Making major executive or even life decisions can be difficult for most people. Bringing one’s mind to calm and rest can restore inner peace and provide greater mental clarity. Daily meditation optimizes peak productivity performance levels. Slowing down and letting the body quit fighting the current is important in today’s fast-paced world. Centuries old, the practice of meditation can still the mind and even bolster the body.
Silicon Valley, USA. Tech giants Twitter and Facebook’s respective founders have held regular in-office meditation sessions. These entrepreneurs are reshaping the old Buddhist practices to match the Valley’s goal-oriented, data-driven culture. It is about training the brain and increasing focus, being serene as well as productive, building the capacity for being creative. Apple, Google and Intel are some other top companies who have incorporated in-office meditation, to name a few.
The Google-guru
In Google’s offices in California, you might come across Chade-Meng Tan, also known as Meng. A Google pioneer, award-winning engineer, international bestselling author and philanthropist, Meng’s aim within Google is to make people happier. Outside of Google, it is to make the world a more peaceful and serene place.
A few years ago, Meng noticed that many of his colleagues were simply unhappy at work. They seemed to be bored with the repetition, living without any personal satisfaction, and that led to unhappiness. Meng’s awareness of these situations led him to believe that offering a course to his co-workers, teaching the skills of mindfulness to enhance emotional intelligence, might help. Meng decided to convince his bosses to create this type of course within Google. His wish was granted, and Meng transitioned to the Human Resources department to run it. The course is called ‘Search Inside Yourself’. This name also became the title of his bestselling book, which explains the course’s techniques in detail.
‘’Search Inside Yourself’’ teaches us that the secret of happiness is available to all of us in just three simple steps:
Step 1: "Calm your mind’’
The first is a breathing exercise to calm our brains, or as Meng says “to calm the snow globes’’ in our skulls. His suggestion is to find easy ways to take small breaks during the day, and to take pauses to be mindful or concentrate on our breathing. How? He suggests thinking about nothing for a little bit.
Does it work? There is some evidence that mindfulness can help stave off negative thoughts. A recent review of 209 studies found that the practice can help treat depression, anxiety and stress. Some researchers even claim that the stress-reduction promised by meditation could help slow the effects of aging.
Step 2: “Log moments of joy”
This means simply saying to yourself, “I am having a moment of J-O-Y !” as Oprah Winfrey might say. This can be at any given moment: a phone call with a person you appreciate, a smile, a delicious wrap you are eating, or buying that cool bracelet you’ve been dreaming about.
When negative things happen throughout the day, it might be hard for some of us to filter what is good out of it. We may tend to hold on to the bad moments and ignore that there have been many good things.
There are many moments in just one day. The good things, however, are more fleeting and ephemeral at times. We may want to think the glass is half empty when the glass might be half full. The hypothesis is that noting positive experiences outweighs our negative experiences. So, by consciously acknowledging the good things, says Meng, when we reflect on our day, we increase our chances of concluding that it was a happy one.
Step three: “Wish other people to be happy”
According to Meng, philanthropic thoughts are truly beneficial. Humans derive joy from giving, even more than from receiving. Meng believes that there is a self-evident need to infuse life with compassion, simply by performing kind acts for others. Kindness can interrupt a stress cycle so both giver and receiver reset their batteries and move forward to create new momentum.
Here are two techniques for quick in-office meditation:
Red dot meditation
This technique suggests taking red circular sticker dots and posting them around your desk, or if possible, in the office. When walking by and noticing, we can think of it as a tiny STOP sign. Take a moment and simply pause, stop, connect with your body and bring your awareness to what you are physically experiencing at this very moment. Imagine a screenshot of your body, from head to toe. Pay attention to your breath, then move on with whatever activity you were doing at that given moment. These red circular dots can be bought at any stationary store and are small enough so that few people will notice them. It is a helpful tool to take a brief moment in time, instead of rushing through the place.
Ding meditation
Set a timer to go off once an hour, for instance, on your mobile phone. After sixty minutes the timer will go off and it will allow you to raise your head, lift your chin, connect with your posture while sitting in your office chair and meditate for 1 minute. Breathe in and out, take a moment to observe and tune in to your own breath, breathing in 5 seconds, holding 3 seconds, breathing out 5 seconds. The most important point is to find your flow within this breathing exercise. It is important to see what feels good for you. You will find that rhythm, the inner music of your spirit, once all the sounds have calmed down.
Living in the moment and being present allows us to simply focus. This ‘’focused’’ behavior becomes routine, and maximizes efficiency and effectiveness. Towards that end, developing your own meditation programs at your company can provide a source of inspiration for your boss and colleagues.
‘Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?’-David M.Bader
Sources: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141110-googles-algorithm-for-happiness
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/chade-meng-tan-google_n_5051031.html
Photo credit: GBNews Reporters
