Corporate Mindfulness Classes and Programs During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Since 2016, Meditation House has been providing on-site mindfulness classes for business in an array of industries. We have a simple goal: improve the mental well-bring of employees. It’s no secret that stress can creep in when work gets on top of you, so Meditation House is here to help ease the strain. Our sessions are typically 30 minutes long and some run up to 60 minutes. Our clients can choose the best session time to suit their needs and get the most for their employees.

These session have one core focus, mindful meditation, and consist of a specialist teacher leading the group in relaxation exercises. Utilizing proven techniques to alleviate stress and release tension in the mind, our meditation sessions prove highly effective in improving the psychological well-being of the participants. Traditionally these sessions would take place on location at the client’s offices. This was often the best way of working as it was easiest for the clients to stay in their office and we go to them. There were however several challenges involved with on-site mediation classes. This has included too much noise in the office, constant interruptions by calls, the need for employees to leave a class due to pressing matters, and more.

Corporate mindfulness classes after the Covid-19 pandemic

A transition to providing mindful meditation services via a digital medium was in Meditation House’s sights. It just needed that little extra incentive; enter the coronavirus pandemic. Just prior to the start of pandemic, previously booked sessions were now being cancelled – Meditation House’s clients were dropping like flies. Now was the time to go digital and provide virtual corporate mindfulness classes.

Sessions are conducted via the extremely popular video conferencing program Zoom. Even though Zoom’s primary function is a video conferencing and webinar platform, many of our sessions are audio only with some video or still images as well. The Zoom platform allows for complete flexibility when delivering the sessions as attendees can participate via several different means including desktop or laptop computer, iPad, tablet, and smartphone. These virtual sessions have proven to be just as powerful as in-person sessions.

So, aside from now conducting the sessions via the internet, how have they changed? Well, now with the inclusion of technology, it has allowed us to add another dimension to our meditation practices. By using this technology we can now offer classes led with soothing background audio. The choice of sounds almost limitless; some of our favorites right now include the sound of waves on the beach, the gentle pitter-patter of rain and, more traditionally, the sound of wind chimes in a gentle breeze.

Corporate mindfulness classes after the Covid-19 pandemic

In a lot of ways virtual sessions are proving more efficient for our clients now that we have taken mindful meditation into the virtual world. Now, the participants don’t all need to be facing the same way, they don’t all need to pile in to a conference room, they can stay comfortably from any location – and more recently, as working from home has become more common place, we can still include everyone in the session no matter where they are located. And this is an important point to make.

People working from home now need meditation more than ever as they try to maintain a good balance between their work and home life. While it can be argued that when trying to participate in our mindfulness class at home there can be distractions that would not otherwise be present in the office; such as children and pets causing a disturbance, the pros of meditation at home far outweigh this.

We have found that by conducting our sessions via Zoom, and allowing participants to join from the comfort of their own homes, the benefits include (but are not limited to):

• Participants can make themselves much more comfortable for the session to be most effective.
• If needed, they can much more easily have a break from the session, run to the bathroom or grab a drink.
• It is much easier to switch off from work for the sessions when at home. People can more easily empty their minds of the pressure of work and the tasks they are responsible for, making the meditation much more effective and beneficial.

So, how is Meditation House going to take full advantage of this new way of working to get the best for our clients? Well, the possibilities are many and include the following:

• The teacher doesn’t have to physically be on site.
• No one gets left out due to space constraints.
• The sessions can include any number of people (especially important for organizations wishing to offer mindfulness class to groups of 100+ employees.

Corporations need Mindfulness Meditation, here’s why…

Do corporations really need meditation classes for their employees? Short answer, “yes”. Let us explain.

65% of workers said their workplace stress causes difficulties and 29% have said that they then took this out on co-workers by yelling², which only increase the collective workplace stress even more. So what causes all this stress? Well, the American Institute of Stress (AIS) splits it into 4 main categories: excessive workload, people issues, juggling the work/life balance, and lack of job security². In fact, excessive workload was cited in almost 50% of responses as to the cause of their workplace stress. It’s safe to say corporations have a responsibly to help their employees manage and relieve the stress.

There are plenty of warning signs that stress is starting to creep in; feeling anxious, irritable, even depressed and, of upmost concern for the corporations, loss of interest in work to name a few³. So how does mediation help? Meditation gives you a time out, it stops the constant inflow of new information and gives you time to process your thoughts and allows you to view things from a new perspective. Better yet, meditation give you time to empty your mind of the stresses and re-evaluate your priorities, meaning you come out of the session refreshed and revitalized with the motivation to get stuck back into your work. The more you meditate, the more you can build a resilience to stress.

Corporations really need to consider how the well-being of their employees is looked after, especially because roughly 1 in 7 people say that improved wellness benefits would motivate them to stay in their current job. In addition to this, 34% of employees say they have difficulty sleeping because of workplace stress – tired employees can really hamper productivity. So, if corporations don’t take the well-being of their workers into account, they could be damaging productivity or even worse, losing employees to their competitors. It’s clear that by improving wellness initiatives for employees is going to increase motivation and increase productivity. And how can corporations effectively improve the wellness of their employees by significantly reducing stress? Of course, the answer is mindfulness meditation.

Staying calm during coronavirus: meditation can help

Coronavirus has severely disrupted life as we know it, we have all felt the effect it has had on the world. As a result, corporations are going out of business while others are experiencing mass unanticipated layoffs in the pursuit of downsizing to survive. But let’s not pretend life has stayed normal for the ones that have been lucky enough to still be working. A reduction in the workforce is having significant effect on the ones still in their jobs. Longer hours, not taking lunch breaks, working late (even more than before!) is eating into people’s home life. Even socializing in the office has been taken away as social distancing has separated them from their co-workers. We all have less and less time to take care of ourselves in these unprecedented times – someone (corporations) needs to step in to help and make time for well-being practices.

Workplace stresses aren’t just in the office. They are wherever the work goes. So now that coronavirus has forced a lot of people to work from home, the stress has followed them. Except now there is a new level of anxiety to confront, the fear of the unknown has shown its ugly face. What may not be clear to everyone is how this has made the need for meditation even more prominent than before. We talked about the work/life balance and that’s because it’s so important for mental well-being and coronavirus is making these two areas of our lives merge into one. As a result, trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep is a real issue that’s only getting worse. This can really affect the quality of work people are producing, causing even more stress – and so begins the downward spiral some struggle to escape.

Stress caused by work is at an all-time high and mindful meditation has become more important than ever. Meditation can help people quiet their minds and refresh to take control of their mental well-being and rebuild the work/life balance once again.

Meditation House offers virtual corporate mindfulness classes as well as virtual corporate mindfulness programs. Our classes and programs are priced so that both small organizations as well as very large organizations can afford and benefit from them. And if you have questions and want to discuss where to start, please contact us via email  or call (888) 377-7761.