Workplace balance tips below can save you. And using Ayurveda in your work space can create a better work calm and stress-less zone.
This article has the perspective of Ayurveda workplace balance tips for the Western world modern office that can be stressful. And no a disco ball like this one I worked in is not needed. 😉
Despite its window view and disco ball, this was a tough office environment.
If the work could have been taken outdoors in nature that would have been more calming. Or even a photo of outdoors can help calm.
And help create a collaborating and harmony environment that’s beneficial for productivity. In political organizations that have management hierarchies, finding those ways are the keys to mind freedom and better work life balance.
Because office relationships drive the bus for your success.
If you’re brave or want to develop your personal leadership skills, getting in tune with your co-workers can be worth the time and effort.
Taking your nose off the work grind and looking up at what’s going on around you no matter how busy you are, can pay off and change the way you see your work.
It could be the difference between your work happiness or dissatisfaction.
Learning to live balanced in your personal life plus incorporating Ayurveda workplace balance tips add up to your overall happiness.
Here are the 7 Ayurveda workplace balance tips to calm stress:
The first 5 tips are to benefit you and your surrounding co-workers (that apply to you too if you’re the boss!). The last 2 are for your edge-up with your higher-up boss manager.
1. Meetings. A subtle thing you can do is create a calm surrounding around you.
When you’re in inter-office meetings, bring your calming scents either in your coffee or tea mug, or wear subtle scents if others don’t have allergies that you’re aware of.
Beverage scent allergies don’t exist. Even people who don’t drink coffee don’t mind the brewed coffee scents, as they’ve gotten used to the aromatic smell.
Adding rose water in your coffee (…betcha that’s a slightly new one for you!) will help to calm you and the stressed worker next to you.
Match the desired beverage to the people you expect to be in your meeting.
You can also wear a subtle hint of patchouli or bergamot perfume scent.
…I know this can sound a ‘lil silly to be so coordinated. But why do you think when you walk into a nice spa or luxury hotel, the room you’re in smells so lovely and calming?
(The answer is, it changes how guests perceive their hotel property experience).
Being an ex-hotelier, I know the ways they try to win back return customers with subtle mood changers and amenities.
Scents help you and others stay calm and centered, and help to create a positive energy field.
On that note, keeping your smartphone in your pocket or a small bag from distracting notifications and silently vibrating phones can be what you need for a little peace moment.
You don’t see a phone in the yoga studio, so in the same way, you can treat your daily meetings with yourself like meditation breaks or an off-the-grid intentional focus session.
2. Your workspace. At your desk, play calming music like light classical music if you’re allowed to have music or sounds running in the background.
Like white noise, you can drown out some of the unimportant conversations and noises around you.
If you play relaxing sounds like ocean waves that can be too relaxing, you’re likely to put everyone to sleep including yourself.
Invite your manager to have meetings at your desk or space so you have the “home-court advantage,” as they’re coming to you and you’re not interrupting them.
Before their visit and preparing for unexpected visits, be sure you have an inviting space.
3. Have visible calming props. Watercolors paintings or pictures are good, such as Monet lilies and you can easily find a variety of blank cards or calendars from a gift and cards novelty store, that you can frame or rest on your desk.
It’s a similar to Zoom backgrounds where there’s an unspoken ambiance that’s created.
Pictures of your life are good for you, but they are distracting to others after they’ve seen them the first few times.
Competitive Pittas especially are very visual people. Many go-getting office workers are Type-A Pittas, so they will tend to look at your calming image choices and your surroundings.
Some other balancing items: bring in a perfectly round edible orange.
The California navel orange color and scent are good for calming worry-anxious energy.
And the scent from one fresh rose can soothe an angry-irritated mood. 💐
4. Take stressed co-workers out for tea or coffee. If you normally do lunch at your desk, taking a 15-minute break for tea or coffee with a co-worker is a good excuse to casually get to know them a little better.
If you’re short on time, bring them a new tea bag from home that they’ve never tried. For a Vata imbalance especially, this is going to be good and comforting, especially if it has cinnamon tones.
Next time you travel, find and collect unique souvenir treats that don’t have a short shelf life and you can offer up as a treat for “a better day.”
For a Pitta imbalance try bringing a lavender tea such as a lavender de-stress tea or a lemony flavor tea. Iced teas are good for irritated workers and even during winter, depending on their case severity.
For a Kapha, try a brisk Early Grey or If they love chocolate, bring them a piece. Chocolate is universally a happy gift. 😊
In a practical way, if you know that a co-worker is under a lot of stress or has recent demands in workload, then a stress-reducing tea is a thoughtful gesture.
You can also gift tea bags as a reason for conversation… and a great way to make work friends.
