How can an ancient meditation technique possible have anything to do with business, especially if it is taught for free? The answer is simple. In India it has been known for many years that Vipassana meditation has a very beneficial effect on business because managers and employees that do vipassana on a regular basis are less stressed and are generally happier people. Anybody who practises Vipassana will confirm that it has literally changed their lives, that it has cured them from anxiety, depression, stress and many other modern ailments. It has helped them to lead a fuller and more relaxed life. Many experiments have been done with Vipassana meditation in prisons and in a variety of businesses with very positive results. Unfortunately, it is not used very much yet. Why?
Learning Vipassana meditation takes some time. A basic course takes 10 days, which is an amount of time that not many people in our busy lives can make free. Thereafter, the recommendation is to practise Vipassana one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening, but if you do not have time for that, then at least on a daily basis. Now how can you make time for all that when you have a 40 hour a week job, a family and children, etc. etc.
Nobody will tell you it is easy to make all this time, but those that have done so and have made the sacrifice will tell you it is well worth it. Because you become more relaxed, it makes you more productive. You can do more in less time. Also, when you come home after your busy working day, you will have more energy and will not just flop out on the coach watching television. Another side-effect that many have noticed is that they need less sleep. Well there is at least one hour won!
Now you might want to do a Vipassana course straight away with all the promised I made above. But beware that it takes time. Don't expect any miracles. You will have changed after a 10 days course, no doubt about that. But the beneficial effects mainly manifest itself if you keep at it, practising daily and doing another 10 day retreat every year.
Doing a Vipassana course is a serious undertaking and by no means easy. Don't for a minute think that it is easy to sit on your bud all day and practising. Don't think that it is like relaxing all day long. It is actually very hard and not everybody makes it to the end of those ten days. You have to face yourself during a meditation course. You have to face and evaluate how you do things, why you do things, how your life is organised, the arguments you have had and your dreams. You might find this very hard to do. Sometimes we simply do not want to see the truth about ourselves. Vipassana makes us face the truth. It means seeing things as they really are. But when we manage to do this, we come out the other side a better person and everybody who has done it feels that a great weight is lifted off his or her shoulders.
So if you feel up to it, do a Vipassana meditation retreat because the benefits are really worth it. I can personally testify to the many benefits I have experienced and you can read more about that on my blog. Just be warned that it is not an easy ride and if you feel you are not capable of spending 10 days of your life sitting on the ground, observing yourself and not speaking to anybody, then don't do it.
Margret owns blogs on anxiety attacks.
