Both the Harvard Business School and Europe’s leading business school, INSEAD, have concluded, from research, that “the two most effective business tools for twenty-first century executives are meditation and intuition”.

Job stress (resulting in poor job performance), coupled with personal stress, could result in such a crippling stress level that it overwhelms and paralyzes, produces emotional outbursts, unbearable anxiety attacks and/or depressive episodes in the affected individual. Most individuals who suffer high levels of stress feel ashamed of their symptoms and attempt to hide them from their employer and/or family members, feeling they are inadequate or inferior because they just can’t cope with the level of stress they are expected to endure in their jobs or life circumstances.

Increased workplace stress has also been scientifically linked to higher chances of poor metabolic health including obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol leading to heart disease or type 2 diabetes. It can compromise the immune system, making a person more prone to infections and communicable illnesses, and can trigger depression. Chronic stress can lead to hypertension, depression and susceptibility to other common physical illnesses.

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Signs of Stress: Each individual has their own carrying capacity for stress they can comfortably bear, and that capacity is continually evolving, affected by various factors over the course of a lifetime, ultimately either creasing or decreasing health risk. When exceeded, for even a short time span, the body gives off warning signals that can include: anxiety, backaches, crying easily, easily angered; road rage, endless worrying; burdened with negative thoughts, fatigue, exhaustion or listlessness, forgetfulness, poor memory, feelings of frustration, fuzzy thinking, irritability and restlessness, lack of focus, trouble concentrating, lack of stamina, low endurance, migraines, minor ailments, aches and pains, mood swings, nervousness, poor decision-making and substance abuse.

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The proven benefits of meditation include: Reduced costs of staff absenteeism caused by illness, injury, stress and long-term illness, improved cognitive function including better concentration, memory, learning ability and creativity, improved productivity and improved overall staff and business well-being, reduced staff turnover and associated costs, enhanced employer/employee and client relationships, reduced Health Insurance premiums for the business, a visible and tangible Corporate Responsibility stance and enhanced employee job satisfaction and higher staff retention.*

Further benefits of meditation include: Reduced endless mind chatter in order to think more clearly, becoming more aware of how you truly feel, and why, improved sleep, weight loss, lower blood pressure and reduced anxiety and depression, better management of the emotional and physical pain that often accompanies medical conditions such as cancer, heart disease, back problems and psoriasis, getting off the worry treadmill and becoming more productive and happy, reduced stress levels, improved concentration and memory, greater self-awareness, increased ability to solve problems creatively, reduction in anxiety, anger and tension, improved relationships, the ability to manage physical pain more effectively, more focus and clarity of thinking, the ability to build unprecedented inner calm regardless of external events, better decision-making skills and significantly more creativity and resourcefulness.

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Who benefits from meditation? Everyone. Executives and line-workers use it to be more effective on the job. Chronic pain sufferers use it to lessen their pain. Doctors prescribe it to patients in preparation for heart surgery. Blue-chip companies and professional sports teams use it to build cohesiveness, fine tune performance, and reduce stress-related illness.

ABOUT OUR MEDITATIONWORKS WORKSHOPS:

Participants in our MEDITATIONWORKS  mindfulness meditation workshops include teachers, lawyers, architects, firefighters, police officers, white and blue collar workers, IT & engineers, high-tech employees and new mothers, among others. They learn that meditation is particularly beneficial when stress in one area of life spills over into other areas, adversely affecting one’s ability to carry out day-to-day functions at work and at home. And everyone can benefit from our downloadable, guided meditation MP3’s that can be found on our products page. Our clients tell us that they’re like “a breath of fresh air during a busy workday” and that they “never leave home without them on their mobile phone or iPod”.

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An excerpt from “Research Findings Support Meditation’s Effectiveness”, by Beth Cohen, University of California: “Daily meditation thickens parts of the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for decision-making, attention and memory… Meditation not only reduces stress, but it also reshapes the brain… Meditation makes employees sharper and more productive… Meditation not only increases employee productivity but also significantly decreases absenteeism, workers compensation and disability claims from stress related illnesses.”

