when they’re working.

She adds: “Yoga releases stress, and people experience a better night’s sleep. They can wake up in the morning with a lot more energy, which makes a difference to their performance at work.”

business@thenational.ae

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