Comstock's magazine 1119 - November 2019 | Page 67

over. Take the simple act of balancing
on one foot. “Balancing requires fo-
cus,” says Lovejoy. “If your mind is pre-
occupied with work all day, then doing
something physical to focus it — which
requires all of your mental attention —
can actually give you a break.” Spotted
Dog has the same approach. “When we
get stressed out, it’s thought-based,” ex-
plains Clark. “Our thoughts take over,
and that’s what we focus on. But when
we bring the focus to the physical body,
the thoughts are not taking over.”
Spotted Dog teaches Baptiste yoga, or
power yoga, which Clark describes as “a
more Westernized version of yoga.” The
poses are spoken in English, not Sanskrit.
They tone down the spirituality vibe, just
in case it would clash with employees’ re-
ligious beliefs. Spotted Dog teaches yoga
to banks, software companies and the El
Dorado County Office of Education (in-
structing 65 teachers).
Every instructor stresses the same
word: accessibility. Workplace yoga is
tailored for those who are not already
drinking the vinyasa-f lavored Kool-
Aid — skeptics like me. “I believe the
skepticism is based on misinformed
notions of what people think yoga is,”
says Catherine la O’, another Sacra-
mento-based instructor. “Once they
understand I am not asking them to
get into some funky, unattainable pose
right in front of their coworker, they
are more open to what I am offering.”
And for those who struggle to
squeeze in yoga during the workday,
they can do it after hours. Clever, a San
Francisco startup that creates educa-
tion apps, has used Sharifzadeh’s Office
Yoga weekly since 2015. Its classes begin
at 5:30 p.m. On sunny days, they roll out
their mats and do yoga on the roof; oth-
erwise they’ll use the lunch room. Every
September, they have a plank competi-
tion. “It’s such a unique opportunity to
take a break from our day-to-day work
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