What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda, holistic health that originated in India, existed for centuries. Ayur means life, and Veda means science or knowledge. So, collectively, Ayurveda is essentially the science of life. Developed by ancient seers long before modern medicine, the science of life recognizes health is much more than the absence of disease. It is a living method intended to help individuals reach their full potential and live a balanced life. Ayurveda is a sister science to yoga. Ayurvedic wisdom can help bring balance and health to our lives.
Following even a few Ayurvedic wellness recommendations for a healthy lifestyle can bring about a balance to the body and the mind, so important for productivity at the workplace. Ayurveda is a holistic science that may help in everything from maintaining bodily health, balancing a diet, understanding disease trends, providing safe and effective remedies, determining a perfect exercise routine, and enhancing relationships to finding an appropriate career.
Ayurveda isn’t a “one size fits all” sort of wellness. Ayurveda respects the uniqueness of every individual and offers natural methods to treat diseases and promote health.
It emphasizes prevention and enables all who experience it to take responsibility for their own well-being. Additionally, it is incredibly economical, and research is demonstrating that it works. There are several ways of living an Ayurvedically-balanced lifestyle. Lifestyle is the basis for creating peace, tranquility, and clarity of mind. This sort of lifestyle involves a pure diet filled with organically grown freshly cooked or raw vegetables, partaking in pure water and atmosphere, and an exercise regime in addition to internal and external cleanliness.
It can be your secret competitive edge at the workplace.
See: Evidence based ayurvedic approach to treat Diabetes Type 2
Objectives of workplace health programs
Many workplace health programs have a similar aim: employers need their workers to feel healthy, happy, and productive at work. Given these similarities, is there a role that the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda can play in enhancing wellness in today’s workplace?
The answer is a resounding yes because the essential tenets of Ayurveda benefit the mind and body inside and out. Striking the perfect balance between body, mind, and environment is key. Here is how business leaders can prioritize each of these critical elements of Ayurveda to ensure that employees feel more focused, healthy, productive, and motivate
See: Dosha Quiz
Cost of Poor Employee Health
Employee wellness and health directly affect your company’s bottom line. That’s essentially a no-brainer. The total cost of paid time off as a percentage of payroll is over 20%. The price of situations where workers are present but not in their very best condition to offer optimum performance – is much larger, and research is still emerging with real numbers attached to this. 1 study calculated that the cost of presenteeism in the US be more than $150 billion annually. Companies with excellent health and health programs register 34 percent more revenue per employee than those who dismiss these initiatives.
Ayurveda may offer centuries-old wisdom to lower costs and improve productivity in modern times for businesses.
Poor employee health results
The spike in the number of corporate executives hurrying up the corporate ladder paying with their lives or, worse, taking their own lives is alarming. A vast majority of the prior succumb to heart seizures, stroke, cancer, diabetes, depression — the list is long.
According to the CDC, the top four out of the ten most costly health conditions for US companies – chest pain, higher blood pressure, diabetes, and heart attack – are linked to cardiovascular disease and stroke. Moreover, work stress is the major workplace health issue and a significant occupational health risk, ranking above physical inactivity and obesity.
Chronic health conditions and unhealthy behaviors also reduce employee productivity. Five chronic diseases or risk factors–high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, physical inactivity, and obesity–cost US companies $36.4 billion annually due to employees’ lost days of work.
Normally, Americans who work full-time spend more than one-third of the day, five days per week, in their workplace. Workplace applications that promote and safeguard health, reduce security risks, and help prevent disease could reach more than 157 million US employees. A healthier workforce can translate to lower workers’ compensation claims, insurance premiums, and lower indirect costs if workers miss less work due to illness.
A recent study demonstrated that more than 46 percent of corporate workers are under enormous stress, 43 percent have skewed body mass indices, 30 percent live with diabetic dangers, and 43 percent live with hypertension dangers.
