Bringing Meditation into the Workplace

What exactly is meditation?  Webster’s Dictionary defines meditation as: “to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness”.

 So how does meditation fit into today’s workplace?   The workplace, for many, is an environment of multiple, competing tasks and demands resulting in long hours and fractured focus.  The genius of technology has turned our work ethic into being ready, willing and able to address any work demand at any given moment.  Unless we are vigilant, work can easily take priority over family, health and creative outlets. 

 The question becomes how long can an individual be effective in their work (let alone remain healthy) when they ignore the mind, body, spirit connection?  The argument is that there isn’t time to do and be everything for everyone let alone take care of one’s own personal needs.  No surprise there, it does boil down to prioritizing; but also recognizing that there are small ways to take care of yourself that can make a noticeable difference in your ability to cope with and meet life’s demands.

One solution the management at CSC have offered to its staff, are optional 20 minute guided meditation sessions a couple of times per week.  The meditations are held in a quiet room that has been booked for the sessions.  The meditations themselves are a contribution from a member of staff who plugs in an MP3 player to a set of speakers and everyone is given the opportunity to participate for those 20 minutes. 

I have personally found meditation improves my focus, clarity and perspective.  It’s a breath of fresh air during a busy or stressful day and is most effective when done first thing in the morning or just before retiring for the night. Even stopping for literally one (yes one) minute to take a deep breath can shift the insanity of any given moment.   It’s bizarre to think that we need reminders to breathe, but in our fast paced society we often forget to do this consciously.  If you want to work on this on your own, try setting up a task on your email for an hourly reminder to take a deep breath, and note what subtle shift occurs

Namaste.

Gina Melvin, Director, Operations