Diversity, Inclusion, and … Yoga!
Introducing Yoga Veda Saratoga
In May 2021, we launched Yoga Veda Saratoga as a sister program to CultureLynx, balancing the business side of diversity and inclusion (D&I) with a holistic approach to health and wellness that centers on the individual - on union of mind, body, and soul.
The connection between D&I and yoga may not seem evident at first, but the two are closely intertwined. At CultureLynx, we recognize that inclusion alone is not enough to promote organizational wellness. Employees may feel welcome, but that does not mean they have the tools to support their mental and physical health. Today’s workforce is overworked and overstressed. More than half of US women have reported signs of burnout. Add to that the tremendous toll of living through the pandemic, anxiety about global warming, and rising racial tensions, and you have yourself the perfect storm.
Yoga is one way to find calmness in a sea of change. In addition to many obvious health benefits, such as increased muscle strength, energy and vitality, yoga has been shown to calm our sympathetic nervous system - the fight-or-flight response we experience as a result of short- or long-term exposure to stress: just a few minutes of a moving meditation lowers breathing and heart rates, decreases blood pressure, and relaxes our body and mind. The result? The calm and tranquility we achieve through yoga enables us to break free of destructive emotions like anger and, instead, increase feelings of compassion and interconnection.
“The more you experience a deeper state of awareness, the more you will merge with your true self, which is simply here and now - leaving no beliefs to defend.” ~ Deepak Choprah
In yoga, as in meditation, negative energies and judgments evaporate because we leave behind the monkey chatter of the mind where such thoughts occur, enabling us to connect with our true selves. That deeper state of awareness we experience as a result enables us to break free from value judgments and see the world with fresh eyes. In turn, this new reality enables core beliefs to shift - both within organizations and at the individual level. Studies have shown that, by promoting mindfulness, yoga can help break unconscious biases, thereby creating the welcoming and inclusive environments we’ve been seeking all along.
“Change your beliefs and you change your reality.”
~ Alicia Keys
