Yoga effective at tackling workplace stress

Important new research has just been released by Dru Yoga on how yoga can dramatically improve workplace stress.

In the first example of robust research into yoga in the workplace, researchers from Bangor University investigated the efficacy of yoga in tackling workplace stress.

The six-week programme of Dru Yoga - whereby 48 university employees took part in a weekly 60-minute class - was found to reduce anxiety and fatigue, boost emotional wellbeing, and increase resilience to stress.

The findings comes as latest figures from the HSE suggest that stress in the workplace costs the UK over £530 million per year - or over 13 million ‘lost' working days.

In the radomized controlled study, the Dru Yoga group reported feeling significantly less anxious, confused, tired and depressed than the control group who did not practice.

The practice of bringing yoga and meditation into offices, where stress levels are frequently high, is still in its infancy in the UK.

But employers - many of whom are frankly stuck in the Dark Ages in their (non) approach to staff wellbeing - ignore research such as this at their own peril.

This findings are especially pertinent as the recession continues to take a worryingly high toll on workplace stress and absence.

Lucia Cockcroft, editor