Workplace wellbeing
Yoga, mindfulness and nature connection offer a range of ways to support your own wellbeing and your staff and/or volunteers.
Looking after ourselves whilst we work and taking care of employees is more important than ever in these challenging times.
Home working has increased exponentially, jobs have changed beyond recognition and many of us find ourselves increasingly trying to do more in even less time. Investing in well being pays dividends.
Yoga, mindfulness and/or nature connection - wrapped up in bitesize chunks or through more in-depth opportunities such as away days- offer win win well being solutions for employees, employers and the self-employed.
“You have such a great way of encouraging your students to experience yoga in a way that is useful to them while coaching them to pay attention to those places you know are likely to need it. Always spot on but not didactic!”
- Carrie, World Bank
Packages include:
Stretch and Ease
Learn how to do simple arm, leg and back movements at your desk that will release tension and help prevent stress. Ideal for encouraging good posture and helpful habits for computer users and working at home.
Lunch Break Body Stretching
Half an hour to 45 minutes of gentle yoga before you eat. Great for keeping you moving, calming the nervous system and refreshing the brain through your working day whether you’re new to yoga or more familiar.
Mindful Walk in Nature
More than just a walk in the park though that’s a good start! This outdoor session includes nature and people connection, sensory awareness, seeing with fresh eyes and a taste of shared silence.
Mindfulness of Tea
A 15-minute mindful body awareness and relaxation tea break. Experience mindfulness through all the senses while enjoying a cup of tea.
Wellbeing Treat
Stress relieving, people bonding 0.5 - 1 day to promote wellness for your staff, team or network. Includes a variety of indoor and outdoor activities for building good health at work. Delicious lunch options available.
Holistic coaching, planning and strategy for individuals and organisations
“I’ve found Tazeem Weljie’s spot-on coaching so helpful I invited her to join the Natural Connection team! She walks the talk with well being through her passion for yoga, cycling and mindfulness, bringing creative insight and rich experience of the corporate, public and third sector to her holistic strategy and planning work and coaching sessions”
- Sally Ramsden, Natural Connection
“Happy to see people coming to lunchtime yoga from different organisations not only for the health benefits but also so people working in the same building meet each other and network”.
- Didarul Alom, The Ethical Property Company, East London
Workplace yoga online or in person: key benefits
Research shows that staff coming together to practice yoga during the working day:
Relieves stress and anxiety and improves mood
Calms the nervous system and boosts the immune system
Saves on sick days, sick pay and healthcare costs
Improves working relationships and strengthens a sense of belonging
Positively influences lifestyle choices, attitude, behaviour, morale and performance
Increases client confidence and external image
- Wellness at Work, Protecting and Promoting Employee Well Being, Lynda A Macdonald, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London
-The impact of practicing yoga on the organization: a study on stress reduction from the participants' perspectives, 2009, Tina Miao Hall, The University of San Francisco.
Examples of our support for wellness in the workplace include:
Newham Adult Learning Services (NALS)
1-day whole staff well being event in an outdoor setting, include free access to:
Tai chi, yoga, massage, sound baths, aromatherapy, foraging walks, bee keeping /honey making, natural cosmetics workshops and more.
Complemented by delicious vegan food and juices and a speech of thanks to all staff by the service director. Natural Connection organized this event in partnership with event co-ordinator Farah Dibah.
The Ethical Property Company (EPC)
50 minutes weekly Mindfulness Yoga for tenant organizations
EPC provides shared workspace for charities and social action groups in prime locations across Europe and beyond.
I was invited to offer weekly lunch hour yoga with mindfulness classes for tenant organizations in The Green House, EPC’s flagship shared eco-office building in East London, including with Sustrans, Sustain and Tower Hamlets CVS.
NESTA Innovation Foundation in collaboration with Body>Space>Data
mindful movement and meditation session + panel contributor
Warm-up activity to establish ‘collective embodiment’ at conference opening event with 175 participants; presenter and contributor in panel discussions on conference opening night on Collective Embodiment: Societal Transformations through body/mind interfaces: "21st Century Common Sense - Using collective intelligence to tackle complex social challenges”.
Praxis
1 hour weekly Mindful Yoga class for staff and volunteers (now online)
Praxis is a medium-sized charity supporting refugees and migrants through welfare, advice and legal services; education, training and peer support groups, and advocacy for systemic change. Research verifies that staff and volunteers working in such frontline services suffer high levels of stress and trauma. This class complements the specialist classes I teach for their clients.
Paradise Bikes
45 minutes Yoga for Cyclists session for all staff.
Servicing and repairing bicycles in a busy high street shop involves a lot of bending, lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling. Staff are on their feet all day and work hard to turn jobs around quickly so customers can get back on the road. To ease the strain I provided a specialist yoga session targeting the parts of the body most under pressure.
Mindfulness Yoga & Meditation for Wellbeing at Work
1-hour session as part of a team ‘away day’.
Bespoke practice to provide stress reduction tools for a corporate client wishing to support staff with holistic wellbeing sessions in the workplace.
Practical and to-the-point introductory training to encourage everyone to give it a go. .