A few days of yoga won’t help overstretched police – they should be doing it every day

The police force complain they are overstretched and stressed, as a reduced workforce deals with a soaring workload.

A report this week by their own watchdog says a quarter of forces in England and Wales are taking too long to respond to emergency calls, which require a rapid response within an hour. In one area there were delays of up to 15 hours as officers complain they are overwhelmed and don’t have enough staff.

Consequently the tabloid press derided the news that officers in Lincolnshire are to be given two extra days of holiday a year to “improve their spiritual and emotional wellbeing”. Naturally, they’ve been dubbed “yoga days”.

The head of Lincolnshire Police is unapologetic – Chief Constable Bill Skelly reckons “by encouraging our staff to look after themselves, I believe we can make an improvement on how they feel at work”.

Call it mindfulness, meditation or whatever, I am a great believer that taking 10 minutes a day to be calm and sit still does you nothing but good. Wouldn’t it be more productive to build paid 15-minute yoga or mindfulness time into every working day, for NHS workers as well as all police forces?

I hardly think encouraging staff to try yoga is “controversial”. If it makes them more productive and healthier, and less aggressive at work then everyone benefits. As for school students, every day they rush out of the school gates and into fast food joints – how about ending every afternoon with 15 minutes of meditation? I am not saying it would end knife crime and gangs, but it might help some people keep their emotions in check.