Occupational health is a domain of public health that aims to promote employees' health at the physical, and psychological levels to improve their quality of life and work efficiently. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an "occupational hazard” is a condition that poses a risk to workers' health in the workplace. As an individual spends about a third of their productive lifespan working, it is crucial that training and strategies for employers and employees targets protecting and upholding both the physical and psychological health aspects of occupational hazards as one can often coincide with the other. In the current era of remote work environments, it has become even more crucial to promote simple, universal, and cost-effective techniques that particularly focus on the psychological aspects (i.e., stress, mental fatigue, work-life balance burnout, social well-being, loneliness, etc.,) of occupational hazards to promote mental health in all occupational settings.
Yoga is a well-established complementary and alternative therapy acknowledged by WHO, that can be used to target both physical and psychological aspects of occupational hazards in different occupational settings. Yoga can benefit the body, the mind, and breathing, and thus when regularly practiced, yoga can contribute to bringing about health-promoting changes in physical, psychological, and social well-being among workers. There are various yoga exercises, with the holistic approach involving physical postures, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and meditation: physical postures are known to reduce physical fatigue and improve the strength and flexibility of corresponding muscles; relaxation techniques give deeper relaxation to both body and mind; breathing exercises help to stabilize the nervous system and metabolism and reduce mental fatigue; meditation contributes to coping with anxiety, and stress, and improving social skills and depressive symptoms. Yoga can be taught and learned in a variety of different occupational settings and thus could be a basic, yet beneficial and fundamental practice in the management of various occupation-related hazards.
Considering these points, this Research Topic aims to invite articles (original research and reviews) around the following themes, but not limited to:
• Yoga to promote and protect the mental health of workers in different occupational settings;
• Yoga to prevent and avert psychologically related occupational hazards (i.e., stress, mental fatigue, burnout, social well-being, loneliness, psychological-related conditions that could result in required time off work or loss of work, etc.);
• Yoga to promote physical health and prevent physical-related occupational hazards that could have a corresponding psychological impact (i.e., physical injury-related conditions that could result in required time off work or loss of work, etc.);
• Current adoption of yoga in different occupational settings and its physical and psychological impact;
• Any other promotion of health in occupational settings through yoga as a modality.
Occupational health is a domain of public health that aims to promote employees' health at the physical, and psychological levels to improve their quality of life and work efficiently. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an "occupational hazard” is a condition that poses a risk to workers' health in the workplace. As an individual spends about a third of their productive lifespan working, it is crucial that training and strategies for employers and employees targets protecting and upholding both the physical and psychological health aspects of occupational hazards as one can often coincide with the other. In the current era of remote work environments, it has become even more crucial to promote simple, universal, and cost-effective techniques that particularly focus on the psychological aspects (i.e., stress, mental fatigue, work-life balance burnout, social well-being, loneliness, etc.,) of occupational hazards to promote mental health in all occupational settings.
Yoga is a well-established complementary and alternative therapy acknowledged by WHO, that can be used to target both physical and psychological aspects of occupational hazards in different occupational settings. Yoga can benefit the body, the mind, and breathing, and thus when regularly practiced, yoga can contribute to bringing about health-promoting changes in physical, psychological, and social well-being among workers. There are various yoga exercises, with the holistic approach involving physical postures, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and meditation: physical postures are known to reduce physical fatigue and improve the strength and flexibility of corresponding muscles; relaxation techniques give deeper relaxation to both body and mind; breathing exercises help to stabilize the nervous system and metabolism and reduce mental fatigue; meditation contributes to coping with anxiety, and stress, and improving social skills and depressive symptoms. Yoga can be taught and learned in a variety of different occupational settings and thus could be a basic, yet beneficial and fundamental practice in the management of various occupation-related hazards.
Considering these points, this Research Topic aims to invite articles (original research and reviews) around the following themes, but not limited to:
• Yoga to promote and protect the mental health of workers in different occupational settings;
• Yoga to prevent and avert psychologically related occupational hazards (i.e., stress, mental fatigue, burnout, social well-being, loneliness, psychological-related conditions that could result in required time off work or loss of work, etc.);
• Yoga to promote physical health and prevent physical-related occupational hazards that could have a corresponding psychological impact (i.e., physical injury-related conditions that could result in required time off work or loss of work, etc.);
• Current adoption of yoga in different occupational settings and its physical and psychological impact;
• Any other promotion of health in occupational settings through yoga as a modality.
