These co-working spaces promote health, stress reduction

Over the past few years, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of co-working spaces in Chennai. And a few of these spaces are keenly focused on the wellness aspects of the employees. One such co-working space is 1Vibe which was started as a solution to the dearth of communal workspaces in the city. We visited one of the 1Vibe creative workspaces that’s located at Nungambakkam and got to know how they have artistically combined the idea of work and fitness.

“We wanted to develop a co-working space that lets employees breathe. So, while designing the space, we focused on the holistic development of the entire employee persona. The space is designed in such a way that we have running tracks on the carpets, monkey bars, hopscotch, magnetic scrabble walls and so on. Also, we have squishy balls scattered around in the co-working space. Apart from this, on the steps leading to the office, we have put calorie counts. In the future, we are planning to tie up with doctors who could provide information on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Not just providing an adaptable space for collaboration, but we are also trying to encourage people to focus on their wellness aspect as well. If your workspace provides holistic development, I am sure that everyone would love to come to work,” says  Sameer Sethi, Director of 1vibe.  

Reema Saha, Vice-President, Marketing of Workafella, has noticed how professionals are willing to take quick breaks and indulge in sports and leisure activities that help in increasing productivity.

“One common complaint that we get from people working at Workafella centres is that they find it hard to dedicate time for fitness. We know the importance of health in today’s world. Every Wednesday, we organise either yoga, karate or Zumba classes in all our co-working centres. Initially, the response was very minimal. We had to encourage people to participate in these activities. But over a period of time, when we sustained these activities and also when they got to see the results, many people started joining the sessions,” says Reema Saha.  

WSquare, India’s first co-working and incubation centre for women, has been focusing on bringing women back to work since its inception in the city. “Apart from providing a co-working space that’s exclusively for women, we also focus on redefining mental health and wellness. Recently, we hosted a conference with a panel discussion on the same. Our idea was to explore how we can shift our thinking about uncertainty to better manage career anxiety. As women, it is important to learn strategies that will help us create a flexible career plan that supports our well-being,” shares Jinal Patel, co-founder of WSquare.