All You Need To Know About Corporate Meditation Classes

The 5 Most Popular Types Of Corporate Meditation Classes

1. 6-Week Corporate Mindfulness Program

   This is what we recommend the most often, to most organizations, most of the time! Why? Six weeks is a sweet spot–long enough to see meaningful results but short enough to implement quickly.

   Generally, this means bringing in a facilitator for around an hour a week, for six weeks. The facilitator should tailor the program to the unique needs of your organization.

   At Twello, our most popular 6-week courses are:
   – Mindfulness 101
   – Mindfulness For Stress Reduction 
   – Mindfulness For Maintaining Work-Life Balance
   – Mindfulness For Improving Focus 
   – Mindfulness For Boosting Creativity
   – Mindfulness For Improved Sleep

   If you are thinking that an hour seems like a long time to meditate – you’re right, it is! Our sessions are a mixture of presentation, education, journaling and meditation to fill the hour which gives participants something to “take home.”

2. Onsite Meditation Classes

   Just like it sounds! Bringing a qualified meditation instructor into the office to teach a meditation class to your team. The real, meaningful results require consistent classes whether that be daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly. Peak Wellness Co. offers on-demand onsite meditation classes.

3. Virtual Meditation Classes

   As 2020 continues to change the workplace, we are still committed to making as many mindful offices as possible – even if this means home offices! All onsite classes are currently offered virtually as well. These classes have been specifically designed with a corporate audience in mind, no crystals or candles here! The content is secular and does not reference any specific religion or spirituality.

   Our virtual mindfulness meditation classes always open up with a mini-meditation (~5 minutes), a short educational presentation or fun fact, and close with an extended meditation of 10-20 minutes, depending on the class length.

4. Mindfulness Meditation Workshops/Seminars

   Just like other workplace workshops, a mindfulness meditation seminar explains the history of mindfulness, and the research behind it and teaches the participants how to practice mindfulness on their own.

   This format is a great fit as part of a wellness week, in line with mental health initiatives, and a great addition to other stress management programming!

5. 1:1 Executive Mindfulness Training

   Individual consultations are great for providing custom-tailored mindfulness training. Just like a personal trainer, an executive mindfulness coach works directly with the individual to hone their leadership skills.

   More and more research is showing the link between mindful leadership and business growth. Prominent founders have linked their personal meditation practice to the success of their companies including SalesForce’s Marc Benioff, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, and LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner (not to mention OPRAH!).

9 Benefits of Corporate Meditation Classes

1. Researchers from the Harvard Medical School have found that a meditation program can cause changes in the regions of the brain responsible for learning and working memory capacity. In a high-stress work environment, this can result in employees staying on task longer, improving time management skills and having better task performance.
2. A study conducted at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands found a link between mindfulness and creativity. This means those who meditate regularly tend to improve their problem-solving abilities and come up with more out-of-the-box ideas both of which are skills that can be beneficial in the workplace.
3. Researchers at Boston University found that meditation programs can reduce anxiety and depression making workers more optimistic and increasing their satisfaction with their careers.
4. Stanford University School of Medicine conducted a study that shows meditation can lead to a 30% decrease of stress-related symptoms that can lead to serious illness. This can help to increase attendance for workers minimize the occurrence of paid and unpaid absences, lowering healthcare costs and boost productivity overall.
5. Highly stressed employees can incur an additional $2,000 per year in healthcare costs as compared to their less-stressed peers. For companies, this can amount to million of dollars a year in stress-related charges.
6. 58% of Americans say work is a significant source of stress. The main sources of stress include workload (36%), people issues (31%), work-life balance (20%), job security (8%)) and others (5%). Unfortunately, millennials experience more depression at work than any other generation.
7. One study of more than 85,000 adults revealed that the number of workers who practice yoga doubled from 2002 to 2012 going from 6-11%. Meditation rates increased from 8-9.9%.
8. A 2018 study showed that a workplace mindfulness intervention may be associated with improved psychological well-being and productivity.
9. A 2005 study showed health care professionals that participated in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program improved mood and empathy while lowering levels of stress.

How To Implement Corporate Meditation Training: A Roadmap

Mindfulness meditation is the fastest growing wellness trend in North America, outpacing yoga and (really) outpacing CrossFit.

Meditation and mindfulness training in the workplace is also spreading like wildfire.

*Record Scratch*

*Freeze Frame*

You’re probably wondering how we ended up in this situation!

Now you have been tasked with implementing corporate meditation training at your organization.

This article will explain five easy steps to getting your mindfulness training up and running!

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

1. Identify Core Workplace Stressors

   • Following mindfulness meditation training, in an office setting, one of the most notable changes in employees is reduced stress.

2. Build A Task Force

   • Build a small team to help you promote, implement and find resources for your training program. The best task forces are diverse. Ideally, try to find one representative from multiple functions such as People Operations, Finance (never hurts to have someone with purse strings on your side!) and Sales.

3. Create A Quantifiable “Before” Measure

   • This will allow you to calculate the ROI of your programming. Employee experience surveys are very common for this. There are also stress-specific questionnaires you could deliver before and after the program.

4. Hire A Skilled Mindfulness Meditation Facilitator

   • ⚠️ Warning! ⚠️ This may be a controversial suggestion but I would highly recommend choosing a facilitator that has a background in the corporate world. There are three reasons for this:1) With a background in a corporate environment, the facilitator can understand and empathize with the day-to-day stresses of a 40+ hour work-week.2) Language or techniques taught in a studio are not the same as the language used in a corporate setting.An example of this may be, in a studio setting, “This is an ancient tradition used to promote inner peace and send compassion around the world.” 99/100 times, this will not fly in a corporate environment.A seasoned facilitator, with a corporate background, will be able to translate the same practice into workplace wording: “Research shows meditation is able to reduce stress and improve focus after just one session.”3) Corporate environments are very different from the studios. Workplace facilitators teach in boardrooms, lunchrooms and even auditoriums! The facilitator must be extra mindful to ensure that the session is accessible to every employee and can be done from their office chair.Ok, ⚠️ Warning! ⚠️ over!

5. Measure Your Results & Ask For Feedback

   • Very closely tied to number three, this step closes the loop and allows for feedback on the program. Ideally, you are able to repeat the same survey or questionnaire that you chose in step three.It is also worthwhile to seek out anecdotal feedback from your employees in-person. Their thoughts and suggestions will only help you to improve the second program.
     

     There you have it!