Happy Hour Yoga…A Twist Without the Martini

Written by Shoshana Pritzker Monday, 10 May 2010 20:02

By Carol Ann Weber

There was a time not too many years ago when yoga was viewed as an esoteric “Eastern” practice in which only the fringe “New Agers” engaged. Some veteran yoga instructors couldn’t even call it “yoga” when they first advertised their classes. How times have changed. Along with bringing your dog to yoga class (“Yoga with Rover),” or reveling in the flavors of fine wines (“Yoga and Wine Tasting”) or performing sun salutations to a disco beat (“Disco Yoga”), it appears that yoga has become the latest corporate workout du jour. Some companies are now encouraging their employees to trade in the well drinks and greasy sliders for a “Happy Hour” where you might actually find happiness…doing yoga together!

Owner of Manhattan-based Big Apple Power Yoga, Nanci Muriello, is one of the people who first came up with the idea to provide a new way for co-workers to blow off some steam in a post-work workout at her studio. “Because we’re a fairly new studio, we were looking for ways to get people to come and try our brand of yoga,” says Nanci. “So we came up with the idea that instead of going out with co-workers for a drink after work, why don’t we all take a yoga class together? Make it like a fun, social thing to do that is healthy and bonding. And, we will have a few laughs because we’ll be doing this crazy yoga stuff and we’ll sweat.”

By the way, Big Apple Power Yoga is the first and only studio in the New York area dedicated
to Baptiste Power Vinyasa yoga, which is a form of “hot yoga” developed by Baron Baptiste. (Check out www.baronbaptiste.com for more information.) It is a very vigorous form of yoga, which appeals to a lot of athletic types and is performed in a heated room.

Well, it just so happened that a woman who works for a high-level corporate executive search firm, theladders.com, was a Baptiste yoga enthusiast who used to practice at Baron’s studio in Boston. After relocating to New York, she was thrilled to find Ms. Muriello’s studio and wanted to encourage her co-workers to try it out. So, the two women organized this event, wherein the company bought out the entire Tuesday night class, closing it to the public. The company also purchased mats, towels and water for each participant.

According to Muriello, about 40 Ladders.com employees turned out for the class and by all accounts, it was a huge success. “They had a blast,” Nanci recalls. “Everybody walked out of that room smiling and laughing, especially those who had never done hot yoga before. It is a great workout. It makes you sweat and kicks your butt, yet it is relaxing at the same time.” She said they also provided healthy drinks, like coconut water, which is a natural electrolyte balanced drink, sort of like nature’s Gatorade.

After spending years in the trenches of the corporate world, Nanci believes this “Happy Hour” idea is a delightful and healthy alternative to not only drinks and stale peanuts, but can be an adjunct to some of the other corporate bonding activities, like bowling, golf, or, as she tried with some of her co-workers in the past, laser tag.

“For the same reasons you go for a drink with your friends and co-workers, which is to bond or relieve stress, you can do yoga together. And, it is so much better for you.” There is another compelling reason to encourage more companies to create “Yoga Happy Hours” for their employees: it might save them millions of dollars in healthcare costs. There is overwhelming research that supports the economic viability of the “corporate wellness” trend, not only in this country, but internationally. In fact, more than half of multinational corporations in a 2006 survey expect to introduce or expand corporate wellness programs over the next five years (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007).

To give you an idea of why this makes such good sense, here’s just a few of the statistics from an article off the IDEA website (www.ideafit.com), “Corporate Wellness— Programming for Profit” by Alexandra Williams, MA:    In a two-year study done by Life Time Fitness and Medical Health Insurance, members who exercised decreased their average healthcare claim costs by 33.6 percent on a per-member, per-month basis, including a 13 percent decrease in physician claims and a 9 percent decrease in prescription claims.

There is a $1.3 trillion total impact on the economy from seven chronic diseases— cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental illness. Of this amount, $1.1 trillion is attributed to lost productivity.

It is projected that by 2023 there will be a 42 percent increase in cases of the seven chronic diseases, which will cost $4.2 trillion in treatment and lost economic output.
In 2004, the U.S. spent 85 percent of every healthcare dollar on people with chronic conditions.

In 2002, the U.S. spent 53 percent more per capita ($5,267) than the next-highest country, Switzerland ($3,446), and 140 percent above the median industrialized country ($2,193) on health care, with comparable outcomes.
One-third of multinational corporations are rolling out comprehensive wellness programs in multiple countries, while another 17 percent are rolling out a single wellness program in multiple countries.

Presenteeism (days employees are at work but performing at less than full capacity because they are ill due to chronic disease) is increasingly viewed as an important contributor to employee health costs. The January 2008 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports that workers with moderate to severe obesity annually cost $1,800 (about $500 higher than for other workers) in presenteeism, based on an hourly wage of $21.
More than 60 percent of American adults don’t get the recommended amounts of physical activity, and the majority of the U.S. population has a poor diet.

It does appear that “Happy Hour Yoga” is a hot trend, as I’ve spotted ads for such classes from studios located in San Francisco and Fresno to Boulder, Colorado. There’s even a five-star vegetarian restaurant and yoga studio in Napa, California called Ubuntu that garnered rave reviews from the New York Times for its great ambiance, wonderful food and the fact you can take a yoga class upstairs and then come on down to the restaurant afterward and feed your body some heavenly food. Now that’s what I call true happiness!

References:

Anderson G. 2007. Chronic conditions: Making the case for ongoing care. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. www.fightchronicdisease.org; retrieved Jan.18, 2008.

Anderson G., et al. 2005. U.S. still spends more on health care than any other country.
Health Affairs (July/Aug.). Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Business Wire.
2007. Individuals who conduct regular exercise achieve lower health care costs says new study by Medica and Life Time Fitness. www.businesswire.com; retrieved Feb. 21, 2008.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2002. HHS urges community partnerships to improve physical activity. www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r020501.htm; retrieved Feb. 21, 2008.

DeVol R., et al., 2007. An unhealthy America: The economic burden of chronic disease—charting a new course to save lives and increase productivity and economic growth. Milken Institute. www.milkeninstitute.org; retrieved Feb. 21, 2008.

Gates DM., et al. 2008. Obesity and presenteeism: The impact of body mass index on workplace productivity. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 50 (1), 39–45.

PricewaterhouseCoopers. 2007. CEOs take on wellness as corporate strategy; rising costs of chronic diseases hurting corporate profits and productivity. www.pwc.com; retrieved Feb. 21, 2008.