On the occasion of International Yoga Day, Team NSN is pleased to engage with our readers through a special article on how regular practice of Yoga has many benefits for developing new skills. This includes upgrading our knowledge and abilities to being successful in work and life through optimum performance and career growth.
Today, all of us live with many distractions and our decisions are influenced by many factors beyond our control. Decisions related to education and job are particularly life-changing milestones that need to be taken with complete awareness about our personal and professional goals. At the same time, there is growing realization that formal education needs to be supplemented with various skills that make us industry-ready for getting placed in the right job and delivering by being highly productive and efficient. Yoga has a lot to offer in developing new skills, acquiring new knowledge and abilities in addition to making us physically fit by managing weight, diet and spiritual well-being.
Disciplined practice: Skills demand practice just like how we learn Yoga through training and practice. Both need excercising regularly with rigour and discipline. Learning a new skill cannot be accomplished through a short training program; it needs to be reinforced in various situations at real-life workplace. It is essential to be focused and at the same time be flexible enough to accommodate new things, adapt ourselves to changes and be receptive.
Mind-body coordination: Yoga helps in achieving this control through a regular routine. When we spend few minutes every day practising different breathing techniques along with Yoga postures, it trains our body to listen to our mind and vice-versa. This is indispensable when we work in skilled jobs, particularly manual skills where coordination with machines, computers and digital devices need our 100% attention and mental alertness.
Positive energy: It takes a lot of conscious effort to overcome the negativity around us – whether it is about living in general or about our jobs, professional growth and careers. Skill development programs need a lot of positive reinforcement since we are teaching and training people to accept new ways of doing things and accommodate new knowledge, which could be quite a challenge. Regular practice of Yoga definitely helps in shaping our outlook and being positively responsive.
High productivity: The proof of successful skill based training is increase in productivity levels and quality of work that achieve business results. This requires a systematic approach to work which can be acquired with proper exercises like Yoga to manage workplace stress, tough deadlines and other professional expectations. A calm mind contributes significantly to our productivity levels through sensible ways of working.
Decision making: This is crucial in any process, especially in deciding what career path to take, what skill development program to enrol or how to align personal goals with professional goals. Practising Yoga can come handy in solving indecisive moments since it trains us in controlling our mind and thinking clearly about various options through self-reflection and introspection. It also equips us to handle failures or undesirable outcomes of certain decisions as different learning experiences.
Lifelong learning: Learning Yoga on your own or through a professional trainer opens up new avenues for appreciating knowledge and skills. It shows us know by training our body and mind we can accomplish lot of things and realize our dreams. It prepares us for lifelong learning as education doesn’t stop after leaving school or getting into a job. Yoga teaches us to be open, be receptive and accept diverse views for holistic learning.
Mindfulness: This is one of the important super skills that can help us realize our potential by being aware of ourselves. Yoga helps in practising mindfulness and this in turn has a positive impact on our ability to learn new skills, absorb and interact with new information and transform it for improving our performance. Here’s the link to a complete skill talk on mindfulness.
Skill development is much more holistic than training in the classroom. It requires commitment and dedication through practice by being physically and mentally fit. Whether you are semi-skilled or skilled or whether you are enrolling for upskilling and reskilling courses, it is important that these activities are taken up with positive frame of mind to see the desired results. Learning is most effective only when mind is at peace, relaxed; anxiety creates negative feelings, self-doubt, and lowers confidence at learning something new. So, make Yoga an integral part of your skill development and training schedule to see the difference and get positive results!
