Anyone who has ever ridden in an elevator with other people knows the panic you feel when you have to fart. It is even worse when you are at work, surrounded by your well-dressed coworkers or even (please no) your boss. You try to hold it, watching as the elevator stops at multiple floors and waiting anxiously for your turn to get off. Sometimes you make it, getting out into open air, where you can let loose in relative privacy. Other times, you are doomed to pass gas and mutter your apologies, red faced with embarrassment. “Something similar is happening all across America in the workplace, what I call the corporate fart phenomenon,” says Ishan Shivanand, the creator of Yoga Of Immortals. “Only it’s not happening because you ate too much dairy. Instead, it is because we are holding in our emotions so tightly that eventually we just explode, which can cause a lot of issues. To help with this, I am helping businesses to implement YOI in their workplaces, which is leading to employees who are happier and emotionally healthier.”
If Ishan, a monk from India, seems like an unusual source of such insight into Western corporate culture, you might not know his life story. He spent the first twenty years of his life training in the Vedic modalities as well as martial arts under his father and his teacher. Eventually, he decided to leave the monastery because he felt compelled to bring YOI and its benefits to individuals.
His passion for YOI and for people has taken him to five continents, where he has worked with those from all walks of life, including people in prison, schools, and governments. “Then I came to the United States, and I began to meet with leaders of businesses and corporations, and this is where I started to see how tightly wound many individuals seem to be,” Ishan says.
One of Ishan’s biggest strengths, those who have met him say, is his ability to listen, and at the companies he has visited in America, he has done more listening than talking. “Employees have told me that especially since the pandemic, they have felt more alienated. They have felt a lot of pressure to provide for their families during a tough economy as well as to do their jobs well even as they struggle to work from home,” Ishan reveals.
Added to that, he continues, is the traditional work culture that says you must hide how you are really feeling. “People walk around with smiles on their faces, but when they get back to their cubicles or perhaps find a deserted stretch of a hallway, they explode,” Ishan says. “They are carrying around a lot of bottled up emotions and frustrations, and that’s why I am bringing YOI to American businesses. It is the perfect way for people to release that negative energy in a healthy way.”
YOI, Ishan explains, implements a meditative, cognitive, mind-oriented approach rather than a physical approach, which makes it very different from what most people think of when they hear about meditation or yoga. “We use ancient yogic techniques that many have not heard of, and if you practice them consistently and properly, you can find that inner contentment so many are lacking.”
Ishan and his team were encouraged to see YOI make a big difference in the lives of people during the pandemic. “We already knew that YOI and science go hand in hand,” he says, “but we decided to run a study so that we could quantitatively prove it. We partnered with doctors and psychologists and gave 1,505 participants access to our app for eight weeks. The focus was on the general health, anxiety, and insomnia of participants.”
The results validated Ishan’s belief in YOI and prove that science and YOI’s ancient modalities are not mutually exclusive. Severe insomnia was reduced by 80%, 72% of participants experienced a reduction in depressive symptoms, 75% had a decrease in generalized anxiety, and 77% had an improvement in their quality of life.
“This is why I am convinced YOI can make such a difference in American workplaces,” Ishan says. “The pressure, stress, and anxiety that so many keep stuffed up inside themselves until it bursts can be relieved in a safe, gentle way. The result will be happier, more content employees, which in turn will increase productivity and make for better relationships. No matter your role in a company, you will see your days lighten, and your true potential will be realized. No more corporate farts and certainly not in elevators!”
Through the scientifically-backed meditation techniques taught by Ishan Shivanand and Yoga of Immortals, millions are finding relief from anxiety, anger, addictions, and other issues. For more information on how YOI can help you find your own peace, please contact him at [email protected] or visit:
