Can Yoga Help Decrease Stress in a Workplace Environment?

Can Yoga Help Decrease Stress in a Workplace Environment
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Introduction
Stress in the work place has become a big concern in the contemporary world. Some of the factors that have been linked to workplace stress include job insecurity, overwork, and lack of autonomy as well as low levels of job satisfaction. Workplace stress has detrimental effects on employees’ biological and mental health and their general wellbeing as well as workplace level of productivity and profits. Some of the presentations of stress include spending more time on a task, making mistakes, poor quality work, resentment, anger, burnout, low morale, impaired social functioning and many other detrimental effects. There are various measures that organizations and individuals can take to prevent or alleviate the negative impacts of stress (Clark, 2002; Deshpande, 2012; HAI, 2009). Yoga has been considered as one of the most effective means of preventing and dealing with stress at work place. This paper is aimed at discussing how yoga can be used as remedy for stress at work place.
Yoga is considered as one of the six Indian philosophy foundations. It has been used by Indians for millennia as a means of studying, explaining, and experiencing the complexities of human existence and human mind. Yoga life involves the philosophy of Karma Yoga- the path of detached action, Bhakti Yoga- the trust in supreme order, Jnana Yoga-the knowledge of self and Raja Yoga-meditation, asana, pranayama etc. The practice of Hatha-yoga inform of asanas (posture), pranayama (breathing exercises meant to influence vital forces), Kriyas (cleansing process), mudras (certain internal attitudes) and bandhas (the neuro muscular locks) are usually taught as various physical exercises (Becker, 2000; Tripathi, 2013). All meditation techniques have effect on the mental level but they are intended to develop particular type of awareness within an individual. Yoga has been extensively researched on and has been recommended for stress management although the studies are not fully scientifically replicable. Many researchers have claimed that Yoga brings change in visceral and emotional functions which in turn results in somatic and intellectual functions of an individual (Mishra & Sinha, 2001).
Yoga influences the brain in various ways making it function in a better way. There are several techniques that are considered as Yoga. These techniques present a rich source from which indigenous organizational development means of personal spiritual growth are obtained (Khalsa, 2012). A study from the journal of alternative and complementary medicine findings indicated that Yoga enhance mood through inducing higher levels of Gamma-Amino-Butyric-Acid (GABA) neurotransmitter in the brain. The study participants were grouped into two groups where one group participated in a 60 minutes Iyengar Yoga for a period of 12 weeks and the other group participated in a 60 minutes walking activity for 12 weeks. Participant in both groups had their mood and anxiety levels as well as that of GABA in the thalamus tested before and after the intervention. The findings were that the group that was engaged in Iyengar Yoga indicted higher levels of revitalization, tranquility and posit...