Recently, while catching up with our extended family over dinner, I noticed a common thread running through every conversation. Someone spoke about never-ending deadlines. Another was frustrated with office politics. A young professional from one of the Big Four audit firms talked about sleepless nights before client presentations. Someone else confessed that even weekends no longer felt like weekends. Different companies. Different cities. The same story: stress.
Having worked in a multinational bank myself and having watched my husband spend nearly three decades in the corporate world, I often wonder: Where does this stress really come from? Most of us believe it comes from work. I believe it begins much earlier, in our minds, in the way we think, react and relate to the world around us.
Corporate life rewards speed, multitasking and constant availability. Emails arrive before breakfast. Meetings overlap. Notifications compete for attention. Deadlines never seem to end. Somewhere along the way, we stop working with people and begin competing against them. We become so busy proving our worth that we forget the simple joy of working together.
The pressure is not always created by the organisation alone. Much of it comes from the expectations we place on ourselves. We want to be noticed, appreciated and recognised. We compare our progress with that of our colleagues. We worry about falling behind. The result is a constant need to perform, even when the body and mind are asking us to pause.
But perhaps there is another way of looking at work and relationships. Recently, my son moved to a hostel. An introvert by nature, he rarely shared his belongings with others, something I quietly wished life would change. A few weeks later, when my son came home from the hostel, his roommate called to say he had collected my son’s laundry and asked where he should keep it because the almirah was locked.
When I suggested my son send him the money, he smiled and said, “Mumma, we don’t keep a balance sheet. We pay for each other whenever needed.”
That simple statement stayed with me. In a world where we are constantly calculating what we give and what we receive, here were young people who had discovered something much more valuable: trust.
Not long afterwards, my son fell ill, and two friends stayed by his side throughout the night. The following week, he did the same for another friend. There was no calculation, no expectation of immediate repayment and no question of who owed whom.
That reminded me of the timeless Indian thought: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: the world is one family. Perhaps it sounds idealistic in today’s corporate world. Yet kindness has a way of returning. We may not be able to change an organisation overnight, but we can certainly change the way we treat the person sitting beside us.
Imagine if we chose encouragement over criticism, guidance over blame and collaboration over competition. We would not only become better colleagues; we would become better leaders. A workplace where people feel supported rather than constantly judged can make a difference to how they perform, communicate and deal with pressure.
The corporate world will continue to demand targets, deadlines and results. Competition will remain. Ambition will remain. There is nothing wrong with wanting to succeed. The question is what we are willing to sacrifice in the process.
Are we sacrificing sleep to prove our commitment? Are we sacrificing relationships because there is always another meeting? Are we carrying workplace frustrations home? And, most importantly, are we becoming so accustomed to stress that we no longer recognise it as a warning?
A calm mind, however, also needs a calm body. As a yoga teacher, I have seen how a few minutes of conscious breathing can transform the way we respond to stress. Among the practices I recommend most often are Bhastrika, Bhramari and Anulom Vilom. When practised correctly and under proper guidance, these simple breathing techniques can help many people feel calmer, more focused and better equipped to deal with everyday pressures.
Research on yogic breathing is also growing. A recent study by AIIMS Bhopal suggested that Bhastrika Pranayama may influence cognitive function and the autonomic nervous system. The beauty of these practices lies in their simplicity. They require no expensive equipment, no elaborate preparation and only a few minutes of our day. Sometimes, five minutes of mindful breathing can become the pause button we desperately need in an otherwise hectic life.
But breathing alone cannot solve everything. Nor can yoga eliminate the pressures of corporate life. The larger change has to come from the way we think about success, relationships and ourselves.
Corporate stress may never disappear completely. Deadlines will continue. Targets will remain. What we can choose is how we respond to them. We can choose to compete without becoming hostile, to be ambitious without losing empathy, and to succeed without keeping a balance sheet of every favour, friendship or act of kindness.
After all, success feels far more meaningful when it is accompanied by peace. The wisest thing we can do is start listening today, because the body whispers long before it screams.
