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Absenteeism, Body and Mind, Business Performance, Change Management, Focus, Leadership, Managerial Skills, Meditation, People Management Skills, Perception, Productivity, resiliency, Self Care

Meditation for the Individual and Organization

Meditation for the Individual and Organization – Arc Integrated

I have been meditating for some time. I have experienced a wide variety of meditation practices. Practices ranging from breathing exercises to guided meditation to qi gong, a Chinese based practice of held posture or soft movements related to energy cultivation. All of these have found to be valuable in particular ways. Mostly I practice Chi Kung in addition to daily seated meditation. See the link to learn more about my daily practice. However, this post is not about my daily practice. It’s about why meditation for the individual and organization are both so important.

Recently I came across a device call MUSE: The Brain Sensing Headband™ (affiliate link). The device is a headband that gives immediate feedback on brain activity through a synced app on your device. For a detailed account of the process see this link.

Basically, this device works through first calibrating your current brain state (different all the time of course) and sets that stage for how active your brain currently is. From there you get to pick the length of meditation, from three minutes to one hour, and a scene (rain forest or beach) that is associated with your meditation session. You get feedback through sound from the scene you choose. For example, crashing waves when active, soft waves when your brain is calm. In addition, you hear birds chirping when your brain is particularly calm.

When the session is over you get a detailed report of your session and how calm or active your brain was. The detailed account is presented in an easy to read graph of the ups and downs of activity during the session.

So the question may still be – what is the point of meditation? It’s a valid question, with many answers! Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, depression and even improve productivity. Please see highlights below –

Meditation for the Individual

Meditation can have an impact on the body, mind and overall well-being. Below are just some highlights of the impact of meditation on the individual.

Impact on Aging – According to a study at UCLA, they concluded that long term meditators had less age related gray matter in the brain.
Management of Health Conditions – The Mayo Clinic sites meditation as having a high impact on both emotional well-being as well as helping people to manage symptoms of Asthma, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease and more.
Impact on Depression, Anxiety and Pain – In a meta-analysis last year at John Hopkins, researchers determined that mindfulness meditation practices had a moderate impact on depression, anxiety and pain. Here is another resource for how meditation can improve happiness.
Meditation and Self-Control – In a study in 2013 by three universities, it is suggested that meditation training can have an impact on self-control and smoking reduction.

Meditation for the Organization

The impact of meditation on the organization can be significant. Implementing meditation can have an impact on productivity, absenteeism and even the bottom line!

Impact on Absenteeism – According to an article by The Harvard Business Review – employees struggling with depression lose an average of 27 days of work per year. If we know that meditation can have an impact on depression, then this could be a way to improve absenteeism and ultimately save the company time and money.
Impact on Disability – The World Health Organization estimates the depression will be the leading cause of disability by 2020 with heart disease as second. This means high cost to companies that don’t find ways to work towards helping employees reduce and manage such issues.
Impact on Healthcare Costs and Productivity – Corporate mindfulness programs are on the rise. According to an article by The Atlantic, Aetna states that since instituting its mindfulness program it has saved $2000 per employee in healthcare costs and gained $3000 per employee in productivity costs.
Meditation More Common in the Workplace – According to an article by The Society for Human Resource Management, meditation and mindfulness programs are being implemented into wellness programs more regularly because of the great benefits associated.

So how does all this great data relate back to MUSE™? Well, for a few reasons –

Meditation for the Individual and Organization

Easy to Understand Feedback – The immediate feedback MUSE™ gives is unique when it comes to meditation. Often times when meditating it is harder to get immediate results, which is why it takes lots of practice. MUSE™ takes practice too, but offers a way to see the direction you are heading.
Fun in Competition – Meditation is not generally competitive. However, with integration into a company’s wellness program, using MUSE™ in meditation, could be similar to running a challenge of healthy eating, walking or drinking water. For example, a race to get to 75% relaxation or a meditation for 30 days challenge.
Measurable – For those individuals or organizations that want to see progress in a measurable fashion, MUSE™ could be a tool for this. Gathering data over time allows you to see where you started and how far you’ve come.
An Introduction to Meditation – If you have never meditated you may have views, opinions or an image in your mind. This device takes some of the mystery out of the practice and allows for a glimpse into what is possible through calming your mind as well as the relationship between your mind and body. Any way to connect our understanding of how our mind impacts other aspects of our health, is a great opportunity for growth and development.

