Mindfulness as a Competitive Strategy

One emerging trend we’re noticing in our work is the number of companies using meditation and mindfulness practices to increase individual and group productivity, improve well-being and health, and reduce stress in the business environment.

Moreover, recent neuroscience research demonstrates at the brain’s molecular level that meditation and mindfulness, even if practiced for just 20 minutes per day, can have dramatic effects on brain function as measured by brain scans and brain function testing.

Mindful Entrepreneurs

There are now many examples of this in the corporate and entrepreneur community, which argue strongly for including these practices in your business plan.

For example, Google has been the most visible with its “Search Inside Yourself” (SIY) course, which teaches employees emotional intelligence through meditation. Forbes described it as “rock-solid business-friendly mindfulness.”

SIY has now been spun off as the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. Additional companies using these practices include Apple, General Mills, Mayo Clinic, and Kaiser Permanente.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

The co-founders of Twitter and Facebook have build in contemplative practices into their new enterprises, with regular meditation sessions and work routines organized around mindfulness. More than 20,000 people have completed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training; moreover, MBSR has been adopted by more than 80 companies.

Silicon Valley Discovers Mindfulness

Perhaps the strongest anecdotal evidence of how these practices have entered the entrepreneur community, and suggest you might want to consider them for your business, is from Wired Magazine:

“Meditation and mindfulness are the new rage in Silicon Valley. And it’s not just about inner peace — it’s about getting ahead.”

Put differently, meditation is no longer just for Buddhists. It’s for business. Your business.