In a soulless, airless office in London’s West End, a serene figure dressed entirely in black stands facing a number of attentive employees. Having changed into sensible footwear and scraped their chairs to the side of the room, they are now standing in rows while attempting to engage in a process of meditation. With their eyes closed, arms akimbo, fists loosely clenched by their sides and knees slightly bent, they are instructed to sway gently from side to side, and then forward and backward to find their optimum point of balance. The calm is punctuated by the sound of knees cracking, ankles clicking, and someone from human resources falling over. But the teacher, holistic martial arts expert Steve Jones, offers re-assurance in his gentle Canadian accent. “You’re doing very well. Now you’re centred. You’re more like an animal in this position.” But one of the marketing executives is too hot. She breaks out of her trance to remove her jumper, and opens a window onto the noisy street below.

Stuffy conditions will soon be a thing of the past for staff at The Discovery Channel, as they embark on a logistically fraught move from the heart of London to a huge building in the relatively leafy suburb of Chiswick Park. Looking around while the computers, post-it notes and gonks are packed away, the lack of space is evident. Having launched over 30 channels across Europe and quadrupled their workforce over the last 5 years, Discovery has seen new desks crammed into every available corner, lifts become somewhat claustrophobic, and today even the speech bubbles of encouragement that hang from the ceiling in a variety of different languages look dusty, wilted and uninspiring. Kirsty Barr, Discovery’s corporate communications manager, is happy to point out the flaws while gushing about what awaits them. “We’ll have a whole building to ourselves, with a café that’s about as big as this whole floor,” she enthuses. The staff have played an integral part in the decision making process, from choosing the office furniture to selecting the coffee that’s dispensed from the drinks machines, but many are not looking forward to being uprooted to West London; not only will it add half an hour to some of their journeys to work, but the displacement from the myriad distractions of Oxford Street will also prove something of a wrench. To this end, Discovery have employed Jones to prepare a group of volunteers for the move, with a follow up session next week when they’re finally in place. Barr explains the reasoning behind this unusual approach. “Through our Discovery Health channel we’re obviously aware of alternative therapies – we already have yoga sessions and massage facilities on these premises. And the new building will have a quiet room, a well-being room…” she tails off, in reverie. Clearly Chiswick is something of a dream destination. But, in the meantime, there’s some meditation to do.

Steve Jones’s technique, outlined in his book The Intelligent Warrior, focuses on principles of Chi Kung, Dynamic Meditation and Kung Fu to assist with feelings of destabilisation, fear and anxiety. Not only has he taught people who encounter genuinely dangerous situations during a working day – A&E staff, social workers, ambulancemen – he has also assisted performers with combatting stage fright, and barristers with sprucing up their delivery in court. “Fear can be initiated in many ways, from standing at a bus stop at night, to something as simple as this, moving workplace,” he explains. Today’s exercises have been selected to give a heightened awareness of sensations in the body and also to improve posture. As the volunteers gently bend their knees, their centre of gravity is lowered to a point Jones refers to as the Tan T’ien, although a couple of people in the room seem to prefer their centre of gravity just where it was. Jones moves around the room, adjusting limbs slightly. “Protecting your posture also protects against negative thoughts and assists your immune system,” he murmurs. By the end of the session the group is moving as one, and Jones hopes that everyone will take something useful away with them. “All I’m doing is bringing along a set of tools for people to use in whichever way they want,” he explains. He first encoutered martial arts while studying classical guitar at a forward-looking summer school in the late 1970s and quickly became fascinated by its potential. “All the macho board-breaking stuff becomes meaningless very quickly – when people get injured, they’re less able to defend themselves than when they walked in! I was more interested in benefits for normal people.” After periods of time working as a bouncer and a stuntman, he developed the Body Mind Spirit system (BMS), which had been created by bare-knuckle fighter Derek Jones and which fuses martial arts with meditation. Jones uses BMS exclusively in his London schools, and scorns purists who criticise the amalgamation of various teachings into a new form. “I see it like the development of any art. I’m not interested in saying ‘this is the only way’. The results I get from people – that’s what proves the authenticity, not, for example, tying your belt correctly.”

A week later in Chiswick Park, the Discovery Channel’s new building gleams brightly in the morning sun, a seamless fusion of glass and steel. It’s located in a development with the unwieldy title of “Chiswick Park Enjoy-Work”, which opened nearly 5 years ago and is the result of extensive research into ‘future workplaces’. It may only be 7 miles away from Oxford Circus, but in reality it’s a world apart; a stream flows gently past the office blocks, while a local elderly woman bends down to feed two rather pampered ducks. Brain teasers, facts and figures are printed in friendly lettering on hoardings along the walkways – 209 visitors to the park have bettered their golf swing, apparently – and signs invite you to visit the Enjoy Chiswick Park website and become involved in the community. San Cabraal, VP of Business Services, proudly shows off the interior of Discovery House, which has so much open space you could almost play a game of rounders on each landing – perhaps that was the idea? “As you walk out of the lifts you can see all the bosses sitting on the various floors,” explains Cabraal. “Everything is right out in the open. And you can work anywhere in the building – we want people to think of work as something you do, not a place you go.” A communal bench in the shape of an enormous tick is situated on each floor, and as you sit on this upholstered symbol of positivity and gaze past the uncluttered desks and out across the park, self-defence techniques seem to be the last thing you’d need. But at 11am the group of volunteers assemble enthusiastically for their second session with Jones, and within half an hour are engaged in attack and sidestep exercises. Some are showing more aptitude and more grace than others, but Jones is adamant that lack of physical prowess is not something that will hold them back. “People who might be slightly uncoordinated will still feel the benefits. Progress with BMS is more dependent on that willingness to discover the process of fear.” After the class, employee Melissa Gimenez-Cassina certainly feels boosted. “I was apprehensive and negative about the move, but these sessions have helped me learn how my body resists change. And it’s typical of the Discovery ethos to explore angles like this.” Her colleague Paul Kelly agrees. “It’s a relief to have finally moved, but I’ve definitely felt supported throughout the process.” The post-session atmosphere of bonhomie suggests that the transplant into Chiswick has been successful, and as Jones’s pupils practise the various Chi Kung wrist movements they’ve been taught, there’s not a hint of stress – and barely an iota of repetitive strain.