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This story was written by Nathamon (Hilight) Silprachawong, founder of the HiLightEase project.
Office syndrome — nagging neck pain, stiff shoulders and eye strain — is a silent epidemic. I’ve seen it everywhere: in teachers, parents, retail staff and even fellow students. Long hours at desks or screens are leaving people in discomfort. That’s where a new HiLightEase project began — with a belief that simple yoga movements could relieve pain and make a long-term difference.
Before starting the project, I sent out a survey to more than 75 staff across Thailand to assess the urgency of the issue. The responses confirmed what I had suspected: most HR professionals and desk workers sit for 6 to 10 hours a day, and as a result, 78% reported back pain and 35% reported neck and shoulder tension, with many facing multiple symptoms.
I framed the core challenge with a human and service-centered lens: How might I alleviate the physical office syndrome pain that 20+ Robinson Surat Thani staff members experience?
The result was HiLightEase, a service project focused on alleviating office syndrome through community-based yoga sessions, ergonomic awareness and practical wellness kits. In collaboration with Yoga Kru Nang Surat Thani, I hosted guided yoga workshops inside Robinson Lifestyle Surat Thani, the very place I spent much of my childhood. Going home to lead this project was both personal and powerful.
Each workshop offered chair-based yoga stretches that retail employees could follow while on shift or at their desks. It was simple, practical and effective.
In addition, we created HiLightEase kits to support short-term pain relief. Each kit contained Yoko Yoko and Tiger Balm patches. Sixty kits were sold, raising more than 20,000 baht to support our sessions and produce more kits. Twenty free kits were given directly to Robinson Surat Thani staff.
The results were profoundly impactful and meaningful: 94.7% of participants rated the sessions as highly beneficial, with a 30.2% reduction in reported back pain. Moreover, 84.2% said they were likely to continue stretching independently. Feedback on the kits and educational posters was overwhelmingly positive.
What makes HiLightEase special isn’t just what we do — it’s how we do it. It’s a youth-led, cross-sector collaboration bringing together local yoga experts, healthcare advisors from PSU and Sikarin Hospital, and Robinson Surat Thani. It’s about embedding wellness into everyday life, not as a luxury, but as a sustainable habit.
At the 2025 LearningPlanet Festival, HiLightEase was featured as a standout example of grassroots innovation in health and education. By integrating wellness into daily routines, HiLightEase exemplifies how youth-led initiatives can drive sustainable change in workplace health practices.
The LearningPlanet Festival, organised annually by the LearningPlanet Institute in partnership with UNESCO, brings together educators, students and changemakers worldwide to celebrate transformative learning and innovative solutions to global challenges.HiLightEase's participation in the festival underscores the impact of youth-led projects in promoting well-being and education equity.
Through its feature at the festival, HiLightEase has gained international recognition, inspiring similar initiatives and highlighting the importance of youth engagement in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. The project will continue growing — one breath, one posture check, one mindful movement at a time because when people feel better in their bodies they show up stronger and healthier in every part of their lives.
