Just when Mashable is giving us ‘Rise of the Mobile Workforce’ infographics (oh you know how we love infographics!) where we’re shown how 3 of 5 workers say they don’t need to be in the office anymore to be productive, they turn around and tease us about how awesome it is to work at some super hip and happening company where paid gym time, massages and organic meals are part of the regular interoffice culture. (don’t forget the hoodies and treehouses)
We all have lots of mobile gadgets and communication toys to work remote from anywhere, but what if that office provided a nap room and daily yoga? It’s not just for Yoga Journal and Google anymore! Mashable highlights 6 companies that provide super worker perks, and yoga seems to just come with the package at at least 3 of them:
Asana: Besides having a yoga word for a name, Asana (which is not a yoga startup, but a “mental flow” software company) founded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, offers in-house yoga: “There are group sessions open to all employees and +1s twice a week, and there are 1:1 yoga sessions with a private instructor, including options for massage.”
Clif (of the bar) of course offers regular yoga classes, along with an on-site 40-foot bouldering wall, a daycare center and racing and competition stipends.
Coloft: A shared workspace and community for startups, entrepreneurs and freelancers in Santa Monica and West LA enrolls their members in BetterWorks, a platform offering discounts at gyms and yoga studios among other money-saving, happiness-building perks.
Funny, this is exactly what it’s like to work at YogaDork. heh.
Do you work in an office that offers yoga? Are the perks worth it or would you rather be getting your productivity on in your yoga pants at home?
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Earlier…
I like that offices are creating more opportunities for people to experience yoga be it sometimes not the full “real” experience of yoga. It may hit someone in the right way and they continue to be a great yogi! Or they just change one thought in their day and become a better person even for a moment.
It’s all relative, I guess.
M.
http://sattviclife-merilove.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-vein-in-time.html
I teach in offices, usually in a conference room or a blocked-off open space. Sometimes the classes are fully subsidized by the company, sometimes only partially ~ the students who make it to the partially-subsidized classes are dedicated and consistent (I have several regulars); they are less consistent at the companies where the classes are fully covered. Based on that alone, it seems to me the perk is worth it if it’s something you would do anyway but don’t have to leave the office to do! Otherwise, it seems like more people try it once or twice but feel more inclined to make excuses or blow it off if they haven’t invested actual money in the class.
@Andrea–I agree. Where I work (Cisco), yoga is offered as part of a slate of classes that employees pay a nominal fee to attend. The regulars are consistent, and the instructor is fabulous. It really becomes more of a session class this way, in which people have the opportunity to grow their practices over time, attend outside classes as well, or just add yoga to their other ‘activities’ for a healthy body.