As YOURGB has evolved from its former one space office at the Arches, to its new, larger, multi-level office on Howe Street, so does its approach to attacking a usually very busy and sometimes frantic Friday.
Instead of the mad dash to work, jumping straight into action, phone and laptop ready, we were all invited to a 1-hour morning YOURGB yoga session at our next-door neighbours, Tribe Yoga, to start the day off.
Hearing that this would be the new norm for us, I was a little apprehensive. Yoga is not something I was too familiar with, and any experience of it was just to sweat an annoying amount, where you feel itchy all over whilst being face to face with your own total inability to do the most basic of tasks, for example “touch your toes” – seems simple, but in reality, it’s impossible for me.
The initial apprehension was softened by a pair of Lululemon yoga trousers which were kindly given to me as a birthday present. Not ever thinking I would be someone to own a pair of yoga trousers, I can now safely say they are one of my favourite items of clothing. I’ll keep this chat to a blog and not for the pub with mates – but these Lululemon yoga trousers are incredibly comfy and extremely functional, with lots of flexibility and a light feel which is very breathable – they are called the In Mind Pant – life changing stuff! Anyways, enough of the product plug, back to the actual Yoga!
Upon arriving, the team at Tribe Yoga are nothing but kind and approachable. After putting our things (most importantly our phones, switched off!) into the lockers, we then go into our private room, with all of our mats, blocks, and plenty other wonderful things already kindly set out for us.
Our Yoga instructor, and the wonderful Studio Manager, starts our first session by taking a moment to figure out what exactly we want to do. I had thought yoga was just yoga. But from asking more I realise Tribe Yoga teaches more than simply one discipline of Yoga. It offers Beginners Yoga, Flow Yoga, Power Yoga, Yoga Sculpt, Yin Yoga, Yin Yang Yoga, Yin Nidra and Restorative Yoga… and in our case a lovely tailored mix of different types to best suit us as a group of mixed novices and steady amateurs.
Not only is it a good workout, focusing on strength, flexibility and balance, but it also makes you more aware of your breathing and helps you zone out of everyday issues and gives you a very important moment to focus and reflect on your own physical and mental state.
Mental health vs. event management is a tricky partnership, because the nature of what we do is pressured, time restrictive, result-led, and ‘live’. Being able to manage stress is an important skill that we all have our individual ways of mastering – how can you use adrenaline in a positive way, and how can you get rid of adrenaline that does not have an immediate use? Our collective answer for the latter is yoga – it channels and clears our left over adrenaline.
So instead of spending our Fridays caught up in the residual stresses of the week, we now approach it with clarity, calm and a shared team focus.
So If I’m ever asked if I’m going to quit tribe yoga, I say “Nah, ah’m a stay” – Namaste, get it?
