It’s no secret that employee well-being has decreased over the past few years. Ever since the pandemic, workplaces have been hard-pressed to fight burnout and a worsening mental health crisis.
This is a problem not only for the individual employees who suffer but for entire organizations as well! Increased absenteeism and turnover rates combined with decreased productivity are taking their toll on corporate America.
Thankfully, meditation is emerging as a powerful and popular tool to address the issue. Keep reading to explore the benefits of meditation on employee well-being and to better understand how it can reduce stress, anxiety, and burnout.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is quickly becoming one of the most common and effective ways organizations support employees. The beauty of meditation is that it’s accessible to everyone and can be done anywhere!
While the practice of meditation has been around for thousands of years, it’s recently become a very popular tool for everyday people to improve their emotional, mental, and physical health. It’s a practice that involves training the mind to focus and become more present. It often involves using specific techniques or practices such as mindfulness, deep breathing, or visualization.
There are many different types of meditation, each with its own technique and approach. Still, at its core, meditation is about cultivating a state of calm awareness and connecting with the present moment.
The Impact of Meditation on Employee Well-Being
Meditation is responsible for many emotional, mental, and physical benefits for employees. Some of these include:
1. Decreased Stress, Anxiety, and Burnout
Stress, anxiety, and burnout are such common issues in the workplace that they can no longer be ignored by leadership. Luckily, meditation can help! Meditation has been shown to reduce the activity in the amygdala, the brain region responsible for your “fight or flight” response. This suggests that meditation can help employees become less reactive to stressful situations and better able to manage their emotions.
This ability to identify and manage emotions is crucial for fighting burnout and maintaining a healthy and engaged team.
2. Improved Decision-Making Skills and Concentration
Meditation can improve decision-making skills in a few different ways:
A. First, by training the mind to become more focused and attentive, meditation can help employees become more aware of their thoughts and emotions, which allows them to make more rational and considerate decisions.
B. Next (as mentioned above), meditation helps you become less reactive to stressors, allowing you to remain calm and clear-headed when making important decisions.
C. Finally, meditation can improve cognitive function, such as working memory and cognitive flexibility, which are essential components of effective decision-making. By enhancing these cognitive abilities, meditation can help you make more informed and thoughtful decisions, leading to better outcomes.
Additionally, research has found that regular meditation can increase the prefrontal cortex's thickness (the part of the brain responsible for executive functions like attention and decision-making). This increase in brain matter is associated with improved cognitive function, better attention, and concentration in the workplace!
3. Increased Happiness and Well-Being
Meditation might be best known for its link to increased happiness and overall well-being. In fact, studies have shown that regular meditation practice can decrease the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which can help you feel more relaxed and calm.
Can Meditation Improve Your Organization’s Bottom Line?
The data is overwhelmingly clear — meditation not only improves the lives of employees, but it also improves the health of your organization and can benefit your bottom line.
According to a survey by Aetna, employees who participated in meditation programs had 62 minutes of increased productivity per week, resulting in an estimated $3,000 annual increase in productivity per employee!
Organizations prioritizing employee well-being and incorporating meditation practices into their culture can reap the rewards of a happier, healthier, and more engaged workforce.
Nurture A Healthy Workplace with Corporate Meditation Led by Monica
Monica is not your typical ‘love and light’ meditation teacher. Her first-hand experience working in corporate gives her insight into what’s needed most by employees right now. Her style is straightforward, realistic, and relevant. Her disarming nature and strong intuition allow her to connect with her audience and engage in meaningful conversations about happiness and well-being.
Click here to learn more about what Monica can do for your workplace with Corporate Meditation.