Matheson 1

Lisa Matheson
Uinise T. Langi
English 1010-087

Meditation: Alternative Relief for a Stressed Society

From the classroom to the boardroom, people are dealing with more stress than ever.
Even though meditation has existed in Eastern countries for thousands of years, it has only
recently gained traction for its relaxation properties in America in the last seventy years, since it
was introduced in the Sixties. While many people still attach meditation to religion, its relaxation
and health benefits have gained popularity, regardless of religious affiliation, due to the
surmounting stressors found in todays world. While there is still the theory that prescription
medications such as Zoloft, Prozac or Xanax can keep stress under control, this paper will
discuss the positive health and relaxation benefits of meditation in a fraught society.
Stress has become one of the major health issues for this generation. In the
1980s, the World Health Organization (WHO) publicly voiced concern over rising stress levels
and the resulting fall out. It is estimated that at least one million Americans call out sick every
day as a result of stress (Ode). When employees dont show for work, the loss is felt in the lack
of productivity and profits. Depression and anxiety are also serious threats to the well-being that
stem from stress (Ode), which has led to a dramatic rise in prescription drugs.
Searching for new ways to combat stress, more and more people have turned to
meditation as a resolution. Dr. Sala Horowitz explains; Meditation refers to a group of
techniques, most of which originated in Eastern religious or spiritual traditionsCommon

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elements of most types of meditation include: a space with minimal distraction; a specific
comfortable position; a particular focus of attention, and an open attitude.(Horowitz)
Children can benefit from meditation just as much as adults. In her article Children and
Meditation: the Benefits of Time Out, Ellen Rowland discusses some of the positive effects:
better focus, less tension and stress, better sleep, more control over adverse emotions, better
awareness of all emotions, boosts in self-confidence, and more compassion for others. (Rowland
web)
Children lead stressful lives nowadays, between school, extracurricular activities, and
homework. Meditation is starting to appear in classrooms across the country in an effort to help
calm children down so they are better able to focus. Two popular meditation practices are
popular in helping kids become more even keel; Transcendental Meditation, which focuses more
on emptying the mind of thoughts, and Mindfulness Meditation, which helps children focus more
on the moment and become more aware of their present situation (Conis).
Elena Conis LA Times article discusses the meditation lessons at Toluca Lake
Elementary School where teacher Steve Reidman started using meditation techniques on an
especially unruly class and said It was like night and day by the end of the first year. He went
on further to say that the meditation techniques helped his students calm down well before they
got to the point of lashing out at each other. (Conis)
The benefits are there for all children, not just children dealing with school or social
pressures, but children who have been victim of abusive situations. In her article Promoting
Resilience among Maltreated Youth Using Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigong: A Scoping
Review of the Literature, it was the conclusion that there is sufficient empirical evidence to

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evaluate such Eastern Art approaches as potential resilience programming for maltreated youth.
(Waechter)
Corporate America has embraced meditation to assist management level and employees
in dealing with stress in the workplace by hiring instructors to run classes, or training
management so they are better able to lead employees without becoming too stressed. Professor
Jeremy Hunter adds; You cant manage other people without first understanding how to manage
yourself. (Buddhist Meditation: A Management Skill?)
Certain companies have taken the initiative by adding tranquility rooms to their
facilities to help employees destress. A former executive at General Mills explains the program;
its a universal training that allows each employee to have greater access to the space we need
to make clear conscious decisions about work and our lives. (Gelles)
In other companies like Google, more than 1,000 employees have taken a 16 hour
meditation and leadership workshop. Meditation can help staffers be happier and become
better leaderssilence provides the space to think, to consider, for a new idea to arise, for a
solution to come forth, says Marc Lesser. (Gelles)
This is an important acknowledgement from the business community in the relaxing
powers of meditation. This from Jayaram Srinivasan, MD, meditation can decrease depression,
anxiety, and hostility in addition to medical symptoms. The positive effects of meditation have
been linked to greater psychological and physiological well-being. (Srinivasan).
Employees can benefit from the calm and clarity that comes from meditation. When
employees are less stressed and more focused, the creativity can flow more easily, decisions can
be made calmly, and people are more likely to work as a more productive team. Usually

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compassion is a happy side effect as well. (5 Benefits of Meditation That Pay Off In The
Workplace).
Meditation has been used successfully treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSD can include many crippling symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks, depression,
chronic pain which can stop people from living a full life. (Fiore 338). Whether the trauma stems
from childhood abuse, battle, or sexual abuse, successfully integrating a form of meditation on a
regular basis can help victims come to terms with their emotions and dealing with stressful
situations that might trigger painful memories. (Butler 38-45)
In Katy Butlers article Researching PTSD: The Biology of Fear, Vietnam veteran Claude
Thomas, who has since become an ordained Zen Buddhist Monk, says this about his flashbacks;
They havent gone away, but my relationship to them has changedthey dont control my life
in the same way. Being able to breathe, to slow down, buys me some time. I invite myself to hold
these feelings, to just sit with them, and when they start to come, I recognize them much sooner.
(Butler 38-45)
Emma Seppala, PhD and Priyamvada Narayanan, MD performed a controlled
longitudinal study using a form of deep breathing meditation called Sudarshan Kriya Yoga on 21
US male veterans with PTSD. After the results were measured at one month and then one year,
they came to the conclusion that the meditation could be of positive use in a clinical setting.
(Narayanan, Seppala web)
The benefits of meditation are becoming more undeniable the more with each passing
study. Even though there are some who feel that meditation does not have a reliable effect on
depression and anxiety, (Toneatto) the fact is, that meditation is spreading across the country in
schools, businesses, medical centers and homes. People want to feel better without prescription

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drugs. People want to feel healthier, more focused, and in the present moment. People want to be
able to manage their emotions when stressful situations arise, or when they are dealing with a
painful past. Meditation is, overall, a better tool for stress management with positive health and
relaxation benefits for people in todays fraught society.

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Works Cited
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Fiore, Rachael, Rhonda Nelson, and Eric Tosti. "The Use of Yoga, Meditation, Mantram, and
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Rowland, Ellen. "Children And Meditation: The Benefits Of Real Time Out." Natural Child
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Seppl, Emma, and Priyamvada Narayanan. "Breathing-Based Meditation Decreases
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Controlled Longitudinal Study." Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal 14.1 (2015):
50-50 1/2p. CINAHL Complete. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

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Srinivasan, J., and P. J. Breheny. "Meditation for Quality Improvement of Medical Encounters:
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Waechter, Randall1, rwaechte@sgu.edu, and Christine2 Wekerle. "Promoting Resilience Among
Maltreated Youth Using Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigong: A Scoping Review Of
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Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
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