6 Reasons to Keep Meditating, Baby!

Like other healthy habits, meditation gets bumped down our to-do lists by crises, must-dos and have-tos. Here are 6 important reasons to keep going. 

1.  Exponential Benefits 
The health improvements of meditation are vast and grow like compound interest, but only if you meditate regularly. 

2.  Brain Power  
Neuroscience, the study of the brain, tells us meditation improves brain function, increasing clarity, compassion and positive mental attitude.

 3.  Heart Health 
Research shows meditation lowers blood pressure, reducing the chances of heart disease. 

4.  A Good Night's Sleep  
Meditation raises levels of melatonin, a hormone crucial for healthy sleep patterns. 

5.  Anger Management 
Because it increases compassion and emotional intelligence, research suggests meditation might actually make you a nicer person - less reactive, more responsive. 

6.  Inner Peace
When you meditate regularly, you become addicted to the relaxation, inner peace, and clarity that permeate your days.  It feels so good, and the benefits are so life-changing, you won't want to skip a day.

I promise, if you'll just hang in there, push through the excuses and distractions, and commit to a daily practice of meditation, you will be thrilled with the results. You'll never know unless you try!  Prove it to yourself.    

Will Meditation at Work Become a Thing?

Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a wellness program at work.  Even though there were a lot of health and wellness people saying health and wellness should be supported at work, work did not care, so work did not have wellness programs. 

Then, work began to notice that lots of dollars were being thrown at health problems related to unhealthy workers, and work started to care about health.  Hence, workplace wellness programs were born. 

Flash forward to now and you’re hard pressed to find a company without some kind of wellness plan in place.  In fact, 92% of larger companies have wellness programs.  HR departments have wellness budgets, even wellness specialists!  And, as employees get fatter, sicker and unhealthier, these wellness programs must expand and grow to combat the ever-skyrocketing cost of health care and all things related to employees being unhealthy.

While smoking cessation and weight loss have been the prevalent wellness programs in recent years, there is a new (really not so new) health concern rocking the HR world, and it’s wreaking havoc on health care costs, absenteeism, employee turnover and productivity. 

Stress 

Stress is killing work.  Not only is it making people sick, depressed and anxious, but the higher stress levels rise, the lower employee engagement plummets.  Disengaged employees are poor producers.  That is a one-two punch to the gut of the bottom line, and bad news for work.

Guess what?  Now work cares about stress, so work must find ways to reduce it.  Enter, meditation! 

There have been over 1,000 scientific papers written about the benefits of meditation in the past twenty years.  Research shows meditation reduces stress and improves mental, emotional, and physical health.  Additionally, Harvard Business School has stated, “The two most effective business tools for twenty-first century executives are meditation and intuition.”

Many companies across the country have launched stress reduction initiatives such as meditation instruction and support, with good results.  The trend is catching on and gaining in popularity.  Since stress has been identified as the number one contributor to illness, it must be dealt with.  So yes, meditation at work will become a thing.  It’s well on its way. 

Employee Empowerment: Benevolence or Good Business Sense?

Recent research shows that roughly half of Americans hate their job, and according to Gallup, fewer than three in 10 workers say they’re engaged at work.

EmployEES be like:

 EmployERS be like:

I have one word for you:  empowerment.  

When workers feel empowered, they are more engaged, dedicated, and innovative.

"Treat employees like they make a difference, and they will."  This is a quote from Jim Goodnight, co-founder and CEO of North Carolina-based business analytics software giant, SAS.  In the height of the 2009 recession, while other companies were cutting jobs like crazy, Goodnight stated publicly that SAS would absolutely not have any layoffs, and he kept his promise.  Can you imagine the collective sigh of relief at SAS that year?

Goodnight's company is known for treating employees well and offering perks such as flextime, childcare, and on-site medical care.  They're big on work-life balance and measuring productivity by what workers accomplish instead of how many hours they're chained to a desk.

Wondering if all the warm fuzzies get in the way of success?  In 2009, while other companies were tanking, SAS saw a 2.2 percent increase in revenues over the previous year's, and the company is regularly voted, "world's best place to work."  Additionally, since the 1970's, SAS has seen consecutive revenue growth every year.

Empowerment Begets Engagement

Everyone wants to feel like they matter.  Nobody wants to be micro-managed.  Here are some tips to increase employee empowerment:

• Let them do their job.  People need autonomy not babysitting.
• Support them.  Make sure they have all the resources they need to be successful.
• Give them time.  Flextime is a cheap way to keep employees happy.
• Insist on work-life balance.  
• Increase your wellness budget.  Help them take charge of their health.

How to Initiate Employee Empowerment

I believe offering and supporting meditation in the workplace is the place to start.  It's sort of like the "teach a man to fish" theory.  External incentives are great, but if you teach a person to go to the inner, reduce their own stress and tap their intuition, you are empowering them to make better personal and professional choices.  Studies show meditation not only reduces stress, it increases mental clarity, enhances compassion, and improves productivity and innovation.  This translates into better lifestyle choices, increased collaboration, better conflict resolution and more engaged employees.

