Herald Sun: Meditation is now moving into the boardroom with studies showing that it improves concentration, workers are now being encouraged to tune in and chill out.

Once a week, a handful of Blake Dawson lawyers and support staff take the lift to a hushed conference room in Sydney’s George Street.

They are not meeting for a tough legal pitch.

They are there to do a voluntary lunchtime group meditation. They’re not alone.

Businesses such as NAB, Victoria Police, Diabetes Australia, Origin Energy … Click to read more »

National Post: (By Ray B. Williams) The role of a leader in organizations is one of constant pressure to perform and stress to solve problems. Leaders need to be at the top of their game to be alert and productive at all times. Unfortunately, far too many leaders use adrenalin-type of strategies to do so, such as caffeine, long working hours and poor nutrition. Certainly the notion of slowing down and being in a peaceful state isn’t commonly seen as … Click to read more »

National Nursing News: Meditation — long considered by many the province of Buddhists and New Age gurus — is gaining new respect among neurologists, psychiatrists and others who study the brain. An increasing volume of scientific study is not only showing that meditation helps reduce stress, but is offering some physiological clues about why it might be beneficial to the body and brain.

Meditation has been studied for 20 years, but in the past five to 10 years the focus of … Click to read more »

ABC: “Zen” is the Japanese word and “Ch’an” is the Chinese word derived from the Sanskrit word “Dhyana” meaning “meditation.” Zen began in China back in the 6th century CE. Zen is practiced all around the world and has recently found a huge following in the United States.

Zen Buddhism focuses on gaining enlightenment through meditation. Zen is a means to reaching enlightenment. Zen declines the study of scriptures, devotional practices and any religious rites (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica). Some of … Click to read more »

Inspired Entrepreneur Nick Williams talks with Srimati, a former member of the Western Buddhist Order, about non-attachment. Srimati explains that non-attachment isn’t life-denying, but simply says that we should relate to things as they really are, without trying to get something out of them that they can’t supply.

Srimati is a freelance spiritual teacher, writer and co-founder of Thrivecraft Coaching, and a former member of … Click to read more »

In this short video, Inspired Entrepreneur Nick Williams talks with Srimati, a former member of the Western Buddhist Order, about the relationship between spirituality and business, and how love and fear are opposed tendencies in both worlds as judgment and rejection of parts of ourselves..

Srimati is a freelance spiritual teacher, writer and co-founder of Thrivecraft Coaching, and a former member of the Western Buddhist Order. … Click to read more »

In this short video, Inspired Entrepreneur Nick Williams talks with Srimati, a former member of the Western Buddhist Order, about the relationship between spirituality and business, and how “inspiration” bridges the two worlds.

Srimati is a freelance spiritual teacher, writer and co-founder of Thrivecraft Coaching, and a former member of the Western Buddhist Order.

She is currently engaged in publishing her whole body of … Click to read more »

London Evening Standard: If you have ever watched Tiger Woods play golf, you know the look. Brim pulled down over the eyes, which are locked on some point far down the fairway.

Despite all the hubbub, he is locked into the moment.

His opponent stands off to one side gnawing his knuckles, knowing another defeat is just a few holes away. Credit meditation for Woods’ extraordinary focus.

An essential part of Tiger Woods’ success is what he calls “staying in the present” and … Click to read more »

In The Mindful Leader, author Michael Carroll’s premise is that the best leaders aren’t those who take charge and make things happen. They’re the ones who are willing to be fully human and inspire the best in others. Sunada reviews this book that shows us how to pursue excellence at work and do so with decency, dignity, and authenticity.

Pick up a typical book on business leadership and what do you get? Advice … Click to read more »

State Bill Colorado: The image of workaholic lawyers slowing down to silently meditate strikes many people as incongruous.

Eric Bentley, litigation partner at Holme Roberts & Owen’s Colorado Springs office, would like to change that.

“Last year, when I went to a meditation retreat for lawyers, I got several laughs,” he said. “A very typical response is that meditation for lawyers is an oxymoron.”

In April, Bentley and about a dozen other meditating lawyers held the first meeting of the Colorado Contemplative … Click to read more »

Physorg.com: Twenty minutes per day of guided workplace meditation and yoga combined with six weekly group sessions can lower feelings of stress by more than 10 percent and improve sleep quality in sedentary office employees, a pilot study suggests. The study offered participants a modified version of what is known as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a program established in 1979 to help hospital patients in Massachusetts assist in their own healing that is now in wide use around the world. … Click to read more »

A not-entirely-random selection of blog posts on meditation.

The ever-diligent Rev. Danny Fisher spotted an article in the Guardian that I’d missed, and published an extract. The original article was about a talk given in London by Joseph Goldstein. The author, Naseem Khan, as well as highlighting Goldstein’s wisdom, also weaves in some reflections on multiculturalism.

C4chaos has a detailed account of how meditation has helped with migraines. He outlines a four-step process. … Click to read more »

The other day I read about a family of six who were wiped out when a truck-driver plowed into their vehicle. He’d allegedly been driving and attempting to look at a laptop screen at the same time.

Not all multitasking is that catastrophic, but nevertheless attempting to juggle too many things in a short space of time is causing us stress, reducing our productivity, and making it harder to maintain focus when we need … Click to read more »

Financial Post: There are already so many things you’re forced to do at work. And now your boss wants you to meditate? Meditation has been gaining a slow and steady fan base in financial and professional environments as a way to combat the ravaging physical and psychological impacts of stress. Read more here.

Is it possible to combine spiritual practice with professional poker, to remain detached and equanimous in the midst of a game full of bluffing, and where the aim is to take away other people’s money? In 2005 Vishvapani talked this over with Andrew Black, one of the world’s finest poker players — and a devout Buddhist.

The World Series of Poker at Binions Casino in Las Vegas is down to its last five … Click to read more »

A not-entirely-random selection of blog posts on meditation.

Intentional chocolate
Making the mind behave
Driving meditation
Mindful mama essay contest
Metta for your job interview

A not-entirely-random selection of blog posts on meditation.

Our moment of Zen
Sam DeWitt Special: Is meditation good for financial anxiety?
Dragons and Levitating Monks
How to Practice Buddhist Walking Meditation
Forex Trading Tactic – Meditation

The New York Times: The subject of focus comes up a lot in my discussions with people about work. We talk about the constant interruptions of working in the digital age, of the mistakes we make while multitasking and the efforts to find quiet places to think. Maggie Jackson has been paying attention to these questions for quite some time, and the result is a thoughtful new book, “Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age” (Prometheus). … Click to read more »