Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job

by Maren Showkeir, James Showkeir

Everyone knows that yoga helps reduce stress and increase the body’s flexibility and strength. But the physical aspects barely scratch the surface of yoga’s transformative powers. The poses are only one part of a larger philosophy offering profound insights for confronting the complexities of daily life. Yoga can help you remain centered, compassionate, positive, and sane every hour of the day—especially those between nine and five.

This unprecedented guide shows how practicing the full range of yogic concepts—the traditional “Eight Limbs of Yoga”—leads to a productive, creative, and energizing work environment and features examples from professions like law enforcement, teaching, banking, filmmaking, medicine, and many more. But beyond that, this book is an invitation to use all of yoga’s teachings to cultivate the spark of the divine that dwells within each of us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Personal Development

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2013

About the author

Born in a small southwestern town that grew from a boring burg with wide streets to a large, boring, catatonic beige stucco hell megapolis within a couple of decades.

Please don't hold it against me.

I was the middle child (and all that it implies) among six siblings. Even so, I managed to grow up and live a mostly productive life. My childhood was obscenely normal, my adolescence was typically angsty, my young adulthood was a crazy combination of conventional and chaotic. Married too young, had two amazing children, divorced young. Worked as a newspaper journalist for more than 25 years and managed to get out before all hell broke loose.

My exit strategy was a fellowship through the International Center for Journalists (thank you, Knight Foundation!) I spent 18 months teaching journalism in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Lima, Peru, then traveled with my daughter for three months throughout Latin America. I returned to the Southwest in the summer of 2005 homeless, jobless and not quite broke. My parents had vacated my childhood home for the summer to escape the hellish heat and I settled in there to plan my next big adventure.

He appeared at a coffee shop, a bald guy with a silver goatee who managed to defrost my cynical heart with one great conversation. At our first meeting, he told me he'd been struggling to write a book and had a box full of materials to prove it. Would I look and see if there was a book there? I did and there was. We joined forces as business partners shortly thereafter, promptly fell in love and got married.

We wrote our first book, together, without killing each other:Authentic Conversations Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment. And then we wrote another: Yoga Wisdom at Work Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job. We are published by Berrett-Koehler, Inc., a truly remarkable publisher and company.

Jamie and I live in Phoenix. We have four children, a grandson and are raising a cat named Bodhi.

That is my story. What's yours?

Reviews

[Amydee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like this book but I found myself skimming certain parts. I recommend maybe for people who are early in their yoga practice.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whether you're into yoga or not, I think this is an interesting book into dealing with issues at work and in your daily life. I think it gives a lot of food for thought and reflection into daily practices. A good read.

[Alex Ros · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book to reflect on the 8 limbs of yoga and ways to incorporate them into your work life.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting/hoping for when I picked it up. I was hoping for help in feeling overwhelmed at work. It definitely did have a little of aspect, and overall it was a relaxing and informative read. I learned a lot about the 8 limbs and I liked the stories of real people. It had some really poignant moments. But sometimes the authors recollections felt a little out of touch/dated/unrealistic. You could tell this was written by older people. Also some advice felt a little… boot-licker-esque. I hate to say it but its true. I could have done without the celebrity praise or praise for huge (and honestly fucked up) mega corporations. Also for such a short book it sure could get ling winded and a little repetitive.

Still the parts that stuck out to me will be returned to in the future, I did get something from it, and it was most enjoyable to read overall.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book in spirit. I enjoy the "yoga off the mat" books.

I own it on Kindle, so I'm letting go of the paper version. This is the year of Aparigraha. I'm selling and donating most of my books as I begin a new chapter in life. It makes me so happy to see my yoga books going to yoga teacher friends, a future yoga teacher, and a locally owned bookstore that's celebrating its 150th year in existence this year.

[人 旅 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would say that this book introduced me to the eight limbs of yoga which are very beautiful and wholesome concepts that gives one peace in life. Explained in a clear manner that is easy to understand. Great book!

[Keenan Boulnemour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good time to read this as I contemplate a fork in the road of my career.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to take the learnings of yoga (but not getting too religious here, sigh) into your workplace.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

1/5/2017 - This was a nice book explaining the Eight Limbs of Yoga and how they relate to work. I can make use of the information.

12/19/2016 - My company shifted from performance reviews to development reviews, so I am adding personal development books to my PDP. I have a basic knowledge of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, so I am curious to see how the authors integrate a full yoga practice with office politics.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful. Too many work environments are stressful and hectic. I appreciate the author's invitation to take a step back and bring into your work the benefits of yoga for a better self and a better work structure. I think this is appealing even with limited exposure to yoga or for those more experienced. I will return to this when times get stressful.

[John Stepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been thinking about ways to spread a mindfulness practice at work, particularly after reading Meng Tan's "Search Inside Yourself."

This book helped me think more broadly about what that practice might include and about yoga generally.

[Michelle Powers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried...really...but could not get into it.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Watch out work. I am ready to get all yogic. Actually I enjoyed many parts of this book and hope to put into practice a few of the suggestions.

[Darcy Whitsett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful approach to living the 8 limbs of yoga - can be applied to every aspect of your life

[Cliff Chew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's quite a good book relating yoga practices with work place situations. However, like all self-help books (I think this fits into that genre), you need to actually practice the advice given. If not, reading the book does nothing to your life other than giving yourself a pat on the back for a few days.

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing I like about this book is that it's relevant no matter where you work. It seems like a lot of work-advice books are geared toward a corporate audience, which just isn't applicable or helpful to me. There are many corporate examples, but the authors include stories from people who are waitresses, journalists, teachers, etc., and I think it's helpful to see how the yamas and niyamas apply to different work and life experiences. The authors also don't assume that your workplace is necessarily supportive of your personal desire to implement "yoga wisdom at work" and they describe how these practices can be done whether it's a solo endeavor to better yourself or an office-wide attempt at mindfulness. Each chapter ends with concrete prompts and steps you can take to integrate the ideas from that chapter. My only criticism is that I think the authors are a bit too optimistic about organizations broadly implementing the more yoga-centric practices. For example, I think my workplace is pretty open and supports wellness initiatives but I have a hard time imagining management seriously starting meetings by having everyone take a breath and set an intention. I think it's a great idea and something I can do silently as an individual--I'm not about to ask my coworkers to do it with me though (maybe if I were in a supervisory/managerial role my perspective would be different). But...like I said...there is plenty here that I feel can be implemented on a personal level.

This book describes problematic/dysfunctional aspects of work culture that I've experienced myself, and how to approach those situations in a way that leaves you with peace of mind, the ability to focus on what's important, and possibly even positively shifting the culture at work ever so subtly by your conscious withdrawal from harmful patterns of behavior.

I read this book via my work's online resource center and plan to buy my own copy so I can revisit it and do the exercises.