It’s Thursday at the Student Health Center at the University of Missouri, which means it is time for the weekly staff meeting. Everyone shuffles into the meeting room from all the different departments as they prepare to discuss the issues of the Center. The meeting is about to start and a quiet rushes over the room. Not a sound can be heard. Every person is meditating.
This meeting scene is one that is happening more and more frequently across the country. Companies, universities, and businesses of all sorts are encouraging the practice of meditation because of its effect on the brain.
“We begin each staff meeting with ten minutes of meditation led by our stress management director and health and wellness program coordinator.” Bev Kreul works at the Student Health Center.
“My office chose to incorporate meditation into our weekly meetings because of its mental effects.” said Kreul.
But what has changed? Even ten years ago it would be hard to imagine anyone in corporate America turning to the practice of meditation. Did they not care about their brains? No the issue was, that before the early 1990’s scientist thought we couldn’t generate any new brain neurons after we reached age six.
Now scientists know that is completely false.
“Neuroplasticity refers to the brains capacity to change,” said Richie Davidson, Director for the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds.
Our brains are like play-doh, when they are not challenged or used they sit idle. But apply a little pressure or examine your thoughts and you begin to mold a new structure.
“We are exposed to all kinds of influences and they are effecting our brains,” said Davidson. “We think that what meditation does is train certain regions of the brain.”
Meditation has certainly been having an effect at the Student Health Center.
“Meditation allows for us to bring a diverse group of personalities together who work in a stressful environment with conflicting personalities together and solve the problems that ultimately effect us all. This calming experience has allowed for greater open mindedness, more cooperation, and better problem solving,” said Kreul.
If the benefits are so great then why is it that more people do not practice meditation?
One reason suggests Leo Babauta, creator of zenhabits.net, is “Because it puts us in the middle of ourselves, which is not always where we want to be. Often, we want to fix things rather than accept them the way they are. Many of us feel as though we can't afford the time and energy to meditate, when in fact we can't afford not to."
“For me it was hard to like it because I'm always stressed about all the work that needs to be done. I find it really hard to make time in my day for meditating,” said Amber Swenor. She started meditating four times a week regularly for about eight weeks before falling off of the wagon.
“Now that I don't meditate, I do feel guilty because I have this idea in my head that's it's good for me and necessary for the soul,” said Swenor.
“I enjoy the meditation very much even though it was outside of my comfort zone the first few times I experienced it. It was like nothing I have ever done before. I am so used to just being busy working and now they wanted me to sit and do nothing. It was just odd,” said Kreul.
Davidson’s lab is continuing to explore the effects of meditation on both neuroplasticity and on our mood. One way they are doing this is by studying Buddhist monks with thousands of hours of meditation training. They are finding changes in the brain wave activity when the monks enter meditation that remains even after the meditation session is over. This could very well be the state of clarity that is so often referred to.The office is not the only place meditation is used. Dr. Aleksandra Zgierska, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin, recently conducted a study showing that meditation could help alcoholics avoid relapse. One method used in the study was a type of meditation called “urge surfing.”
"While meditating, one visualizes a craving or urge as an ocean wave that begins small and gradually builds to a large cresting wave," she explains. "Using the awareness of one's breath as a 'surfboard,' the goal is to 'surf the urge' by allowing it to first rise and then fall without being 'wiped out' by giving in to it. Successfully 'surfing the urge' can weaken addictive conditioning and enhance healthy coping skills."
Is it possible that meditation practices like “urge surfing” could help us avoid conflicts at the office?
“I have noticed that meditation has had a very positive impact on my mood and my performance. Meditating, even though it is only for ten minutes a week, is something I look forward to, often because I know that it is a method that allows me to relieve my stress and rejuvenate myself. My work is affected comparative to my mood. I am more efficient when I am calming approaching a task and I produce a higher quality product when I am not overwhelmed,” said Kreul.
“If we take the responsibility of our own minds we can produce happier, more well adjusted people,” said Davidson.
