Yoga and MEDITATION have been scientifically proven to not only improve your health, but also HELP YOU BE happier, more highly committed and more productive...
LEADING EDGE MANAGEMENT MOVEMENT
The enormous stress people are under in this new dynamic international competitive economic environment combined with the world terror security crises is driving individuals to search for a more meaningful life. Corporations are also beginning to realize that less stress improves employee motivation, productivity and reduces health care costs.
The October 30, 2006 issue of Business Week (BW) featured a special report with the title: "Karma Capitalism". This timely article features a business leadership movement away from 1980's and 1990's popular management methods prescribed in Sun Tzu's The Art of War to the even more ancient philosophy taught in the Bhagavad Gita (also known as the Hindu bible). The clear message in this eternal holy text is coined as Krishna tells his disciple Arjuna: "Be thou a yogi!"
The BW article contrasts best practice ideas between Sun Tzu and Krishna in four key areas:
Sun Tzu: Greed is Good, Be Tough, Attack only when Victory is Likely, and Beat the Enemy. Krishna: Greed is Bad-never engage in action only for the desired rewards (karma yoga), Be Fair-treat everyone as your equal, Act Rather than React, Seek Higher Consciousness-consider all stakeholders: shareholders, employees, partners, neighbors, society and the environment.
The BW article goes on to describe how some of the nation's leading academic institutions such as the Harvard Business School, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, Columbia Business School, the Wharton School and the international London Business School are becoming leading proponents of Vedanta values, an ancient school of Hindu philosophy, as it applies to leadership.
Highly respected businesses including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp, Nokia Corp, Cargill, Men's Warehouse, Chevron, Deere & Co., Young President's Organization and General Electric are applying this ancient philosophy using leading guru consultants such as Swami Parthasarathy, C.K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, Vijay Govindrajan and Deepak Chopra.
Personally, I am a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda and apply the ancient Vedanta yoga business practices under the guidance of Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda which has a number of retreat locations and spiritual communities around the world. I teach Dharma Entrepreneurship at Ananda University, a program based on Swami's book "Material Success Through Yoga Principles"
I recommend reading the spiritual bestseller Autobiography of a Yogi. by Paramhansa Yogananda. I also highly recommend at least three of Swami's many books: "The Revelations of Christ", "The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita" , and "Conversations with Yogananda" which can be purchased at www.crystalclarity.com.
SPIRITUALITY AND THE WORKPLACE
Spirituality differs immensely from religion's commonly accepted definition. J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda) provides an excellent definition of religion in The Art and Science of Raja Yoga: "The essence of religion is not in its ceremonies, nor even its talk of a life hereafter, but its emphasis on an inner life here and now, and on the lasting peace that accompanies this inner life once it is discovered.
The following articles are about universal spirituality, not dogmatic religious beliefs.
A NEW SPIRIT AT WORK - Christian Science Monitor
In the November 17, 2003 issue of The Christian Science Monitor, Jane Lampman points out in her article that leaders around the world are moving to transform the business world with an infusion of spiritual values. Signs of spirituality in the workplace keep turning up: thousands of prayer or meditation groups; company-sponsored chaplains; conferences and executive training sessions that experiment with spiritual practices or how to incorporate values into decision making.
ZEN AND THE ART OF CORPORATE PRODUCTIVITY - Business Week
In this July 28, 2003 Business Week article, the author sites examples of major U.S. corporations embracing spirituality and meditation. Major corporations such as Apple Computer, Yahoo, Google, McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, Hughes Aircraft and others are among those instituting in-house meditation programs.
The National Institution of Health, the University of Massachusetts and the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard University have published findings that increased brain-wave activity, enhanced intuition, better concentration, and the alleviation of the kinds of aches and pains that plague employees the most, were achieved as a result of meditation.
