Meditation connects body, mind & spirit to increase productivity

The pressures at work can be endless. It can be meeting deadlines or dealing with clients or challenging colleagues. Add to this list overtime issues, and the pressure to increase productivity. There is a need to make the most of your skills. You also have a desire to use your talents and experience. So the tensions are never-ending.

Then there are those small questions that keep bothering you. Are those excellent employment opportunities meant for me? How can I stand out in the crowd and beat the competition when it comes to that promotion? How do I know when to take risks that will pay off? How can I enhance my creative skills and have a more meaningful workday?

Bloomberg Businessweek states, "Meditation improves the qualities of an employee. It increases intuition, concentration, and alleviates aches and pains that bother most employees."

Meditation has been around for thousands of years because it is effective. It rejuvenates the body, mind, and spirit. Let us see how it benefits the life of working individuals.

For any employee, manager, supervisor or even CEO, there is a commonality - stress. Workplace stress, when not checked, can result in burnt-out employees. They spend half the time managing anger, dread or anxiety, rather than the business.

American Institute of Stress says this currently costs the USA “over $300 billion a year". There is an increase in absenteeism and employee turnover. Their productivity becomes low while their medical, legal, and insurance expenses go up. So workplace stress can have undesirable side effects and is a threat to the balance sheet. Performance gets affected over time.

Stress in the workplace is unavoidable, but you can always make an effort to reduce it. There is no better antidote to stress than meditation. "It increases one’s resilience," believes McKinsey partner, Michael Rennie. He thinks,"What’s good for the spirit is good for the bottom line!"

Many studies show the relaxing effects of meditation. A relaxed mind can handle work challenges better. P&G’s CEO A.G. Lafley says, “You cannot outwork a problem, you have to out-meditate it.”

Workplace pressures can cause a range of physical and emotional illnesses.In today’s fast-paced business world, people are often exhausted, causing ill health. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that 20% of patients in Europe have mental issues.

Meditation helps to deal with stress by soothing the nervous system. It improves the general health of the employee. It reduces the risk of heart disease or stroke. It also abates clinical depression and a myriad of other conditions.

Result: Employee absenteeism gets minimized. A regular practice of meditation reduces the number of sick leaves an employee takes. It also increases their general well being.

All great leaders and statesman are intuitive decision makers. What does intuition mean? In simple words, it is the skill to KNOW – beyond data, reason,and logic. It is available to all but only a few uses and develops this ability. We rely on our logical mind so much that we ignore the power of the bigger intuitive mind. When you meditate, you recognize the voice of the big mind - the gut, it never goes wrong.

Meditation enhances your intuition, observation, and perception. With improved intuitive ability you take superior and holistic decisions.

Stress causes tempers to flare. It sours relationships. Teams become less cooperative and cohesive. The practice of meditation relaxes and calms the mind. It develops harmony in the mind and emotions. It improves the morale of the staff and creates a happy and healthy workplace. It creates a harmonious workforce, and they are always more productive.