"Inner peace and stillness is essential in every human life."
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More employers are realizing the benefits of meditation. Desiree D'Costa reports.
peace in our work time
Desiree D'Costa
The Sunday Telegraph CareerOne section
Sunday June 12 2005
More Australian bosses are taking time out from work each day to meditate, a recent study shows.
More than half the employers surveyed said they meditated to get through stressful situations at work according to the Purpose and Spirit in the workplace report. The study, by consulting firm Dattner Grant revealed 19 per cent of Australian bosses use the technique to relieve stress. Fabian Dattner said the growing trend was a positive sign for workers. Executives now consider that taking time out is a key to managing uncertain times Ms Dattner said.
One company that is embracing the practice is national chain Video Ezy. Chief Executive Steve Johnston said after trying out meditation to relieve stress he decided more of his employees should enjoy its benefits. Mr Johnston recently introduced the Peace at Work meditation technique to the Video Ezy head office.
Employees are welcome to have meditation sessions every day they are encouraged to do so he said. The feedback from staff has been great, the morale is uplifted and workers are more productive, even if the company spends money it is worth the cost in the long run. Mr Johnston said organizations have lost sight of what is important for their workers, focusing more on physical health rather than mental.
Physical fitness is important, but in a working environment mental fitness is even more crucial he said. We as a society tend to ignore fitness of the mind. Meditation is a great way to help prepare the mind to focus and clear away the little things that cloud our perspective, giving us a greater ability to tackle problems.
I find that a positive attitude filters down through a company, if the management are working well and happy it encourages the same from staff. Ms. Dattner said two generations ago business leaders were urged to put emotions to one side to build a successful business.
In the late '80's and '90's we re-engineered. We down-sized and gave birth to a generation who no longer trusted or were loyal to their leaders she said. Today, leaders know that the spirit is an intangible element in the workplace.
People are better able to focus on what's important, screening out distractions or choices that take them away from what is important right now. Quieting our internal distractions can help us perceive our surroundings more clearly.
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