How to plan a wellness day for your team

A wellness day works when it is planned around real people, a real room and a realistic schedule. These seven steps take you from the first idea to a confirmed date, whether you run it in-house or bring in office yoga for your company.

1. Set one clear goal

Decide what the day is for before you pick activities. A few common goals:

• A reset after a hard quarter or a big launch.
• Bringing a hybrid team into the same room.
• A gentle introduction to a regular wellness program.
• A quieter block inside a planning day or offsite.

One goal keeps the day focused: rest calls for a light agenda, connection for formats people do together.

2. Confirm headcount and who is invited

Count who is actually coming, not the whole org chart. Decide whether the day is for one team, one floor or the whole company, and whether remote staff will join online. Ask about injuries, pregnancy or anything that affects how people move, and pass that on privately to your yoga teacher so every class has suitable options.

3. Choose and check the space

The room decides the formats. For a yoga class on mats, each person needs roughly the length of a mat plus room to stretch out their arms. For desk-side yoga and talks, chairs are enough. For a sound bath, you want the quietest room available, away from the pantry, the lifts and the printer.

In Metro Manila, also think about:

• Air conditioning. Check it works in the room and on the day. A warm room makes a class hard work.
• Weather. Outdoor spaces like a roof deck or a garden are lovely in the cool months but need an indoor backup, especially in the rainy season.
• Traffic and access. For an offsite venue, allow for travel time and tell people how to get there.
• Building rules. Some towers need advance notice for guests, equipment or noise in function rooms. Ask building admin early, especially for corporate yoga in Makati or corporate yoga in BGC, where many offices sit in towers with their own rules.

4. Build a simple schedule

Keep it short and leave space between blocks. A sample half day:

• Welcome and water (15 minutes)
• Yoga class (45 to 60 minutes), with options for beginners
• Break with snacks (20 minutes)
• Short talk or workshop (30 to 45 minutes)
• Sound bath to close (30 to 45 minutes)

Avoid ending the day with a hard physical class; end with something quiet.

What does a full wellness day look like?

A full day suits an offsite or a day the whole team has blocked out. Keep the same rule: active in the morning, quiet in the afternoon, and real breaks between.

• Arrival, water and a short welcome (30 minutes)
• Morning yoga class (60 minutes), with options for beginners
• Break (20 minutes)
• Workshop or talk (45 to 60 minutes)
• Light lunch and a long break (90 minutes), so nobody moves on a full stomach
• Team games or a walk (45 minutes), such as the indoor games in this list
• Slow or Yin yoga (45 minutes)
• Sound bath to close (30 to 45 minutes)

5. Pick the formats

Mix at least one active format with one quiet one, so everyone finds something that suits them.

• Yoga class. Mat-based for a full class, or desk-side and seated for a team in office clothes.
• Yin or slow yoga. Long, supported holds on the floor for a team that needs to slow down.
• Sound bath. People sit or lie down and listen. No experience or movement needed. See sound bath.
• Talks. Choose qualified speakers, and a licensed professional for anything about mental health.
• Take-home practice. Share something short people can repeat, like the 5-minute desk yoga reset.

For more ideas, see wellness activities for employees in the Philippines.

Wellness day ideas for HR teams

If you are still collecting wellness day ideas, these fit a half day or a full day and work in most Manila offices:

• A desk-side class in the morning, with no change of clothes, then the 5-minute desk yoga reset shared for the weeks after.
• A breathing round before lunch, a few minutes of slow breathing the whole team does together.
• A walking break around the block or the building’s garden, if the weather allows.
• A quiet room set aside all day, with no phones, for anyone who needs twenty minutes.
• A sound bath as the last block, so people go home calm rather than wired.

6. Plan food and water

Keep food light and schedule it well away from any class. A heavy lunch right before yoga or a sound bath makes people sleepy or uncomfortable. Good options are fruit, sandwiches, salads and small snacks. Have drinking water in the room throughout, plus cups or a refill point so people are not leaving mid-class to find some. Check dietary needs when you collect sign-ups.

Say in the invite whether mats are provided and what to wear.

7. Send the inquiry

Once you know the goal, headcount, space and preferred dates, send your provider the details in one message:

• Company name and contact person
• Number of people, and whether anyone joins online
• Venue address and room size, indoors or outdoors
• The formats and schedule you have in mind
• Preferred dates and times, with a backup date
• Whether you have mats, and anything about the group the teacher should know

A good provider replies with questions, then a plan and a quote.

Working with Joahnna Lee

Joahnna Lee plans and teaches wellness days for teams across Metro Manila, from yoga classes at your Quezon City office to workplace yoga in Alabang, with yoga, Yin and sound healing, at your office, a function room or an offsite venue. Her background in a corporate advertising career in New York means she plans around a run of show and a busy calendar. For a single celebration or a brand event rather than a team day, see yoga and sound baths for events. For team formats and how an inquiry works, see the corporate yoga page. Every corporate booking is quoted on inquiry.