Finding peace in pinstripes

Jun 23 2008 by Gloria McShane, The Journal

Can the lotus lower your blood pressure? Gloria McShane talks to the high fliers who use yoga to wind down in the office and the coaches who put them in touch with their inner selves

YOU don’t have to get into a leotard and light candles to practise yoga, says Alan Ross. Previously a company director with firms such as Smiths Crisps, Scottish and Newcastle and Booker, his venture, Executive Yoga, in Newcastle, targets the corporate market, where physical and mental stress is a constant threat to personal wellbeing and business success.

Age-old yoga has ditched its New Age image and even been embraced by hotshot American business schools at Harvard and MIT, which draw on the ancient Indian wisdom to tackle modern business problems.

Firms are also becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employee health and well-being. “Yoga refreshes the mind and body, so an executive can step back from their day-to-day work and reflect,” Alan says.

“If you read what the gurus were saying 2,000 years ago, you often find it’s the same thing as today – about taking the time to stop and think.”

Alan discovered yoga as a key to chilling out on a course at Insead, the business school in Fontainebleau, France. It was one of the extra-curricular activities on offer.

He was so hooked, he went on to qualify as a teacher and for years has used yoga techniques at his executive coaching company Ark Associates, where he has brought calm and tranquillity to some of the most stressed-out environments. He has worked with companies including O2, HBOS, Siemens and BT.

Three years ago he began teaching yoga aimed exclusively at top execs, before founding Executive Yoga. Alan’s company offers classes both in and away from the workplace, as well as incorporating yoga in two-day executive retreats he runs at Kielder Conference and Training Centre in Northumberland.

It helps that he’s not a lithe 25-year-old when teaching middle-aged bosses, says Alan, 56. “It’s non-threatening,” he laughs. “People will think, ‘If that bloke can do it, I can probably do it as well’.”

Senior economics lecturer at the University of Teesside Business School, Lynton Bussell, agrees yoga is a useful antidote to the frenetic corporate world. He’s also a yoga instructor, whose classes appeal in particular to harassed public sector workers, such as teachers. He says that because yoga is holistic, involving mental and physical techniques, it can be more helpful than other fitness regimes.

“Top executives have the most responsibility in business and they need to think strategically,” Lynton says. Yoga helps people focus on tasks and blue-sky thinking.”

Lynton tells his classes yoga isn’t just something to do once a week, but a practice that can be integrated into daily life.

“It’s a toolkit. You can use breathing techniques to keep calm whether you’re stuck in a supermarket queue or a traffic jam.”

Business people in the West are following the lead of colleagues in the emerging economic powerhouse of India – home of the yogi.

“I understand that some business executives there are dropping off at yoga centres on their way to work,” says Alan.

Flexibility is a key aim today – and it seems more movers and shakers are taking it literally.

Thumping music not required at classes

KEEN to stay healthy, Bill McGawley joined a conventional fitness class – and hated it.

“It was horrible,” says the executive vice-chairman of Gateshead’s TDR, a charitable trust with three training subsidiaries.

“That kind of huff-and-puff class with thumping music is not a pleasant experience.

“Everyone is so competitive, not like Alan’s yoga class, where it’s a completely individual activity. You can focus inwardly and set the level that you want to get to.”

Bill, 59, has studied yoga “on and off” for about two years and finds Alan’s classes for executives useful and fun, both as a mental and physical process.

“It helps with posture, relaxation, tension, and a class is a pleasant way to end a stressful day,” he adds.

“Before and after the class, I also can discuss business matters with others, so it’s also a networking and personal development opportunity.”

A clear mind in a relaxed body

"Yoga lets ou use what downtime you have when you're rushing around," says Lesley Fairclough, who leads a hectic life as a partner in the commercial property division of Newcastle legal firm Ward Hadaway.

Lesley discovered yoga while on one of Alan Ross's executive retreats at Kielder Conference and Training Centre, where it featured in the programme.

Now she attends his weekly class and says it has helped her wind down after a busy workday.

"It's quiet and reflective, controlled movement verging on the meditative. It clears my mind.

" I like the fact his classes are specifically pitched at the executive. "

Lesley also finds that yoga can become a part of everyday life, without the need to stand on your head at the office.

"You can use the breating, relaxation and stretching regime throughout your day."