Meditation for workers

The 1994 film "Leon: The Professional" is about a lone killer and a 12-year-old girl whose family is killed by a corrupt cop. The movie`s soundtrack includes “Shape of My Heart” by Sting, the former lead singer of the British group Police. “He deals the cards as a meditation...He doesn’t play for the money he wins. He doesn’t play for respect. He deals the cards to find the answer.” Sting is known for practicing meditation. Many Westerners began meditation in search of peace of mind and relief from exhaustion by the material world. Such people say they achieve inner peace by relaxing the body and mind and relieving stress through prayer, no talking and abdominal breathing.

The benefits of meditation have been confirmed by modern medicine. Using magnetic resonance imaging, Dr. Sara Lazar of Massachusetts General Hospital has found that the cerebral cortex of a person who steadily practices meditation is thicker than normal. The thicker the cortex, the better the ability to regulate emotions. During meditation, beta waves in the brain turn into alpha waves. An alpha wave is known to boost creativity and concentration.

As a young man, Apple founder Steve Jobs had a deep interest in Zen and traveled to India, the birthplace of Buddhism. The simplicity of iPhone designs is partially due to his Zen training. Since 2007, Google has provided all employees with a “mindfulness” course, a Buddhist method of meditation. Google staff say the program has helped them improve productivity in expressing satisfaction with the course.

Meditation seeks to unload burden of the mind by letting go of desire. In appearance, companies, which are established to pursue profit, seem incompatible with meditation but this need not be necessarily so. Companies that encourage employees to practice meditation say the practice improves productivity. Samsung Group will soon start a meditation program tailored to its employees. Employees feel pressure due to severe competition at work. So companies should care about the mental health of staff. Critics might think a company is going too far if it offers meditation programs for employees, but staff who are mentally healthy will raise productivity.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)