Being a wellbeing company we encourage all our staff to try and live an active, healthy lifestyle. Our CEO, Kicki Carlsson, has recently rediscovered her love of yoga and decided to share this with the workforce by organising weekly yoga classes in the Dröm UK Showroom!
Staff assemble for the first yoga session
It was a popular decision and when the day came, ten staff, of varying ages and flexibility, sat expectantly, if not a bit warily, on their hastily purchased yoga mats waiting to see what the yoga teacher, Lee Hopkins, had in store for them.
It was the end of a really busy day and Lee started with some breathing techniques to relax and focus us. We then moved on to some poses, ensuring that we kept breathing in and out in the right places. If anyone ever tells you yoga is easy – it isn’t, and deep breathing and moving at the same time is a really tricky thing to master! We were already sweating profusely and were only about 20 minutes into the session! Our first pose, the ‘Awkward Pose’, was a bit challenging as its name suggests but eventually we were able to progress through Downward Facing Dog to Plank straight to Crocodile and then upwards into Cobra before back to Downward Dog. There is an organised sequence to yoga postures which ensures that the body moves easily from one to the next and which sustains balance in energy.
After a quick water break, we tried some balancing, starting with the Tree Pose. This went quite well until we had to focus on our fingertips which suddenly caused the wobbles. This wasn’t helped by Lee telling us that if we couldn’t keep the pose then we were emotionally unbalanced! We think he’s joking ……
The following morning we all agreed that it was more of a workout than we had all expected and everyone said how much they had enjoyed it, even those with a few aches. The following week we knew what to expect and engaged fully with the breathing and mindfulness and Lee introduced the Warrior pose, the Eagle pose and Half Lord of the Fishes. Yoga is a great way to de-stress as Lee explains, “because yoga integrates and balances all body systems it keeps the body supple, stretches and strengthens the spine and muscles and massages vital organs. Yoga is a natural form of stress release and an excellent form of preventative medicine for keeping the body, mind and emotions in harmony.”
We are slowly becoming more flexible and can now move through the sequences fairly easily, taking the time to benefit from each pose, which get more advanced each week. Not only does it bring a sense of wellbeing to the staff, it also brings us together as a group, allowing us to have some fun after a busy day.
Lee Hopkins is a freelance Fitness Professional based in the Surrey and South West London area of the UK, and has worked in the fitness industry in various roles for more than 20 years. He can be contacted via his website http://www.thebodyco.net.