Do you feel you have too much on your plate already and there isn’t any time for yoga or good health? Well, think again because if you don’t have the time, yoga is just right for you! Confused? Can’t seem to figure out how to squeeze yoga in your super busy routine? Don’t worry because you are really not alone.
Yoga for busy bees!
Try this 30-minute yoga plan for 15 days
* Warm up with simple yoga stretches and Surya Namaskar
* Get into active yoga poses for deeper stretch
* Relax with soothing pranayamas (breathing techniques)
* Complete your experience with meditation
For most of us busy professionals, it seems easier to invest money in property than to invest even 15 minutes of the day in ourselves. If investing in property can yield excellent monetary returns in the future, investing in yoga can result in a happy and healthy future.
Picture this. In the morning, we hurriedly get ready for work, reach office, run to finish work, our meetings and all the action items for the day. Come evening and we again run to get back home to start another marathon the next day. But let’s stop and spend a few minutes every morning to relax and calm the overworked mind with yoga. How is that going to give you returns?
Yoga can make you work faster
With regular yoga practice, the mind becomes calmer, centered and focused. As a result, productivity and efficiency at work increases, success rates are higher. You might be surprised to see how you can end up finishing some work in about one-two hours, which might have taken you double the time earlier. And the effort involved: just 30 minutes of yoga in the morning. You can start with stretching your body with active yoga postures, follow up with pranayama and then go deep into meditation for a blissful experience.
Break from work with SKY
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talks about the importance of yoga for working individuals. “Life needs to be a perfect balance between dynamic activity and stillness. Even if one aspect is missing, life is incomplete.” He also highlights the relevance of Sudarshan Kriya in the lives of today’s busy youth. In a short time, Kriya provides a deep experience and a peaceful state of mind.
I remember a time, when I was extremely busy with work but I did not consider yoga or anything to do with health for that matter as a big deal. I was quite irregular with my yoga practice. And then the effect started showing – I would wake up lazily, skip Sudarshan Kriya and start my race. I would strive to finish the numerous tasks that were lined up for me. I soon started noticing that I could neither finish my work on time nor deliver quality work at the end of the day. Not just frustrated, I also ended up feeling lethargic and disinterested. It was then that I resumed my yoga practice, upon insistence from a friend. And again the results started showing in no time! I could set my priorities right for the entire day and my mind was clear and focused which reflected in high productivity and efficiency at work. Another strange (yet remarkable) change was noticeable in my attitude which turned positive. Life was normal again!
Yoga has helped many
And I wasn’t alone. I spoke to a few ‘busy’ people like me in the corporate sector to know if anyone else had the same experience and I gathered that yoga did work wonders for those who practiced it regularly. For some, a few minutes of Bhastrika pranayama in the afternoon worked as an instant energy booster. Meditation complements the pranayama in relaxing the overworked and tired mind. Another colleague shared an interesting experience of how she used Nadi Shodhan pranayama as a tool to solve problems when her mind was confused and unable to think. Each time she got stuck, she would simply do a few rounds of the pranayama at her desk and then resume work – this time with fresh ideas and better solutions.
And then I approached a co-worker, Harshal Jadhav, an IT engineer, whose working style I was particularly impressed with. I was really curious to find out the secret behind his untiring energy and dynamism at work. All day, I would see him running around, listening and responding to about 10 people at a time, getting things done one after the other. This is what he told me. “I make it a point to take time out in the morning and be regular with Sudarshan Kriya and meditation. This helps my mind stay alert yet relaxed. The best thing is my intuitive ability has become very strong and so I am now able to find solutions to problems faster.”
Harshal is just one of the many working professionals today who have included yoga and meditation in their daily routine. A lot of multinational companies are also waking up to the importance of yoga in improving creativity and work efficiency, providing yoga and meditation rooms on campus.
So now that we have opportunities, either at work or outside, to practice yoga and make a choice for good health, let’s get going. Invest in yourself for 15 days: take 30 minutes off every day to visit a space of peace and deep rest. In time, you might just find that your daily practice has become your lifelong companion.
(Written by Pritika Nair based on inputs by Dinesh Kashikar, senior Sri Sri Yoga teacher.)