How have you found meditation to be helpful in your life or workplace?

Please share or comment below.

Thanks!

Michael

P.S. If you’re looking for more resources on stress reduction, mindfulness and adaptability, check out my new book – CHANGES – The Busy Professional’s Guide to Reducing Stress, Accomplishing Goals and Mastering Adaptability.

August 28, 2015/by Michael

Body and Mind, Focus, Intention, Personal Development Coaching, Productivity, resiliency

The 100 Day Intention Experiment – Part 1

About two months ago I was involved in an accident. Since this accident I’ve had lots of questions, first of which was how did I survive. I had slipped and fallen off of a high waterfall and landed in about 1.5 feet of water, but mostly rock. When my friends arrived down to where I had fallen, the look on their faces was as if they had seen a ghost. Thankfully they were able to help me hike out of the woods. I’m lucky to have such great friends. The waterfall was 75 feet. I managed to grab some branches and rocks on the way down so the free fall was only 30 feet or so. I went over the falls head first, but managed to turn myself around and point my feet down so that I was falling vertically. I am very thankful for years of martial arts training that taught me to relax and focus during times of stress. I believe it was this ability to focus, as well as being able to relax and exhale on impact that helped to reduce trauma. After a series of x-rays it was determined that I didn’t even break anything. It was a miracle. I’m still working on rehabbing my ankles and knees, but overall I’m good.

This post is less about that story and more about what this experience pushed me towards. Like I said, I’ve had lots of thoughts since this accident; gratitude, curiosity, wonder, fear etc. One thought that has come up regularly is intention. The experience made me ask a great question – “How intentional are my moments, days, weeks and general direction?” So I decided to create an intention experiment.

I definitely have lots of good things going on right now and am busy, but wasn’t as intentional as I would like, so I changed. Today is day 50 of a 100 day experiment I decided to start. This experiment was inspired by my study of daily practices in graduate school, my martial arts practice and an inspirational story I heard about a man named Hal Elrod. If you don’t know Hal’s story, you should look into it. He wrote a book called The Miracle Morning, which is also worth checking out. The idea is about setting a routine at the first part of the day that then sets the tone for the rest of the day, physically and mentally. So, why 100 days? It seemed like a nice round number and also enough time to form a new habit, which is my goal.

Having a daily practice is not something new for me. However, I haven’t had a regular routine like this that is regimented and covers a few different focal points. I want to share the routine because I’ve found it to be so helpful. The order has had some variation but for the most part this is how it goes:

I wake up, brush my teeth, splash some water on my face and sometimes put in my contacts.
I do 10 minutes of seated meditation. The meditation I do is mostly just focused on relaxation and how I’m breathing. I do this first because I’ve noticed that I recall my dreams much better, which often times there are some nuggets of inspiration there for me.
A short warm up, stretching and moving and then into a Tai Chi form that I have been practicing for the last 7 years or so. I think I’m at the point now finally that I can do this form and feel like a beginner. There is so much to the art of Tai Chi, but that’s for another post.
I then start a Chi Kung which I have also been practicing for some time now. Chi Kung is another kind of meditation.
I do about 10-15 minutes of movement that helps to get my blood flowing even more. Usually this consists of martial arts forms/movements/stances, pushups, pull ups, sit ups and some stretching.
To wrap it up I journal. The journaling usually has three elements.
- I write about whatever mood I wake up in or what’s on my mind.
- I write about my dreams I remember and what kind of meaning I can draw from them.
- Most importantly, I write about my intention for the day. I find that writing my goals and what I intend to accomplish for the day has been a powerful exercise for me. Sometimes I write down intentions for longer term goals as they relate to what is happening currently.

Since I started this routine I’ve noticed some really great opportunities develop in my business, I have been feeling better physically and seem to be more productive. This may just be coincidence, although I don’t believe that. I do believe that creating clear goals and intentions for our time, creates results. I have noticed that my time has been spent more focused. This routine has helped me get clear about the direction of my business as well as directions and goals I am taking on personally.

I really believe having a daily practice has so much to offer. My story and practice is unique, just like yours. Starting the day with focus on mental clarity, physical health and intention seems to be a great recipe for success. It works well for me because I’ve incorporated some practices that I already love. Combining practices that I really enjoy with ones that are harder to do (especially in the morning) has been a good mix. I look forward to reflecting on this practice after another 50 days.

What is your recipe for success?

Best,

Michael

May 12, 2015/by Michael

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