3 Obstacles That Prevent Wide Implementation of Meditation

Hello community! 😊

Have you ever had any prejudices about meditation and people who meditate?

Have you tried to keep your practice secret, so as to avoid any form of judgment from others?

Or perhaps, after having watched some series on Netfilx, do you now associate meditation with some oriental religion or new-age sectarian movement?

By journeying as a meditator for over 10 years, I have come across all kinds of misconceptions and judgments about meditation. Sometimes within my family and friends circles, sometimes when talking to very intelligent, brilliant people I met on my travels or on the professional arena here in Switzerland. Thankfully, we live in a world where most of us are allowed to have and express different values and beliefs, and still coexist in harmony with each other.

However, today there is enough scientific evidence that proves that meditation can be very useful to improve our happiness and well-being, both at the individual and collective levels.

So why are there so many people reluctant to try it?

Yesterday, I finished reading an excellent book written by Rébecca Shankland and Lise Peillod-Book, on Mindful Management, called "Manager en Pleine Conscience - Devenez un Leader Éthique et Inspirant" (in french), in which the authors identify the 3 main obstacles preventing a wider adoption of meditation, especially in the workplace.

These 3 obstacles are:

1. The misconceptions about meditation and the difficulty of communicating what meditation/mindfulness is without going through personal experience of these practices.

2. The ignorance of the effects of these practices and the impression that the time dedicated to these practices consumes time that should be allocated to more important things at work.

3. The belief that managers seek to develop ways to make employees more resilient to difficult working conditions. Meditation and well-being practices would then be seen as an excuse to overload employees.

Many people think of meditation as a purely self-development practice, and others believe it to be a religious practice, even though the mindfulness and meditation practices which are implemented at work today have been completely secularized.

From Meditaction's point of view, meditation is the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts.

You can use it for physical purposes, because you want to release tension and stress.

You can practice it for mental performance, because you want to develop a clear, focused mind and attain higher levels of productivity or creativity.

You can use it for emotional well-being, because you aim to replace negative emotions with more positive ones.

You can do it for social purposes, because you want to be able to better relate and communicate with others around you.

And you can do it for spiritual purposes, because you want to connect with your deeper self and live a life more aligned to your truest values and the reality of the universe around you.

It is your choice.

If tomorrow at work, your manager or someone from your hierarchy offers you the opportunity to try meditation, don't assume they are trying to convert you or impose you some non-sense, religious propaganda.

They are probably trying to help you, and striving to make your workplace a more healthier, balanced and harmonious place for all. Because in the end, happy people make happy teams, and happy teams have much higher levels of performance, higher levels of collaboration, and better interpersonal relations.

And who does not want to be part of a happy team of human beings?

Wishing you all a happy week-end and sending you great vibes.

Love,

💛

Tati