"Meditation" is hard to define, because the word can apply to so many things. In the broadest sense, it is any method used to train the mind or to achieve a special state of consciousness.
Mindfulness, the technique du jour, derives from Buddhist practices. Instead of focusing on a mantra, you try to pay attention to bodily sensations and the breath. By doing this regularly, practitioners say, you begin to cultivate an attentive, non-judgmental mind set (mindfulness) that can be applied to activities beyond meditation; hence the proliferation of the word in everything.
The basics of mindfulness meditation are easy to find - you can download instructions from the web. The Buddha famously achieved enlightenment in the 480 B.C.'s and taught his followers that practicing meditation was crucial to preparing their minds for enlightenment. Laypeople might not be ready for enlightenment, but they could still cultivate "insight" by practicing moment-to-moment awareness.
Mindfulness teaches people to "find new ways to be in relationship to their pain" -mainly, to separate physical sensations from the emotions and fears surrounding them. So, when the thought arises, really what you're doing is worrying. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (M.B.S.R.) incorporates mindfulness techniques such as yoga, body scans, and such practices as mindful eating. Because M.B.S.R. is standardized - and secular - it's become the method of choice for scientists studying meditation.
A 2010 Harvard study about mind-wandering stated, "Forty-seven percent of our life is lost in thought. Distracted!"
While it's true that a recent meta-study found that mindfulness meditation produces effects that are equivalent to those of antidepressants, scientists caution that the research is in its early stages. Detractors worry that secular mindfulness teachers have whitewashed the technique, dulling its self-critical edge. A Stanford study demonstrated that most workplace stress is caused by things like corporate dysfunction and job insecurity - not by "unmindful employees."
Silicon Valley's interest in meditation is, in some respects, adaptive. For years, Silicon Valley's high-priest was Steve Jobs, a Zen enthusiast. All this has led to a strange but perhaps inevitable oxymoron: digital therapy. A new class of app has emerged on iPhone screens, promising to relieve the mental afflictions - stress, distraction - that have been exacerbated by its neighbours.
For several years now, the overlapping worlds of business and coaching have been abuzz about mindfulness. In February, an executive coach opined in the Harvard Business Review that mindfulness "is close to taking on cult status in the business world."
Source: The New Yorker, July 6, 2015
Business Tips
Training the Mind
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