Lunchtime yoga practice at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita

Objective: Everyday, employees cope with various forms of stressors on the job. The purpose of this study is to determine if a voluntary 50 minute “lunchtime” yoga class benefits participating employees in a worksite program. Methods: The 13-week worksite program, held once weekly, consisted mainly of the basic styles, Hatha and Vinyasa. A one-group pretest-posttest 22 question survey design was used, with outcomes measured at baseline, 13 weeks (the end of the yoga class), and again at 6 weeks after the yoga program. Preliminary Results: Thirty-three women, (mean age 40.6 years; range 23-68 years), enrolled in the program. While 48.5% of the participants have taken yoga before, only 18% are currently practicing, indicating great potential for increasing yoga activity among the participants. At pre-test, 47% of respondents reported feeling stressed very often or practically all the time. The three most motivating factors for enrolling in the class were to increase flexibility, boost energy and raise general fitness and conditioning levels. While the stressed respondents agreed with all other participants that flexibility and general fitness have the same ratings, the more stressed participants gave higher ratings to energy and stress reduction, and especially to headache reduction. Conclusion: For many employees, the worksite is a where the majority of their days are spent. We propose that participants will actualize their motivating factors, and hence the posttest data will reveal significant changes in the improvement of healthy lifestyles and worksite productivity.