Headspace Online Meditation to Hit the Corporate World

Posted on by Tammy

Headspace, an online and app-based meditation service with more than 2 million users, plans to release an enterprise product next year aimed at companies who want to provide mindfulness training to employees, CEO Sean Breker told The Huffington Post.

The Headspace app currently provides audio of guided meditation sessions and allows its users track their progress. It also includes animations and instructions explaining the science behind mindfulness and how meditation offers mental and physical benefits.

So far the company offered corporate packages on its app to a limited number of businesses and other institutions — including HuffPost. A yearly subscription runs $95, which is just under $8 per month. The company is now focused on launching the product to meet the needs — some uniquely requested already — of companies. It should be released at some point next year, according to Breker.

“We’ll only tackle that enterprise market when we feel like we have the resources to build out the product,” Brecker said in the report. “We’ll do it when the time is right, and we have the right product and we have the right team to build that product.”

For more on Headspace, visit www.headspace.com.

Elevated Existence New Meditation Books & CDs Picks

Posted on by Tammy

Here are Elevated Existence editor’s newest picks for books and CDs on meditation, including a new CD by Marianne Williamson, and a book by Sharon Salzberg.

“Meditations of the Heart: Liberating the Power of Love,” by Andrew Harvey & Marianne Williamson
Bestselling author Marianne Williamson joins spiritual activist Andrew Harvey as they guide listeners through a series of questions and practices to harness the love within, fulfill their purpose and help others.

“Mindfulness @ Work,” by Anna Black
The author, Anna Black, offers short and easy mindfulness meditations for people to use throughout the work day in order to strengthen focus and concentration, enhance work relationships and relieve stress.

“Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement & Peace,” by Sharon Salzberg
Introducing the eight pillars of happiness in the workplace, Sharon Salzberg shares subtle meditations for pre- and post-meeting, finding meaning in seemingly meaningless tasks, dealing with mistakes and more.

Inside General Mills’ Mindful Leadership Program

Posted on by Tammy

For the past seven years, employees at General Mills have been practicing meditation and yoga in the workplace, which started as a side project by one executive, according to a recent article by FT Magazine.

“It’s about training our minds to be more focused, to see with clarity, to have spaciousness for creativity and to feel connected,” Janice Marturano, General Mills’ deputy general counsel, who founded the program, recently told the magazine. “That compassion to ourselves, to everyone around us – our colleagues, customers – that’s what the training of mindfulness is really about.”

Now known as “Mindful Leadership,” the program involves sitting meditation and yoga, and more than 400 executives have taken part, according to the article.

General Mills also researched the results of the program, and after taking the seven-week course, 83 percent reported “taking time each day to optimize my personal productivity,” which was up 23 percent from before taking the course, the magazine reported. Additionally, 82 percent said they make time to eliminate tasks that offer limited productivity value, which was up 32 percent from before taking the course.

There were also significant results from senior executives who participated in the program, specifically, 80 percent reported a positive change in their ability to make better decisions, and 89 percent believed they became better listeners, the article stated. Even the CIO of General Mills completed the program in 2007, and still meditates for 30 minutes to one hour three to four times per week.

“The premise is to be open to what is happening right now,” he told the magazine. “There isn’t such a thing as multitasking. What people call multitasking is really shifting attention back and forth between activities very fast.”

For the full article, visit FT Magazine.

Dream Town Realty Offers Complimentary Meditation & Yoga to Employees

Posted on by Tammy

Chicago real estate company, Dream Town, dedicated to first-time home buyers and doing business mostly online, is offering its brokers and full-time employees a meditation course focused on stress management, meditation and learning how to react mindfully in day to day life. Led by Dr. Chris Chroniak and The Insight Center, so far 50 of the company’s real estate brokers completed the course.

In conjunction with its traditional employee benefits, Dream Town has placed heavy emphasis on providing services and resources that promote wellness and help employees maintain a healthy work-life balance.

“Real estate is a demanding business with a frenetic pace at work,” said Yuval Degani, Dream Town founder and president. “When we offer our people opportunities like this mediation class, it’s an all around benefit. This is a real impact on their personal life and they reap the fruits of that in their real estate career. There is a perfect correlation.”

Additionally, another group of Dream Town employees will be attending The Insight Center’s July/August meditation course and will be going on a scholarship, as the course usually cost $495. Participants will attend a weekly group class for eight weeks and will receive instruction on how to maintain their daily practice and meditation at home. The aim of the course is to promote both internal relaxation and empowerment, according to the company.

In addition to meditation courses, Degani also provides onsite yoga classes, organic produce delivery and free massages.

Meditation Can Decrease Stress and Increase Productivity at Work

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Computer scientist and professor with the Information School at the University of Washington, David Levy, decided to do research on the benefits of meditation in the workplace after reading the book “The One Who Is Not Busy: Connecting to Work in a Deeply Satisfying Way,” by Darlene Cohen. What he discovered was those who trained in meditation were about to stay on task longer, felt less distracted and stress levels decreased.

He had three groups of human resources: the first had eight weeks of mindfulness-based meditation training; the second had eight weeks of body-relaxation training; and the third had meditation training after the eight weeks was over, according to a report at www.houmatoday.com.

Each person was tested on stress and multi-tasking abilities before and after the eight week trial, and researchers found the meditation group not only had lower stress levels during multitasking tests, but also were able to concentrate longer without being distracted.

Stress levels did not decrease for the other two groups, however, once the third group received the meditation training, stress did decrease.

“Meditation is a lot like doing reps at a gym. It strengthens your attention muscle,” Levy said in the report.