Yoga Classes for UK Mental Health Awareness Week 2024

Book a yoga teacher for Mental Health Awareness Week: 13 - 19 May 2024

Mental Health Awareness Week was launched in 2001 by the Mental Health Foundation, a leading UK charity for mental health.

The Mental Awareness Week has been getting high interest since 2017, peaking in 2021 during COVID-19.

The theme in 2023 was “Anxiety,” and in 2024, it is “Movement: Moving more for our mental health.”

We provide Yoga and Pilates classes for employers like yours. We offer all types of yoga including Desk Yoga. We help maximise engagement and we take on all the admin work. See below the programs we offer (weekly, discovery, one shot), or get in touch!

Key statistics about workplace mental health issues

Mental Health in the Workplace statistics:

• 1 in 6.8 people experience mental health problems in the workplace (14.7%).
• Women in full-time employment are nearly twice as likely to have a common mental health problem as full-time employed men (19.8% vs 10.9%).2
• Evidence suggests that 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions.
• Better mental health support in the workplace can save UK businesses up to £8 billion annually.

How can yoga help Mental Health in the workplace

Yoga can help your team in 2 ways. Physically, by helping to get a better posture at work by realigning the body, and mentally, by reducing stress, anxiety and burnout. According to the US National Library of Medicine:

"Yoga is effective in the prevention and management of musculoskeletal and psychological issues. In addition to improving physical problems and the quality of sleep, stress levels and burnout are consistently reduced in subjects who practice yoga techniques and mind–body meditation."

Is such a short campaign efficient to create a step change in office life quality?

It is common knowledge that you have to practice yoga every day for years to get the full benefits of yoga. This is indeed true.

One yoga session won't transform you, but you will start reaping the benefits as soon as you have a regular practice.

If you would like to help your team get a regular yoga practice you could:

• Provide recurring yoga classes at the workplace (and remove any friction for them to practise)
• Provide a set of 5 classes for them to try 5 different types of yoga and find their favourite ones (so they can develop a regular practise)
• Make a one-off beginners event so your team members can simply try yoga for the first time (and dare to go again!)

Yoga programs for the Mental Awareness Week (choice of online or in-person)

Yoga Weekly - Recurring classes

from £99 a class excluding mats

• Yoga class
• Pilates Class
• Gong bath
• Meditation
• Breathing
• Desk Yoga

Yoga Discovery - Set of 5 yoga types

£550 for 5 classes excluding mats

• Yin
• Hatha
• Vinyasa/ Ashtanga
• Iyengar
• Kundalini
• Restorative

Yoga Shot - One-off classes

£140 a class excluding mats

• Yoga class
• Pilates Class
• Gong bath
• Meditation
• Breathing
• Desk Yoga

It is possible to prevent mental health risks for employees

In case you'd like to send a memo to your managers or employees about the causes of mental health issues at work, here is a summary by the WHO.

According to the World Health Organization, risks to mental health at work can include:

• under-use of skills or being under-skilled for work;
• excessive workloads or work pace, understaffing;
• long, unsocial or inflexible hours;
• lack of control over job design or workload;
• unsafe or poor physical working conditions;
• organizational culture that enables negative behaviours;
• limited support from colleagues or authoritarian supervision;
• violence, harassment or bullying;
• discrimination and exclusion;
• unclear job role;
• under- or over-promotion;
• job insecurity, inadequate pay, or poor investment in career development;
• conflicting home/work demands.