While fitness trackers, fitness weeks, and healthful snack programs are significant steps forward, we will need to go beyond and think long term, sustainable general well-being. Most health initiatives now focus on an individual’s physical health, not their general well-being, resulting in a lack of participation and wasteful spending. We will need to check at a more holistic view of our workers’ health, such as mental/emotional wellness, stress management, preventative care choices, and much more.
Ayurveda to boost employee wellness
Ayurveda is a science that’s holistic at heart. In Ayurveda, the health and well-being of a person, or the human body, is the total of their physical actions, the immediate surroundings, the psychological and emotional activity with other people, the seasons, and how the body reacts to them. Good health is a layered model in Ayurveda.
It’s recognized that exercise and diet are essential to good health. There are numerous ways that Ayurvedic principles can be implemented to make sure that people’s daily routines and beverages and food services are structured to encourage good habits. According to Ayurveda, individuals have the ability to digest food better at the center of the day, so if meals are provided as an employee benefit, that is the ideal time for a company to offer a wider, catered choice of offerings. Later in the day, digestion slows snacks and drinks (such as kombucha, fruits, or ginger tea) that assist in digestion will fight sluggishness.
Since good health is a sum total of many things, an integrative approach is essential. An excellent example of this integrated approach is the idea of Panchakarma, which can help purify the body from toxic waste which has settled in the body as a result of our lifestyle choices in today’s world.
For Corporate Wellness, Ayurvedic experts have formulated an integrative program involving checkups, detoxification, lifestyle correction, diet modification, yoga, and rejuvenation tonics. Additional methods to create outstanding results and supply overall well-being. This preventive approach has been demonstrated to be hugely beneficial for the workers and organizations alike.
Science & Research
An increasing body of research indicates that our bodies operate optimally if our eating patterns with our circadian rhythms. The report goes on to say that disrupting this rhythm chronically could be a recipe for weight gain and metabolic difficulty. Having time to exercise and a healthful daily program that does not deprive individuals of needed downtime and rest are also important. Employers who make it a priority to offer work-life equilibrium will reap the benefits of a more rested and energetic workforce.
Ayurveda also believes that the body and mind are deeply connected. Mental health is as crucial to well-being as exercise and diet. Meditation is particularly important and believed to have an extremely strong effect on the mind. Studies have shown meditation to relieve anxiety, pain, and depression. It may even prompt changes in the brain that improve an individual’s overall health.
Providing instruction in meditation methods and providing time for workers to practice is an excellent way to reduce stress and improve brain function. With deep rest from a brief period of profound meditation, stress is released, and internal happiness and well-being are encouraged.
Some employees may jump at the opportunity to get compensated for a gym membership, while some might be more inclined to make the most of daily meditation practice. The trick is to offer options and help steer employees towards health benefits that are the best fit and encourage balance.
Ayurveda also contends that every individual has a distinctive mind-body composition – or dosha type –that helps determine everything how much exercise is adequate for them to what sorts of foods are best to eat and when. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to health, organizations can help workers by being flexible about the kinds of program benefits they provide and the recommendations they make for employees.
Ayurveda & the environment
Ayurveda also recognizes the role that our environment plays in the way we feel. At work, this can encompass everything from light to air quality, workplace design, ergonomics, and more. When choosing or upgrading an office area, organizations should think about how much natural light is available to ensure good ventilation and design workspaces that are inviting and provide opportunities for cooperation in addition to quiet and concentrated work.
Additionally, connecting with nature is fundamental to Ayurveda. Therefore it’s helpful to give employees opportunities to get out and away from their desks. Research shows that walking in nature can have a positive influence on mental health. Managers can encourage workers to connect more with character by leading walking meetings organizing outdoor lunches even doing something as simple as bringing additional plants to the workplace.
Summary
When it comes to health, contemporary businesses may learn quite a bit from the ancient wisdom that’s practiced through Ayurveda. By focusing on the essential connections between body, mind, and environment and steering away from a one-size-fits-all strategy, businesses can better structure their health offerings to make certain that workers are happy, healthy, engaged, and motivated at work.
