Mindful meditation - not just for hippies and buddhist monks!

My Step-Father tore a page out of his daily newspaper yesterday on mindful meditation for me to read! Bless him...who knew he listened to me harping on?! The fact that we are now talking about meditation through very mainstream media makes my heart sing! Hopefully more and more people start to take notice and give it a little whirl.

There is still a common perception that meditation is for hippies or buddhist monks!! Just to clarify, I am neither of the above! AND...I am the biggest meditation advocate EVER! There are so many benefits in terms of overall health and happiness but in the post, I just wanted to bring to the table some of the benefits that can be applied in the workplace. This is not some fluffy, on trend craze! There is some science behind the impacts meditation has on the brain and how it improves skills that improve productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. Which in turn drives business performance. You can't get much less fluffy than that!

Benefits of meditation in the workplace

Take a look at this pretty strong evidence based article on the benefits of meditation. The Harvard Business Review provides some solid fact around how meditation changes the brain and helps to sharpen business skills. Those monks are trail blazing!! Business leaders all over the world are finally taking note and seeing a marked improvement in their own productivity and the productivity of their employees!

On a personal note, the major benefits that I have felt since practising regularly include clarity of thought. My mind is less cluttered with "stuff", therefore I am more focussed which leads to a very apparent improved productivity. Meditation has also provided me with more awareness not only in terms of what is going on inside my own head but also an awareness of how others react in certain situations and how this might link to what is going on in their heads. This is obviously an improved level of emotional intelligence which helps me to negotiate challenging conversations / interactions in a much more positive way.

HBR article - the benefits of mindfulness

I use a variety of different methods to meditate dependent on my intentions for the day. However, I rarely skip as there is no getting away from the fact that when I meditate in the morning, my day is ALWAYS better! Get started using the Headspace app: https://www.headspace.com It includes a free trial and simple guided meditations to help you lose your meditation virginity!

"You should sit and meditate for 20 minutes every day - unless you are too busy. Then, you should sit for an hour!" - Zen Adage