These 5 startups are using yoga, meditation and wellness programmes to keep employees motivated during pandemic

startup and yoga

During the pandemic, the psyche of many individuals has been affected due to staying at home, WFH and limited social interaction. Moreover, many are worried about the futures, job losses and debt that are burdening and affecting their mental health.

In fact, talking about mental health openly in India is none less than a smirch. Looking for professional aid is both expensive and inaccessible. Considering all of the above, many startups have taken a social initiative to avail counselling and mental wellness programmes for their employees to motivate them and maintain their mental well-being.

Here is the list of top 5 startups:

  1. CredR

CredR is a used two-wheeler sales platform, based in Mumbai. CredR is a full-stack, vertically integrated, and universal ecosystem of two-wheelers. It has roped in mental health experts from Harvard University. The company is running counselling sessions for its employees for anxiety, stress, loneliness, and low motivation levels.

Furthermore, it is also arranging yoga and meditation sessions to de stress and rejuvenate. It has also introduced helplines for its employees internally.

Harish Mahadevan, VP-Human Resources of  CredR, said, “Ever since Lockdown 1.0, the startup has been proactively conducting various sessions on yoga, physical and mental fitness, and team bonding activities to battle the isolation that many employees might be facing during the lockdown.”

  1. Swiggy

Swiggy is a food delivery platform based in Bengaluru. It has recently introduced a curated wellness programme ‘Built Around You’ for Swiggster on account of World Health Day. Its aim is to strengthen the overall wellness and fitness of the entire Swiggy family and their closed ones. The programme revolves around four pillars – physical, emotional and mental, financial, as well as legal wellness.

The startup has offered unlimited tele and video consultation sessions with independent experts like doctors, dietitians, counsellors, psychologists, financial, and legal experts. They are also customizing digital wellness programmes for weight, addiction, diabetes management, maternity care, and marital counselling, among others. It has used AI in order to adapt to the experience.

In its onsite wellness programmes, check-ups, wellness workshops/webinars, meditation/yoga/fitness sessions, etc., are also provided.

  1. Power Gummies

To keep its employees physically fit and combat loneliness during the Lockdown, activities like Zumba, yoga, and Bhangra dance are conducted by Power Gummies which is a health supplement startup.

Divij Bajaj, CEO of Power Gummies, said, “Employees often start feeling demotivated as the whole lockdown situation becomes very exhausting mentally. To eliminate that, we make sure we all are physically spending energy as it helps to vent out negativity, and channels us towards positivity.”

The startup was founded by 2018 which looks after nutritional needs required for hair and nails. In order to serve modern health, it has also begun its marquee in the nutraceutical market.

Divij further said, “We have also started activities such as playing online games like Call of Duty and Ludo. Along with this, we have also made a fun group on WhatsApp, wherein we keep sharing memes, and throwback pictures.”

  1. Letstrack

Letstrack is a GPS tracking and global security service startup. It was founded by Vikram Kumar in 2016 and headquartered in Gurugram. It enables APP-to-APP and APP-TO-WEB mobility solutions.

The IoT startup is going to introduce an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). It will provide counselling and consultation to its employees and their families too in order to curb stress, depression, and anxiety along with financial consultation.

Vikram expressed, “At Letstrack, we believe that a healthy mind can do wonders, and also realise the importance of employees’ emotional wellness, especially during these uncertain circumstances. And to achieve them, we have always encouraged our employees to exercise and meditate every day. Our team leaders and human resource team are making sure that they stay connected with all the employees and keep them informed.”

  1. Oliveboard

Oliveboard is an e-learning platform which conducts Zoom/Hangout calls in smaller and company-level groups to motivate employees during such unprecedented times.

Oliveboard works upon B2C model and founded in August 2012. It provides preparation aids about more than 50 graduate-level India specific exams under the categories of MBA, banking, SSC, Railways, insurance, and government job exams to the candidates.

Abhishek Patil, Co-founder and CEO of Oliveboard, said “While work is going on constantly, to keep employee motivation level high, we also share fitness challenges in our company WhatsApp groups. We play games like Tambola, Quiz, etc., to keep our spirits high during these times. This initiative was started in March.”