The community nursery group in London provides weekly staff yoga classes to help reduce stress, boost morale, and help staff keep fit, with hopes for a spin-off effect on staff retention and recruitment. June O'Sullivan, the Society's operations and training manager, said, 'We were concerned that our staff were under a lot of pressure at work. We already give them a lot of curriculum-based training but we wanted to help them look after themselves. We were also concerned about their backs, because staff do a lot of lifting and bending. We considered providing pilates, tai-chi or yoga and decided yoga had the balance of providing relaxation and meditation, flexibility and keep-fit. It helps motivation, as they feel the organisation is looking after their welfare. Managers attend next to the nursery assistants, so it is also a nice social thing.'
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