*From the Canadian Payroll and Employment News, February, 2008, Health Canada, 2008, Mental Health Roundtable 2008, Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada, 2008, Watson Wyatt 2007, World Health Organization

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…and if all the above wasn’t quite enough (LOL!), here’s another list of the far-reaching benefits of meditation:

PHYSIOLOGICAL BENEFITS:
1- It lowers oxygen consumption.
2- It decreases respiratory rate.
3- It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
4- Increases exercise tolerance.
5- Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation.
6- Good for people with high blood pressure.
7- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
8- Decreases muscle tension
9- Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc.
10- Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms.
11- Helps in post-operative healing.
12- Enhances the immune system.
13- Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress
14- Enhances energy, strength and vigour.
15- Helps with weight loss
16- Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage
17- Higher skin resistance
18- Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease.
19- Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing.
20- Decreases the aging process.
21- Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
22- prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases
23- Makes you sweat less
24- Cure headaches & migraines
25- Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning
26- Reduced Need for Medical Care
27- Less energy wasted
28- More inclined to sports, activities
29- Significant relief from asthma
30- improved performance in athletic events
31- Normalizes to your ideal weight
32- harmonizes our endocrine system
33- relaxes our nervous system
34- produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity
35- Cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation).

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS:
36- Builds self-confidence.
37- Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour.
38- Resolve phobias & fears
39- Helps control own thoughts
40- Helps with focus & concentration
41- Increase creativity
42- Increased brain wave coherence.
43- Improved learning ability and memory.
44- Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
45- Increased emotional stability.
46- improved relationships
47- Mind ages at slower rate
48- Easier to remove bad habits
49- Develops intuition
50- Increased Productivity
51- Improved relations at home & at work
52- Able to see the larger picture in a given situation
53- Helps ignore petty issues
54- Increased ability to solve complex problems
55- Purifies your character
56- Develop will power
57- greater communication between the two brain hemispheres
58- react more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event.
59- increases one’s perceptual ability and motor performance
60- higher intelligence growth rate
61- Increased job satisfaction
62- increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones
63- decrease in potential mental illness
64- Better, more sociable behaviour
65- Less aggressiveness
66- Helps in quitting smoking, alcohol addiction
67- Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals
68- Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation
69- Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia
70- Increases sense of responsibility
71- Reduces road rage
72- Decrease in restless thinking
73- Decreased tendency to worry
74- Increases listening skills and empathy
75- Helps make more accurate judgements
76- Greater tolerance
77- Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways
78- Grows a stable, more balanced personality
79- Develops emotional maturity

SPIRITUAL BENEFITS:
80- Helps keep things in perspective
81- Provides peace of mind, happiness
82- Helps you discover your purpose
83- Increased self-actualization.
84- Increased compassion
85- Growing wisdom
86- Deeper understanding of yourself and others
87- Brings body, mind, spirit in harmony
88- Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation
89- Increased acceptance of oneself
90- helps learn forgiveness
91- Changes attitude toward life
92- Creates a deeper relationship with your God
93- Attain enlightenment
94- greater inner-directedness
95- Helps living in the present moment
96- Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love
97- Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego
98- Experience an inner sense of “Assurance or Knowingness”
99- Experience a sense of “Oneness”
100- Increases the synchronicity in your life

A note about our MEDITATIONWORKS website: Aside from meditation, there’s nothing like the experience of nature to bring one back to one’s self – to a state of inner balance, and establish a feeling of well-being. We hope you take the time to fully enjoy the magnificent nature photographs on this website. They were deliberately chosen to elicit a feeling of calmness and peace as you peruse the information herein. Welcome to MEDITATIONWORKS! The MEDITATIONWORKS Team

“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.”

– Confucius

Please, sign our petition!

 

It is our intention to lobby the Canada Revenue Agency and make Meditation in the Workplace a recognized Health Benefit in Canada. Click HERE to add your name to the list (privately and securely) and help contribute to the overall safety and well-being of all Canadians in the workplace.

To learn more about how you can help make Meditation a registered health benefit in Canada, click HERE.