Traffic wardens in Glasgow have taken up yoga as a way to combat the stress of the job — and it seems to be working.
Parking attendants in the Scottish city have reported feeling ‘more upbeat, fitter and calmer’ following the exercise sessions.
The city centre parking wardens often face ‘conflict, anger, and abuse’, and are targets of unhappy drivers who have just been handed a parking fine.
The mindful lunchtime lessons were introduced by former parking warden manager Kenny Costello.
Kenny wanted to introduce the classes to help his team deal with the stresses of the job.
Speaking to the MailOnline, the 67-year-old said: ‘They walk the streets for up to 12 hours a day facing a huge amount of conflict, anger and abuse on a daily basis.
‘All they’re trying to do is keep the streets moving.’
Kenny has been taking his team to the Kali Collective Glasgow Yoga Studio since 2018, when he was introduced to the classes.
‘I thought negotiating a way for staff to come into the City Chambers on their lunch break to access services could take them away from that anger and rage for just an hour or so,’ he continued.
The former manager, who is now retired, said the benefits were noticed after just the first few sessions.
‘They all loved it,’ Kenny revealed.
‘They could see the benefits early on and continued for the rest of the block.
‘After each class they would put their uniforms back on and get back out into the city centre feeling more upbeat and positive.
‘The team ended up happier and fitter, which in the long run I’m sure would have prevented absences – it’s a win-win situation.’
Kali Collective was founded by Steph Wall, who sees his studio as an ‘outlet’ for those he teaches.
‘I want to attract people who are curious about life,’ he said
‘It is also an outlet for creative people, especially with the style of yoga that I teach, as it involves constantly changing sequences and flows.’
The warden’s yoga classes are provided free of charge by Glasgow city council.
However, they’re not the only workplace to practice mindfulness.
The NHS, the University of Edinburgh and Citizens Advice Scotland have all signed up for regular workplace yoga.
Employers in Scotland spend more than £2billion a year on mental health, so organisations have started looking at ways to deal with it.
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