I know you’re wondering, “well… how do you know what balanced or imbalanced dosha(s) your co-workers have?”
In general, you’re better off just sticking with the basics with what they’ve told you they like or you see them with.
Everyone has traces of all the dosha profiles. And anyone can get imbalanced in any dosha at any time.
This is one of the core reasons why you can see a sudden mood or preference change in a co-worker when they say nothing is wrong as they may not know there’s anything different.
And why even if you’re paying attention and know what’s going on with them regularly, like with a cubicle mate friend that you visit often, you and they won’t always know.
And this is the same mysterious reason you prefer some foods, sounds, and activities now, that you didn’t like before. And then this changes again. It’s all connected.
You can call it a different season or mood, but your internal mind-body is always happening and changing, if ever so slightly like a second hand on a clock.
Your mind-body is always keeping score, so it’s good to practice Ayurveda workplace balance tips, habits, and ways, both at work and home.
Your mind-body is constantly revealing information about yourself.
That’s why the insight coming from the body balance quiz is invaluable for anyone in any season, and those you care about who is willing to dive deeper (like your friends… as you’re probably not gonna ask your boss to take a quiz unless you’re also friends).
5. Find a common interest with a core work group. Book clubs and fantasy football are common.
When you have a hobby, interest, or passion that you share in common, that creates a calm mind space.
Conversation creates harmony for workplace balance.
When you think of these work people that have a shared interest, you see them as humans and not just workers.
In one of my jobs, there were a group of women who liked scrapbooking photo albums (I think the hobby is still around and some of us have recent albums as proof 📔).
One attendee to one of the gatherings was a boss so we became work friends. So the dynamic changed and work was a better place.
That ice breaker made me see her in a different light, even though we didn’t discuss our common hobby when we were working.
6. Create a clean space for your manager to walk into. Clean and organizational tidyness shows respect for your workplace (where you’re working on “rented land”).
But, DO minimalistic-ally personalize. If you don’t have anything sitting on or around your desk, then you may not be occupying enough real estate.
If you’re too minimalistic, you will leave no mark or brand of who you are. And your manager can think you don’t have enough work to do. There’s a workplace balance needed with decor.
When you’re out, others may use your desk and it’ll look different when you come back.
This happens a lot with an Executive’s open office that is free of clutter or any personalization. And that’s up to you if you want that to happen.
When you make your workspace your second home, by taking up a little space, you create personal worth in your mind and can blend and balance your work-life better. You’re not just another employee.
Chair Facing Tip For Office Balance
How you situate your chairs in your office space matters. You want to a create a comfortable feeling space.
When you situate chairs facing the front of your desk where you sit, you’re in the power seat.
Anyone coming to see you feels like a subordinate. If you want to be collaborative, then you want them to sit more beside you. And even more open, they can see your computer screen and from your desk perspective. Rarely do you want your back facing the door.
If your manager comes to visit you, if they choose to sit, often you’ll usually see them either lean back or forward a little hunched to show they’re relaxed.
They’re the exception, as they’re never the subordinate in your workplace even if you’re more collaborative like in the tech industry.
7. If you want to have a meeting where your manager is more relaxed, arrange meetings with them late in the afternoon. This is a good opportunity if they say, “find a time on my calendar.”
As humans, we all get more tired as the day rolls on. By evening, we’ve done most of the important or urgent tasks for the day.
Stressed out managers (and micromanagers) are people too at the end of the day.
They look forward to the end of a long day as much as you do despite how they may come across.
You may encounter managers who are unprofessional, have a bulldog personality, or sharp edge. We’re all different in the workplace. And the workplace balance is finding how we work best together..
If you happen to find yourself in a defensive situation, and you sense a manager has had a bad day or week such as by acting grumpy or having irritated imbalance tendencies, acknowledge that, offer, and ask, “how can I help?”
Don’t worry that they would give you a list. That most likely won’t happen, at least not without huge thought. That would require more trust than they are willing to put on the line with just a conversation.
If they give you a general request, then do what they ask.
And in the case where they come back with a tall order, that shows that they respect you, you’re competent and probably worthy of promotion down the road. Plus, you get to learn something new. So it’s a win-win for you.
And in addtion to these tips you can implement right away to create a calmer (feeling) space and workplace, you can create a balancing spice kitchari work meal with rice and lentils.
A poached egg that’s easy to do (or egg whites) in minutes ontop of a kitchari meal could be the lunch that hits the spot.
Kitchari with Egg
Ingredients
- Ayurvedic spice mixture (coriander, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, ginger)
- cooked lentils or mung beans
- white rice
- poached egg
Instructions
- Cook your lentils and rice with spices.
- Cook egg whites or poached eggs to top off your meal.
