Company Meditation – Chilling out for productivity

Recently, I started a meditation course. I’ve actually been meditating daily for nine years, but was persuaded by a close friend, to do this amazing meditation course led by a Swami. Given that I’d never had any formal training and that I’ve always wanted to meet a guru, I signed up without a second thought.

So far what I have learnt is, I actually do know how to meditate, meditation CDs are very good. But meditation is becoming extremely popular, almost mainstream! There were no hippies in the room, in fact there were 86 (yes, that’s not a typo) very normal, middle class people learning how to meditate in a beautiful house in Melbourne. And yes, the Swami is very good (and funny).

Meditation is a growing trend. The Herald Sun reported on how meditation is now moving into the boardroom with numerous studies showing that it improves concentration. Businesses such as NAB, Victoria Police, Diabetes Australia, Origin Energy and The CEO Institute are now running meditation sessions for their staff.

According to research by Medibank Private, workplace stress costs the Australian econony $10.11 billion through poor productivity and absenteeism.

Under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2004, companies are responsible for implementing stress management programs. In Victoria alone, the average cost of a stress-related work claim in 2009 was $51,000. So it makes perfect fiscal sense for companies to introduce company meditation courses to improve stress levels and productivity of their workers and ensure they reduce their work claims.

Given the need for companies to reduce the stress levels of their workers, introducing meditation classes is a great way to help workers and boost morale. It’s only a matter of time before meditation is readily accepted in the workplace, as a quick way to alleviate stress and improve productivity.