“Mindfulness is about paying attention to what you are experiencing right now with genuine interest and a willingness to accept that experience, says Kaveri S. Patel, D.O., a family medicine doctor at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. “The health benefits are many. Studies show that mindfulness reduces stress and anxiety, and provides us with a sense of well-being and the ability to notice the joyful moments in life. It also helps us relate to each other from a kinder place, making work a more positive experience and giving us tools to better cope with challenges.”
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Companies Get Strict on Health of Workers. Employers are feeling the need to intensify their efforts to create an environment where people feel they are responsible for their own health.
The Google engineer teaching happiness in three steps. To improve the well-being of its workers, Google employed one of its engineers to increase happiness. David G Allan tried out his three-step plan – does it work.
At Aetna, a C.E.O.’s Management by Mantra. Aetna is at the vanguard of a movement that is quietly spreading through the business world. More than one-quarter of the company’s work force of 50,000 has participated in at least one class, and those who have report, on average, a 28 percent reduction in their stress levels, a 20 percent improvement in sleep quality and a 19 percent reduction in pain. They also become more effective on the job, gaining an average of 62 minutes per week of productivity each, which Aetna estimates is worth $3,000 per employee per year. Demand for the programs continues to rise; every class is overbooked. Companies like Google offer emotional intelligence courses for employees. General Mills has a meditation room in every building on its corporate campus. And even buttoned-up Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock are teaching meditation on the job. The aims of such programs are eclectic. Some, such as Aetna’s, are intended to improve overall well-being; others to increase focus and productivity. Most of the programs — from yoga sessions for factory workers to guided meditations for executives — aim to make employees more present-minded, less prone to make rash decisions and generally nicer people to work with. Adoption of these unconventional practices in the workplace coincides with growing interest among the American public. More than 21 million people now practice yoga, double the number from a decade ago, according to the National Institutes of Health. Nearly as many meditate, according to the N.I.H.
Buddhist Meditation: A Management Skill? National Public Radio 3:57. A handful of executive MBA programs around the country — from Harvard to Michigan's Ross School of Business — are teaching students Buddhist meditation techniques. It's not necessarily about teaching spirituality, but focus. There's no way to quantify whether learning how to be centered during a stressful business meeting is balancing the bottom lines at companies. But students say slowing down does help them be more effective.
Spending too much $$$ on healthcare for your employees? Can't get enough exercise because you're working too much? Want to know how to reduce stress? Listen to Dr. Roger Jahnke talk about how to live and work with less stress by 
In Silicon Valley, Meditation Is No Fad. It Could Make Your Career
energy to work longer, more productive hours...Employers all across the nation are recognizing just how important a heathy workplace and a healthy workforce are improving productivity as well as to controlling health-care costs... wellness programs have achieved a rate of return on investment that ranges from $3 to $15 for each dollar invested, with savings realized within 12 to 18 months."
How breathing can help you make better decisions: Two studies on the effects of breathing patterns on heart rate variability and decision-making in business cases.