We are stepping into the era of the individual. Companies who care about each employee will thrive.  Just ask Jim Goodnight, who oh by the way happens to be one of America's wealthiest people, with a net worth of over $7 billion.

 

Demystifying Meditation

I spend my days devising ways to introduce meditation to the workplace.  It’s like playing matchmaker to your quiet, mousey friend from college and your sometimes loud and obnoxious class clown of a cousin.  The union makes no logical sense, but you just know they’re perfect for each other.

To that end, I’m constantly debunking preconceived notions that meditation is weird, new age-y, aligned with hippies or certain religions, opposed to certain religions, fluff, nonsense or a general waste of time.  I suppose meditation can be all of these, but to me, it’s a well-researched, tried and true way to reduce stress and improve health.  So today, I bring you a down-and-dirty list of non-mystical, data-derived benefits.

 

My Top 10 List of Non-Woo Woo 

Meditation Benefits

 1.       Meditation slows the heart rate 
 2.       Lowers blood pressure 
 3.       Raises levels of beneficial hormones
 4.       Reduces levels of harmful hormones 
 5.       Boosts the immune system
 6.       Restructures the brain
 7.       Improves insomnia and other sleep disorders 
 8.       Favorably impacts psychological and emotional conditions 
 9.       Opens you to intuition and inspiration 
10.    Makes you a nicer person

Meditation is a practical, natural way to reduce stress and improve health – a no-brainer, win-win for the workplace.

Instead of Wondering When Your Next Vacation Is

This week’s blog is an homage to a Seth Godin quote.  

Seth Godin is an entrepreneur, marketing genius, author and speaker.  Several years ago I read his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, which is a book that makes you think about work in a whole new way. 

That’s what Seth Godin does – he makes you think about things in a whole new way.  Take for instance the following quote:

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.”  - Seth Godin

Brilliant. 

My passion for teaching stress reduction, meditation and mindfulness aligns perfectly with this idea.  Reduce your stress, tap your intuition, and create a life you love.  It’s possible if you believe it’s possible – or if Seth Godin says so.  

Sunk Cost - Prospective Cost (Or Why Meditation Should Be Your Company’s Next Wellness Program)

Sunk Cost

A simple definition of sunk cost:  money spent and permanently lost. 

A good example of sunk cost:  stress in the workplace. 

Workplace stress impacts health care costs, absenteeism, productivity, job satisfaction, and employee turnover – costing companies billions each year.  The cost of workplace stress can never be recovered.

Prospective Cost

A simple definition of prospective cost:  costs that may be changed if an action is taken.

A good example of prospective cost:  a meditation in the workplace wellness program.

Meditation has been proven to boost mental, emotional and physical health by reducing stress, improving brain function, and balancing the body’s biological systems.  In the workplace, this translates to mental clarity, improved emotional intelligence, better overall health, and enhanced work-life balance. 

 Meditation at Work

According to the American Institute of Stress, stress costs American businesses an estimated 300 billion a year.  300 billion dollars.  Sunk cost.  Money spent and permanently lost.  This is why meditation should be your company’s next wellness program.    

FYI – Companies That Meditate

I live in the Midwest.  We are not exactly known for blazing trails and setting trends.  However, some surprisingly conservative local companies are starting to take a look at a leading edge practice, formerly reserved for hippies, gurus, and a handful of super cool West Coast businesses.

Meditation might seem like the new kid on the block in corporate wellness, but many big US companies have been offering the practice to employees for years, and with some impressive results. 

No Surprises Here

Okay, so you’re not exactly shocked to hear Apple, Google and Facebook employees meditate.  I know, right?  Of course companies that provide playgrounds, shuttle service and sleep pods for their workers are going to encourage new age-y stuff like meditation and mindfulness training.  But what other heavy hitters have embraced the silence?

9 Big Companies That Encourage Meditation and Mindfulness

General Mills

Intel

Form Motor Company

Prentice Hall Publishing

Nike

Target

Proctor & Gamble

Aetna

JP Morgan

Fluff and Nonsense or Serious Brain Training?

“All that woo-woo mystical stuff is so retrograde. This is training the brain.”  - Kenneth Folk, meditation teacher, San Francisco.

With over 1,000 scientific papers in recent years to back up the benefits of meditation, mainstream researchers are singing its praises for stress relief and better mental clarity, and serious US companies are getting on board. 

Om My Goodness, Wall Street is Meditating

Think only wacky, hipster companies like Google are meditating?  Think again.

A recent article on CNN Money reports Wall Street companies are implementing meditation to reduce workplace stress and keep employees happy and productive.  It seems meditation has emerged from the shadowy corners of the new age movement, and stepped smack dab in the middle of the mainstream. 

“Meditation, contemplation -- it’s not just for monks and hermits. They’re really for people to improve all our lives and business,"  Daniel Loeb said recently in an American Enterprise Institute panel discussion.  Loeb is the billionaire founder of activist hedge-fund firm Third Point LLC, and a meditator.

