People have practiced meditation for around 5,000 years, according to historians. It’s used to reduce anxiety and stress, improve concentration and enhance overall feelings of wellbeing.
The first written records of meditation date from 1500 BC in India, but scholars believe it was used to improve emotional wellness as long ago as 3000 BC.
In the early years, it was believed to enhance people’s understanding of the mystical and sacred forces of life.
What is meditation?
In the 21st century, mindfulness meditation is often used to help promote a sense of calm in busy lives. In simple terms, it’s a method of focusing on a particular thought, object or activity to help attain an emotionally calm and mentally clear state of mind.
Over time, repeatedly practicing mindfulness meditation can help people to train their awareness into a positive and stable state. This can help avoid the negative thoughts that can send us spiralling into despair.
What are the benefits of meditation?
Commonly used as a complementary therapy for people suffering from stress and anxiety disorders, the health benefits are well-known among health professionals.
Meditation can provide us with a sense of peace, calm and balance to improve overall health – our emotional wellbeing in particular.
Stressed people find it easier to relax by focusing on calming thoughts, with the aim of achieving and maintaining inner peace.
Meditation before work can be beneficial when faced with a busy day ahead but the calm feelings don’t stop when the session finishes – it can help us to hold onto that feeling of inner peace throughout the working day, providing both physical and emotional benefits, including enabling people to better manage the symptoms of existing medical issues.
The physical health benefits can include slowing down the resting heart rate, reducing blood pressure and aiding restful sleep.
Combined with physical exercise before work, meditation can be the most positive start to the day you can have.
Are the health benefits proven?
The scientific benefits of meditation have been well documented, with many studies having been completed over the years.
A total of 38 scientific studies carried out into mindfulness meditation have concluded it can help to reduce feelings of depression often suffered by people in chronic pain. It can help sick people to control and reduce the pain and improve their overall quality of life.
The emotional benefits can include becoming more self-aware and focusing on the present, rather than feeling anxious about what might happen later. It can help us build skills to manage stress, providing a new way of looking at the things that cause anxiety. This can help to reduce negative feelings that can become overwhelming if left unchecked.
Meditation can also help us to be patient, rather than experiencing feelings of agitation and anger. Once we begin to feel an inner peace, this can help us to be more creative, which can be invaluable in the workplace.
Positive mindset at work
Meditating in the morning can bring a positive mindset to the whole working day. It’s something that doesn’t require expensive equipment: you simply need a place to practice.
If you’re unfamiliar with meditation, start with just five minutes in the morning until you become used to the ritual.
Current research suggests the ideal session length is 12 minutes. You can build up to this over a few days or weeks.
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