YOGA
Yoga is being rediscovered as a tool to regain control over one's life and circumstances. Yoga literally means "union". Yoga encompasses many ancient techniques with findings dating back over 5,000 years to origins in the East, specifically India. Ultimately, Yoga is the neutralization of ego-directed feelings, resulting in a realization of oneness with the universe
Today the West predominately accepts Hatha yoga as a means to develop the physical body. Currently misunderstood in the West as merely a way to physical improvement, the true purpose of Hatha yoga is to prepare the body and mind for meditation, the core discipline of Yoga.
MEDITATION
As can be gleaned from recent news articles, meditation is gaining popularity as a method for physical healing, stress reduction, productivity improvement and achieving inner peace.
I recommend yoga meditation as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda in conjunction with yoga and meditation instruction at one of Ananda's internationally renowned retreat facilities:
Ananda Meditation Retreat Expanding Light, Nevada City, CA
at Ananda University, Nevada City, CA
Palo Alto, CA Ananda Los Angeles, CA
Ananda, Assisi, Italy Ananda Sangha, New Delhi, India.
A common misconception is that meditation is only for religious people. Not true. Meditation can be used by anyone with a sincere desire to achieve inner peace and calmness in their lives. Meditation is not what most people think it is. It is beyond thinking. Have you ever tried to stop thinking? It seems almost impossible. There are always thoughts rambling around your mind. Stop and analyze your thoughts. If you're like most people, you'll find that you are always thinking about the past or the future and rarely about the present moment. The mind is preoccupied with judgments and comparisons. As a matter of fact, most of us are prisoners of our thoughts, rather than being their masters.
Eckhart Tolle explains in his book "The Power of Now" that you compare things to the past, lament about what you didn't achieve in the past, or maybe wish things were the same as they were in the past. You're always planning the future, even if it's only what you're going to do within the next hour. You look forward to or perhaps fear the future.
But what about the present moment? Not a second ago and not a second from now. Just now. It is in the present moment that we find peace. Meditation is the path to the present moment and the inner peace it offers us.
Meditation is difficult because it is the opposite of what most of you have been taught from childhood. Mediation deals exclusively with your inner world. All of your training has been toward the external world.
Once you take the time to seriously explore your inner world, you will be surprised how calm, peaceful and beautiful it really is.
The following is one of many practical ways for beginners to get started:
1. Find a clean, quiet, private location.
2. Sit in a hard chair. Sit so your back is not touching the back of the chair. Keep your back straight, but not tense. Keep your chin parallel to the ground.
3. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and tense your whole body. Throw out the breath. Repeat twice more. Now breathe in and out naturally.
4. With your eyes still closed watch your breath as you breathe in and watch it as you breathe out.
5. Keeping your eyes closed gaze up between your eyebrows about four feet ahead. Do not strain your gaze or cross your eyes. This area is an area of high energy which will increase with light the more you meditate.
In the beginning, meditate for about 5 to 15 minutes. Try to meditate every morning and evening. Gradually work up to at least 30 minutes at each sitting.
For more detailed instruction on meditation and information on higher yoga techniques, such as Kriya Yoga, you can go to the Ananda website.
For lasting results, meditate daily in the morning and in the evening. Try to set aside a routine of place and time. It is important that you have patience with this practice. What good would it do to plant a seed and dig it up every day to see how it's doing?
Most people who practice meditation run into the same obstacles. Following are cures for common meditation ailments.
1. Physical Discomfort While Sitting
3. Sleepiness
5. Impatience: I Expected Better Results!
6. Stress
7. Tension: Physical and Emotional
8. Tension While Focusing at the Spiritual Eye
10. Cannot Find the Time to Meditate
11. Feeling You Are Not a Good Meditator
13. Protection From Negative Influences
14. Feeling You Are Making Little or No Progress
An article summarizing significant scientific breakthroughs of 2003 in the January 2004 issue of Discover Magazine includes a reference to meditation. Richard Davidson, director for the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, showed that meditation activates an area of the brain associated with positive emotions. The meditation study group showed markedly more electrical activity in their left prefrontal cortex-the locus of positive, optimistic emotions, than the non meditating group.
If you would like to explore how yoga and meditation can help you and your employees enjoy the benefits of being happier, healthier, more committed and highly productive, please e-mail us at info@archfield.com
