So what the heck is corporate meditation? Isn’t it a waste of time? Will corporate meditation turn my employees into lazy hippies? Is it just superstitions and woowoo mumbojumbo? Just what can I expect in a corporate meditation program? This article will answer these questions and more.

Workplace stress is the #1 cause of stress. We bring that stress home with us and it affects us in countless ways. It can lead to anxiety and depression. Furthermore, stress can lead to heart disease, chronic pain, stroke and even death. Stress is the cause of up to 90% of all doctor’s visits.

That’s why there are corporate meditation programs. Corporate meditation programs don’t just help workers manage their emotions, be more engaged and present. They’ll also feel more satisfied and fulfilled at work and in their lives.

Just as a coffee break is a time off that ultimately helps employees be more productive, corporate meditation helps employees destress and recharge. It helps companies save money on employee turnover, fewer sick days and higher productivity. Additionally, it helps workers be more innovative, make fewer costly mistakes, and think more clearly.

Countless peer-reviewed scientific studies all confirm the benefits of meditation. Now I’ll explain what a corporate meditation program is, what takes place, and then how your company can utilize one.

What is a Corporate Meditation Program?

A corporate meditation program is any kind of educational opportunity for employees and executives to learn and practice meditation. This can be having a keynote speaker, a half or full-day workshop, or an annual weekend retreat. Even a daily or weekly meditation class is something many companies are opting for.

1. What to Expect From Corporate Meditation Keynote

A keynote will usually include explaining the root causes of workplace stress and difficulty. It will then explain the solutions to our workplace problems. There will then be some instruction on how to meditate followed by a meditation. A Q&A session will conclude the keynote.

2. What to Expect From Corporate Meditation and Mindfulness Workshops

Corporate Meditation Workshops tend to be a half-day or full-day affair. These provide for much more in-depth teachings, activities, mindfulness exercises, team-building and trust-building.

Expect a few teaching topics that can then be put into practice in a variety of ways. Short meditations take place throughout the workshop. Additionally, there will be many opportunities for Q&As and group discussions.

The group exercises in workshops can also help companies overcome issues of jealousy, back-stabbing and other types of office dysfunction.

3. What to Expect From Corporate Mindfulness and Meditation Retreat

Retreats are excellent ways to really go deep and have a crash course in corporate mindfulness and meditation. Taking place offsite on beautiful grounds in luxurious resorts, retreats allow companies to really solve any kind of dysfunction in the workplace.

These 2 or 3-day retreats (can be longer) really help workers recenter, relax, recharge and refocus. There is nothing quite like extended time in nature to just focus on ourselves.

Schedules include lots of opportunities for teaching, meditation, yoga, relaxation, team bonding, Q&As, and healthy delicious food. Firstly, retreats away from the office let our bodies and mind unwind. Secondly, they allow us to heal on deep and profound levels. Thirdly, they can really boost our meditation practice and speed up our results.

4. What to Expect From Corporate Meditation Classes

Daily, weekly, or bi-weekly meditation classes are great ways for the whole office to get really committed to their daily meditation practice.

As the great meditation teacher Goenka said, “Continuity is the key to success.”

Classes are typically 30 minutes or an hour long in the morning, afternoon, or both. While some offices prefer them during lunch hour.

Classes consist of brief instruction followed by a 20-minute meditation. Also, the classes conclude with a brief lesson in mindfulness or an inspirational, uplifting story.

Meditation classes provide opportunities for employees’ meditation practice to have a sense of community and camaraderie. They’re great for any employee who’s fallen out of the habit, and also so new hires can get started any time.

Daily practice of meditation is so important for lasting benefits. Regular classes are great ways to help achieve that. There’s really no substitute for having personal instruction.

Expect a Good Corporate Meditation Program to Include Mindfulness

A good meditation program will include some teachings about mindfulness. Mindfulness is the mental understanding of our thought processes and emotions. Meditation is the practice of observing those processes. Through mindfulness, we learn. But through meditation, we can know it deep down because we’ve experienced it.

For example, mindfulness teachings will point out how our stress is caused by resisting a current circumstance and craving for things to be different. Meditation is the practice of simply accepting whatever comes up in our mind, and thus letting go of stress.

With meditation and mindfulness, we are learning to become experts in our own minds. Think of it like learning to play basketball. Learning the rules and the way the game is played is like mindfulness. Practicing is like meditation. You can’t get good at basketball without both learning and practicing.

What Results You Can Expect From a Corporate Meditation Program

While workers report back that the corporate meditation programs were fun, informative, and de-stressing, that’s actually not the goal.

The goal of a corporate meditation program is to set up employees and executives for success long after the program is over. The goal of any program is to build a solid foundation in meditation and mindfulness. Furthermore, it is to ensure that workers have a well-established daily meditation practice and everything they need to keep it up.

An office that meditates together succeeds together.

Study after study shows that corporate meditation programs lead to fewer sick days, higher productivity, better culture and also better relationships. Additionally, quality goes up, stress goes down, and most importantly, profits go up.

Check out this article on how meditation lowers employee turnover rates.