3 ways business executives can benefit from yoga and meditation

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BPT - The business world can be a stressful place. When working as a business executive, you can feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being a leader in a world that requires relentless multitasking and decision-making. Inevitably, you'll feel burnt out.

While you may not be able to eliminate all the responsibilities and stressors in your life, you can incorporate mindfulness practices to help you better manage your thoughts and emotions. For example, practicing yoga and meditation can help you find moments of calm and clarity even on the most hectic workday. Check out these three benefits of yoga and meditation that can help business executives thrive and become better leaders.

1. Reduce stress

Stress is an ever-present co-worker for many executives. Between deadlines, managing teams and making important decisions, you can feel like you're in a constant state of tension. Integrating yoga and meditation practices into your routine can help you reduce stress. Even just a few minutes a day can make a huge difference.

According to the American Psychological Association, researchers have found that mindfulness meditation changes a person's brain and biology to improve mental and physical health. Whether you practice breathing exercises, yoga or a guided session, mindfulness meditation can help you reduce and manage stress at home and in the office.

2. Improve focus

Yoga and meditation are a great way to improve your focus. By focusing on your breath and the task at hand, whether it's a yoga position or a meditative mantra, you can clear your mind. Without the mental clutter, you can see the big picture clearly, allowing you to make strategic decisions that benefit your team.

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This improved focus isn't just a result of relieving stress and settling your mind. It can actually change the way your brain works. According to University Health News, researchers have found that yoga can greatly affect neural patterns in the brain, improving your ability to concentrate and focus. The next time you find yourself stuck on a problem or unable to concentrate on a project or proposal, take a few minutes to do a quick yoga flow or five-minute meditation.

3. Enhance leadership skills

To be an effective and inspiring leader, it takes more than smarts. Great business executives and managers must also have high emotional intelligence (EI), that is, the ability to monitor your own and others' feelings and emotions and use that information to guide your decisions.

While some people are naturally gifted with EI, you can build this skill and improve your leadership skills through mindfulness practices. According to a study published in the IIMB Management Review Journal, practicing yoga and yogic meditation can enhance someone's EI and improve managerial performance. Add yoga and meditation to your managerial toolbox and see how improving your EI changes your managerial style and positively impacts your projects and team members.

Start or deepen your practice to thrive

These are just three of the many benefits of yoga and meditation. By investing in your mental and emotional health through yoga and meditation, you can become a more effective business leader while balancing your work and personal life.

Whether you're new to yoga and meditation or want to deepen your practice, check out the teachings of practitioners like Keiko Aikawa's Himalayan Siddha Meditation workshop.

Aikawa is known as the "Yogmata," a supreme Himalayan saint who has reached the final stage of yoga and meditation called "samadhi" (equivalent to nirvana in Buddhism). She is the first female saint in history to reach samadhi.

Her books "108 Teachings," "Empty Your Mind and Achieve Your Dreams," and "The Road to Enlightenment" are great resources for developing and deepening your yoga and meditation practices.

You can also attend her upcoming workshop in New York and learn her teachings and breathwork firsthand. To learn more, visit yogmata.net/en_darshan.

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Therapeutic recreation and healing, a path to personal growth

by Roscrance Recovery News

A group of canoes sliced through the water on a warm summer afternoon, laughter filling the air as Rosecrance staff and clients relaxed in nature’s beauty. With a sudden burst of energy, one client sped up to leaders and, with a wide grin, exclaimed, "I think I’ve found my passion!"

After several weeks of working through a variety of therapy modalities, the getaway connected with the client in a way that nothing else had. This activity showed the client how the skills they learned made a difference in everyday life and could give them positive interests to pursue long after leaving treatment.

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"The look of hope is a beautiful thing," said therapeutic recreation specialist Matt Larson. "It is awe-inspiring when clients find new ways to connect with themselves, and realize that if they can do this one challenge we give them, then there are so many other things they can do."

Therapeutic recreation is one important way residential clients find healing at Rosecrance. It is woven into the fabric of treatment program at all sites because it possesses a power to connect with clients in unique ways. Based in experience or action, what may seem like fun and games actually is a critical technique that teaches clients how to navigate life using what they learned on the basketball court, a canoe trip, in a greenhouse, and in other experiential learning settings. Data show that this improves stress, anxiety, emotional regulation, engagement with others, and knowledge of life skills.

Therapies are designed to give clients opportunities to grow in safe stress situations. By working through issues while completing a painting or doing a teambuilding exercise, clients discover that they can manage everyday life using what they learned in these settings.

"We create safe spaces where they can take risks and show vulnerabilities," said Therapeutic Recreation Coordinator Abby Nelson. "Therapeutic recreation can’t live in treatment. They have to take it home with them. It’s huge when they the can verbalize what they are going to do when they leave Rosecrance."

Rosecrance offers clients a multi-faceted range of activities such as art, horticulture, fitness, sports, yoga, meditation and mindfulness, labyrinth and sensory room, team building exercises, and more. Seasonal events add to the variety with events such as hiking, canoeing, the Heart Art show in February, and Haunted Woods in October.

"We know everyone has a different passion, and that is why we incorporate so many therapies into our treatment," said therapeutic recreation specialist Paul Fasano. "For some, that may be yoga, and others may be drawn to something like art or outdoors activities. Whatever it is, it’s always satisfying to see clients find their niche."

Staff help create a healing environment by participating in activities with clients to show what is possible. They are side-by-side lifting weights, meditating, and painting to model what is possible in life. It also gives therapeutic recreation staff opportunities to continuously grow through challenges such as training for half-marathons together.

"It’s important that we demonstrate skills ourselves, whether we’re at work or at home," said therapeutic recreation specialist Alyssa Newton. "That makes things that might seem intimidating at first a lot more accessible. We can point out our progress and highlight when we see clients taking big steps forward."