Other noted, high-profile meditators include: Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, and Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corp.  Without a whole lot of analysis, one can glean a common thread amongst these folks - success.  

The corporate landscape is changing.  According to Harvard Business School, "The two most effective business tools for twenty-first century executives are meditation and intuition."  Innovative companies - the trendsetters and industry leaders - already know this, and they're creating cultures that reflect it.  

In business, the new in-thing is a quiet mind.

Learn to Shut Down Before You Crash

You're working along, hunched over your computer.  You're busy, too busy.  Stupid moving-target deadlines, ridiculous workload, and a couple of co-workers you could do without.  You open a new tab and, ugh!  Website won't load. 

"No!  No no no!  I do not have time for this!"  Click, click.  Esc. Esc.  Ctrl+Alt+Delete.  Nothing.  Frozen.  "Oh no, no way.  How many tabs do I have open?!  How many documents?!  Holy schniekies, dozens!  Have I saved my work?!  C'mon stupid computer!  C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

There's only one thing to do.

Shut it down.

Same goes for you.  Your system, like a computer, can only take so much.  The headaches, clinched jaws, sore shoulders and anxiety in your chest - all signs you need to shut down. If you keep pushing, you're going to crash.

Learn to meditate.  A few minutes of uninterrupted silence each day can help you shut down, reboot, and power back up at full functioning capacity. 

How to Change Your Negative, Frustrating, Suffocating Work Environment

In keeping with my intention to write short articles you will actually read, I’m going to cut to the chase, get to the point.  Brass  tacks, baby.  It’s very simple and here it is:

 

 

 

Change you and everything changes.

How does this work?  Empowerment. Begin by taking responsibility for every thought, word and action.   Decide you’re not going to be any level of a victim.  Stop blaming anyone for anything.  Stop listing all the reasons you’re unhappy.  Stop telling your story.  Stop gossiping.  Stop complaining.  Go to the inner – your inner – where intuition and inspiration reside.  Try learning to meditate, get some counseling, or practice mindfulness.  These steps will change your perspective – and that changes everything. 
 

When you change you, everything will change.  You will realize you are not a victim of circumstances, but a powerful creator of circumstances.  Your work environment will improve to suit you, or you will find a new work environment.

Change you and everything changes.

What is a mindful leader?

A mindful leader is a listener. 

A mindful leader is compassionate.

A mindful leader collaborates, pauses, considers, feels and responds.

A mindful leader takes responsibility.

And shares glory.

They make everyone around them better.

A mindful leader knows the power of quieting the mind and consulting intuition.

Mindful leaders are uplifters, thinkers, doers, and feelers.

Mindful leaders foster healthy, innovative, successful businesses. 

A mindful leader is a company’s greatest asset.

Contemplation, Corporate Style

Contemplative practices such as meditation and mindfulness fuel creativity, compassion, adaptability, and critical thinking through a process of detaching from habitual thoughts.  These practices increase self-awareness and reduce stress.  In the workplace, this translates into better productivity, collaboration and innovation, improved health and fewer absences.

Mindfulness is the latest and greatest hot topic in corporate wellness.  All the cool kids like Google and Apple are doing it.  Trendy?  Nope.  It's the new standard of excellence.  An employee with a quiet mind is a company's greatest asset.

When I am Mindful

When I am mindful, I shave my legs without incident.

When I am not mindful, I must set off my own car alarm to remember where I parked.

When I am mindful, I dot every i and cross each t.

When I am not mindful, I send a text message (meant for my son) to a business associate saying, "Stop fighting with your sister and let the dog out to potty." 

When I am mindful, I hear what you say.

When I am not mindful, I plan what I'm going to say while you're talking to me.

A mindful workplace listens, focuses, has compassion, is productive, and thrives. 

The One Thing Your Business Must Do to Survive the Coming Times

The one thing your business must do to survive the coming times?  

Increase your wellness budget.

Employee engagement is low.  Stress is epidemic.  Absenteeism, turnover, and health care costs are killing your company.  So what can you do?  Nurture healthier employees. 

Increase your wellness budget and shake things up.  Re-think wellness.  If you haven't noticed, what you're doing isn't working.  External incentives like cash bonuses work temporarily, but do they sustain change?  Do they help build a healthy, engaged workforce?  No.  Wellness has changed.  You have to think beyond weight loss initiatives and smoking cessation. 

Better health begins with the individual and happens from the inside out.  The hot trends in wellness are meditation and mindfulness.  Why?  Because these practices breed ownership.  They involve inside work, introspection, brain re-training, internal balance and personal empowerment.  In the workplace, this translates to more mental clarity, better productivity, conflict resolution, increased self awareness, creativity, compassion, elevated emotional intelligence, and innovation.

Employees focused on their own mental, emotional and physical well being will make better choices for their own health, create work-life balance, and thrive professionally.  

Boom!  A bottom line game changer.