Many people are discovering how the consistent practice of meditation improves your response to life’s challenges.
It seems logical that meditating would be a useful tool for business success, too. The changing nature of business often leaves us cloudy, stressed, and non-productive. Using meditation techniques can give you clarity to make better decisions. It helps you see solutions, rather than focus on problems. It allows you to tackle challenges with a sharp mind. It boosts morale.
While the practice of meditation isn’t exactly mainstream in corporate America, more and more executives are open to anything that might help them thrive in today’s business climate. And it helps that the National Institutes of Health, University of Massachusetts, and the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard University found that meditation increases brain-wave activity, enhances intuition, improves concentration, and alleviates some aches and pains – all benefits that any good CEO knows will increase the productivity of his employees.
A list of some of the top-level CEO’s who meditate regularly reads like a “who’s who” of Fortune 500 executives. From Fortune:
Meditation devotees include junk-bond-king-turned-philanthropist Mike Milken; Bill George, the former Medtronic CEO; ad industry mogul Renetta McCann; and NBA coach Phil Jackson. Silicon Valley is full of meditators, such as Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.com, and Larry Brilliant, head of Google’s philanthropic efforts. Naturally, a crew of Google employees has organized twice-weekly open meditation hours, at which it has hosted Tibetan monks and a team of mind-science researchers.
Meditation also has some high-profile corporate disciples offering employee benefits, including Apple, Yahoo, AstraZeneca, Deutsche Bank, Time Warner, Texas Instruments, Raytheon and Hughes Aircraft. From BusinessWeek:
There are no hard numbers on how many companies have added meditation benefits, but the anecdotal evidence is mounting. And it’s no surprise that more employers are seeking a new corporate balm. The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health finds that stress-related ailments cost companies about $200 billion a year in increased absenteeism, tardiness, and the loss of talented workers. Between 70% to 90% of employee hospital visits are linked to stress. And job tension is directly tied to a lack of productivity and loss of competitive edge.
Meditation is a powerful tool for increasing mental clarity and performance. Whether your business has a staff of 5 or 500, engaging in meditative practices will arm employees and businesses with the tools to be more productive, profitable and successful.
I agree that most businesses try to enslave us with stressful work. Despite this, they must understand that we are still human, and need some time to recuperate.
Meditation is a technique that I use often to relieve myself of stress. I personally enjoy the horse stance, as it feels like I am sucking in positive energy from the earth, all the way up to my finger tips.