Research pick: Destressing managers with yoga - "Effect of yoga intervention on mindfulness, perceived stress, emotion regulation and affect: a study on senior managers in an Indian multinational corporate"

Researchers in India have studied the effects of yoga practice on mindfulness, emotional wellbeing, and other measures of mental health among senior managers at a multinational petroleum company. Writing in the International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, the team explain the short-term benefits of a five-day residential yoga course and suggest that ongoing practice might be needed to preclude relapse in the context of a manager’s psychological stress.

Psychological stress among managers in high-risk corporations is well known. Maintaining mental health in the workplace can be difficult for many and adopting a healthy work-life balance is often precluded by the nature of the job. There are many tools one might use to encourage management and others within any organisation to improve their own wellbeing including exercise, rest, and recreation. Yoga is often cited by practitioners and advocates as a useful approach to adopt in one’s life for improved physical and mental health.

Solid research into the realities of its effects on individuals in this context is somewhat lacking, however. The present work remedies that situation to some degree and offers a baseline from which additional studies might build to demonstrate the efficacy of yoga practice as a tool in improving workplace wellbeing. The team suggests that even 30 minutes of daily practice with cyclic meditation can have benefits for psychologically stressed managers.

Sreekumar, T.S., Nagendra, H.R. and Ilavarasu, J.V. (2021) ‘Effect of yoga intervention on mindfulness, perceived stress, emotion regulation and affect: a study on senior managers in an Indian multinational corporate’, Int. J. Indian Culture and Business Management, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp.37–52.