In 2012, when the New York Times reported that Google was offering its employees a chance to try out mindfulness techniques, the paper of record adopted a tone of befuddlement. “Sharing feelings?” the story asked; “Sitting quietly for long, unproductive minutes? At Google?”
Four years later, workplace mindfulness initiatives are everywhere. When cloud computing giant Salesforce opened a new San Francisco tower this spring, it set aside a room on each floor as a device-free “mindfulness zone” at the suggestion of a group of Zen Buddhist monks. Health insurance firm Aetna reports that mindfulness courses have helped its employees reduce their blood pressure and lose weight. Traders at Goldman Sachs say that mindfulness exercises have given them an edge against the competition. Meditation is now a billion-dollar industry, with 22 percent of mid-size to large American companies offering some kind of mindfulness training, according to one survey.
Often, employers offer mindfulness as a wellness perk — kind of a hipper version of a discounted gym membership — based on promising, though not conclusive, research on its effects on stress, depression, and other mental ailments. But some companies — and many, many consultants and coaches who advise companies — see it as a way to achieve much more profound effects.
[For more of this story, written by Livia Gershon, go to https://psmag.com/can-mindfuln...ff8996a27#.ikbbejo3p]
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