You will not believe the staggering benefits of meditation in the workplace.
As experts in corporate meditation classes, we’ve seen firsthand how meditation can help both companies and employees alike. So, let us count the ways….
9 Benefits of Meditation In the Workplace
1: Improves Teamwork and Teambuilding
We know from research [1] that teams comprised of contrasting personalities usually perform better. However, for a team to work effectively it also has to operate harmoniously.
Thankfully, mindfulness meditation can help teams to be more harmonious.
Scientific research shows that mindfulness reduces reactivity [1]. For instance, if an employee feels frustrated, they are less likely to react by making criticisms. Naturally, this reduces conflicts at work and can help to maintain good rapport among teammates.
Plus, it helps improve work performance. No wonder then, that companies like Google, Aetna, and LinkedIn have started incorporating corporate meditation classes.
To see this in action, try our Team Building Meditation.
2: Reduces knowledge hiding in organizations
Recent research shows that Loving Kindness Meditation reduces knowledge hiding in organizations and improves employee knowledge sharing.
Knowledge Hiding is the deliberate attempt of members in an organization to conceal information that has been requested by another member of the organization.
This can be caused by competitiveness, laziness, and conflicts. And it affects companies in many ways. It reduces team building, causes conflicts, breeds distrust amongst employees, and can lead to the loss of information.
But Loving Kindness Meditation can help.
Research published in BMC Psychology shows that Loving Kindness Meditation reduces knowledge hiding and improves knowledge sharing.
The researchers state, “LKM signifcantly improved employees’ altruism, and significantly reduces their negative affect…” In turn, this reduces knowledge hiding.
3: Less sick days and lower health costs
Reuters says that meditating could significantly reduce the number of sick days your employees take.
Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that meditation improves the immune system, leading to less cases of the cold and flu.
Not only this, but employees who do get sick are statistically more likely to get well soon, so to speak. This is because meditation helps the body to rest and recover.
Plus. it lowers health expenditure.
Research shows that meditation could reduce costs by as much as 43%.
4: Lowers employee stress levels
Probably the most well-known benefit of meditation in the workplace is that it reduces employee stress levels.
Meditation lowers stress for numerous reasons. Firstly, it helps the brain to handle stress. It does this by reducing amygdala activity and promoting the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system. Plus it balances brain chemicals. And it also helps to deal with stressful thoughts.
All of this means less stressed employees.
5: Helps employees make smarter decisions
Virginia Tech Carilion Research Center studied the effect of meditation on decision-making.
They found that meditators actually use different parts of their brains in decision-making compared to non-meditators.
The researchers say that meditators make decisions more rationally and less based on emotion than non-meditators.
Plus, it also improves self-control.
The journal Current Directions in Psychological Science published an article by researcher Rimma Teper at the University of Toronto which proved that when you practice mindfulness you become more aware and more accepting of your emotions and that this, in turn, helps you to act with more self-control.
6: Improves emotional intelligence, which helps with conflict prevention and resolution
When you meditate, you gain an understanding of your emotions, and this helps you to master them. In turn, this leads to less conflicts.
Edward Morler, Ph.D of Moreler International, tells us that a big part of emotional maturity is being in the now and letting go of the past.
Meditation helps with this. When you meditate, you become aware of your thoughts and feelings, and you see them for what they are: unreal. This helps you to focus on the present moment and to make rational decisions not influenced by emotion.
7: Increases job satisfaction and lowers turnover rates
Dr Ute Hulsheger and a team of researchers from the Netherlands studied the effect of mindfulness meditation on job satisfaction.
The report, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, asked 219 workers at service jobs, like retail and nursing, to write a diary twice a day for five days.
They also rated their job satisfaction.
According to their own reports, those who practiced mindfulness had higher job satisfaction and lower levels of emotional exhaustion.
8: Improves Creative Thinking:
Cognitive psychologists Lorena Colato and Dominique Lippelt at Leiden University conducted research and discovered that a brief meditation session could have a profound and lasting effect on the creative brain.
However, this is only true for certain meditation techniques.
After practising “open” meditation techniques (meditations in which you are receptive to your entire environment and to thoughts and sensations), your creative brain is significantly improved.
This leads to more creativity and innovation at work.
9: Meditation improves relations at work:
It can be a challenge to maintain healthy and productive workplace relationships for one simple reason. Work is one of the most stressful environments. And when we are stressed, we become less receptive, less emotionally balanced, less empathetic, less compassionate, and less tolerant.
That’s precisely why if you have a bad day at work you might end up regretting something you say.
But meditation can help.
Meditation helps you to relax at work. Taking just a 15-minute mindfulness break at some point in the day will remove stress, help you to relax, and restore you to your normal, tolerant, patient self.
Ready to bring meditation to your workplace? Book a corporate meditation class with us today.
Paul Harrison is a passionate meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in meditation and mindfulness. He studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison
