Yoga and Project Management – “True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.” — Aadil Palkhivala, Fire of Love
In ‘PPP105: The History and Benefits of Yoga for Project Managers’ I review a brief history of Yoga, the benefits millions if not billions of people have reaped from Yoga and talk about the practical benefits Project Managers can get from starting their own Yoga practice.
In this episode I use the following list from Johns Hopkins Medicine
| Hopkins Yoga Benefit | Project Manager Yoga Benefit |
| 1. Improve strength, balance and flexibility | Better prepared to rollup our sleeves and support go-lives |
| 2. Back pain relief | Improved posture when creating documents and presentations |
| 3. Ease arthritis | Relief from using the keyboard and mouse all day |
| 4. Improve heart health | Better able to respond to issues and accept escalations |
| 5. Relaxation and better sleep | A more prepared PM to deal with the unknowns of the project |
| 6. More energy and brighter moods | Better focus to facilitate task completion |
| 7. Healthier eating | Healthier snack and meal choices for PMs and project teams |
| 8. Connect with others | Chance for PMs to meet folks outside of their day-to-day routine |
| 9. Better self-care | Healthier PMs in the industry |
Whether you wake up with tight hamstrings from sitting in an office chair, you’re sore from a rough workout or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or need a way to better manage your stress and improve sleep, Yoga has a loooooooong track record of providing positive effects for its practitioners.
So put Yoga in scope, keep it on budget by using free routines from YouTube or inexpensive ones from Amazon and keep Yoga on schedule as you develop your daily exercise and wellness routine.
Yoga resources I use:
Episode resources: