More businesses are mapping out space for meditation in their office plans as a low-cost method for reducing stress, increasing productivity, and even improving team dynamics. But just like when you’re setting up your boardrooms and breakout spaces, you need to carefully plan out your meditation room to get the most out of mindfulness.
What are the benefits of meditation at work?
Spending as little as 5 minutes a day to be present is directly related to improved focus, memory, mood, and communication. While we don’t know whether the relationship between meditation and productivity is causative or correlative, we do know they work in tandem.
Less stress
If reducing stress were the only proven benefit, it would still make sense for companies to set up meditation spaces. According to the American Institute of Stress, work-related stress leads to increases in:
- Absenteeism
- Turnover
- Medical costs
- Legal costs
Stress can also reduce productivity. The institute estimates the total economic impact on U.S. employers at $300 billion.
Meditation can help you manage stress by creating new ways of seeing yourself and your thoughts. For example, mindful meditation starts with the attention phase, where you focus on your thoughts and sensations in the present moment. In the acceptance phase, you simply take a mental step back and observe those same thoughts and sensations, free of any judgment. Instead of reacting to them, you are observing them, and that distance creates a sense of control.
With regular meditation practice, you can start to separate yourself from your emotions more easily. Eventually, even in highly stressful situations, you notice the stress but aren’t controlled by it.
Better decision-making
It depends on the variety, but many forms of meditation center around narrowing your focus, blocking out distractions. All that practice paying close attention to your breathing pays off in increased cognition and the ability to sustain attention, two key skills for better decision-making. And because meditation is a way for people to separate themselves from their emotions, it can help them make more rational, objective decisions. Or at least better understand why they’re making emotional ones.
More emotional intelligence and stronger connections
The workplace has always been a collaborative environment, but now more than ever, the quality of our work depends on our relationships within our team. For remote or hybrid work model employees, making and maintaining connections with coworkers is critical. When you see people less often, you need to make the most of the time you get to spend face to face.
Meditation strengthens your emotional awareness, both of yourself and those around you, making you more empathetic and receptive to coworkers’ needs. It also helps people regulate their moods, making everyone easier to get along with. And although still in its early stages, some research suggests meditation helps reduce prejudice.
Memory
Everyone has a lot on their plates. But as our stress grows, our memory — and even our IQ — shrinks, and we can’t even recall what we said five minutes ago. Mindfulness removes the clutter from your mind, so you can better remember key details and important dates.
Even something as simple as remembering where you put your notes for that big presentation helps save time and reduce stress.
More focused listening
It can be challenging to stay focused on the here and now, and we regularly let our minds wander while someone else is talking. Rather than asking your colleagues to constantly repeat themselves or put it in writing, regular meditation makes you a better listener, and because your memory is also improving, you’ll be able to store these conversations in your clutter-free mind.
Stronger leadership
“Let go of your ego,” turns out to be great advice not only for meditators but also leaders. In fact, according to Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, leaders must get over the “ego barrier,” which he explains is the “subliminal defense mechanisms that make it hard for you to accept your mistakes and weaknesses.”
According to the Harvard Business Review, “Our ego wants us to be right, and it perceives failure as a threat. With meditation practice, as our fixation on ego drops away, our tendency to take things personally drops away as well.” It’s the first step to being more objective and being able to make better decisions.
While meditation helps us move away from our ego, it also helps us move closer to others. And those stronger relationships make it easier to rally the group to a common cause.
What should you include in a meditation room?
Just because people associate meditation with “quieting the mind” doesn’t mean a meditation room always needs to be quiet. There are forms of meditation you can practice just as easily on a noisy subway car as on the top of a mountain. That said, if you’re trying to get as many people as possible on the team into meditation, you want a space that supports beginner and veteran meditators alike. You need a space that’s quiet, with soft lighting, and comfortable spots to sit.
Pick the right spot
Start by finding a space that’s away from foot traffic, noise, and even distracting smells. So, that spare room by the elevator bank isn’t going to do. And the room by the lunchroom is also not going to work out. Not only is there a steady stream of noise, but the smells from all those pots of coffee and microwaved lunches can be distractions, too.
If the space is still a bit noisy even with the door closed, you can add a rug and extra pillows to absorb some of the noise.
Ideally, you want a space that’s easily accessible to everyone in the office, but also a bit tucked away.
Soften the lighting
Once you have your space, look for ways to control the lighting. Soft, diffused lighting promotes relaxation, but don’t go too far. A big challenge for beginner meditators is getting so relaxed they accidentally fall asleep. So, you want lighting that promotes calm reflection without making people drowsy.
Depending on the overall office layout, it might make sense to bring in natural light. If it’s too harsh, though, install thick curtains.
Support sitting
It’s the same challenge for furniture: You need it to be comfortable but not too comfortable. Get chairs with strong, supportive backs. Because modern office chairs have so many adjustable features, they can be perfect for mediation spaces. Large floor pillows are another option.
Add focus objects
Add plants, small pieces of art, prints, and even decorative lamps to the room to support object-focused forms of meditation. Although the breath, feelings, and thoughts are meditation mainstays for focused attention, many people prefer to meditate eyes open. Make sure there are at least a few interesting objects to look at in the room.
How can you support mindfulness spaces with software?
A simple set of policies keeps the office meditation room from becoming a source of stress. Ask employees to keep conversations to a minimum and never louder than a whisper. Guided meditation apps are popular, but make sure people use headphones.
Facility and office managers can add meditation spaces to their workplace experience room booking software, so employees can book spots the same way they reserve a desk or meeting room. It can be a good idea to always leave a few spots open for “emergency” meditation sessions.
Meditation spaces are a great way to get employees into underutilized spaces in the office to boost utilization and maximize the return on your real estate investment. At the same time, you’re helping employees reduce stress and better connect and collaborate.
By Jonathan Davis
Jonathan writes about asset management, maintenance software, and SaaS solutions in his role as a digital content creator at Eptura. He covers trends across industries, including fleet, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality, with a focus on delivering thought leadership with actionable insights. Earlier in his career, he wrote textbooks, edited NPC dialogue for video games, and taught English as a foreign language. He holds a master's degree in journalism.
