Introducing meditation in business environments is no longer frowned upon. Which is brilliant as the power of meditation goes way beyond experiencing more peace of mind. It can change the way the entire company is operating, in a more productive way.
How is that possible, you ask?
In meditation you need to sit still and stay. Ideally, you do not move.
Whenever thoughts arise, the idea is to not react to them. This is not an easy thing to do. Actually, this is what makes meditation quite hard. It’s not the same as putting on some music and chill for a while, that is, well, chilling.
Practise
As with so many things, the more you practise, the easier it gets. Rather ten minutes every single day than two times half an hour. Regular meditation makes body and mind less reactive and you develop the skill to become more responsive instead.
You accustom your mind to not react to every impulse and you can even start choosing your thoughts at some point.
How meditation is useful in business environments
Imagine a colleague saying something that comes across as a threat or insulting.
When there is no control over the mind, you will most likely react in a defensive way, creating a conflict.
However, when you have learned to not react but respond, you will be able to briefly relax and evaluate if you are indeed ‘under attack’.
Is there is a need for your cortisol levels to spike and prepare for battle?
Checking in with the good old fight, flight or freeze mechanism. I leave out the flight option as nowadays, there is more conflict than ever before.
Fear, anxiety and overall tension are at unprecedented levels and we need to address it.
Respond, not react concept
By bringing this concept into practice, we see how meditation can help improve relationships between colleagues, suppliers and management.
When we are able to direct our thoughts and steer away from mindlessly reacting, meditation becomes a very practical tool for a more productive way of working together.
More and more companies are putting mental wellbeing of their employees at the heart of their business with individual coachings, workshops and meditation incentives.
And, there are good reasons to do so! A study from Deloitte in 2017 on mental health found that the return on investment of workplace mental health interventions is overwhelmingly positive, leading to actual results.
In a time where we expect our staff to be able to deal with the constant presence of stress, fear, confusion and anger, there is more need than ever before to support employees.
For more information on Rachel’s Corporate Mindset & Meditation Programmes and workshops, please contact her via rb@revealingvajra.com
Rachel Bonkink
For the past decade, Rachel is on a mission to support as many people as possible in their journey to less anxiety and more joy.
She is a mindset coach and the author of the book Flex Your Mind.
Rachel has a degree in economics and a past corporate career as a COO in a medical market research company. More information and guided Meditations on www.rachelbonkink.com
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