Top 5 Benefits of Meditation for Leaders

There have been so many studies into the many benefits of meditation in the past few years which is great to see. However, there are SO many, I'm going to just share a few today that will impact your work and ability to lead... 

Since most of you are leaders, let's focus on some of the key benefits I've found in my leadership and work from meditating. 

You may want to explore more into the areas that interest you, especially benefits that align with your own WHY for starting to meditate in the first place. 

To get help uncovering your WHY for wanting to start a meditation practice and how to get started, plus get a free guided meditation and email course to walk you through the steps, sign up here!

So here are the top benefits that have radically changed how I show up in my leadership, business and work: 

Benefit #1: Less Stress & More Resilient

Probably the most common reason people want to try meditating is to help reduce stress. It was definitely the #1 motivator for me when I started many years ago. 

But not only does it help reduce stress, it can also help re-wire your brain to be less prone to stress. I could totally talk for hours about this point alone but the short version is...

Meditation is like unwinding a spring. 

Imagine that as you go about your day, your spring get's wound up. From day-to-day stressors, the car that cut you off, being late to an appointment, dealing with a challenging person or project at work, etc. 

And without taking time to unwind, the spring is wound extremely tight over time. 

This leave the spring no slack to take on more stress and can end up in physical or mental illness or an explosion. 

But when you meditate regularly, you give that poor spring time to unwind. To relax and let off the steam from the day. 

Then, when something happens that might be stressful, there is room to take on the stressor without breaking. This is called resilience. 

Plus, the more you practice, you also re-wire your brain to a more resilient state. But that is a point I'll not go into detail on today. 

Benefit #2: Better Ability to Focus & Be Present

Have you or anyone you know had to check their phone during dinner or even during a movie?! Been distracted by thoughts in their head or unable to slow down to talk with you about something important?

Our minds think thousands of thoughts every single day. 

But when we meditate, it helps us gain a stronger ability to focus on one thing for an extended period of time. If you know anyone who meditates or makes you feel like they're completely present with you... then you know what the different feels like. 100% connected to you, present and open to whatever you have to say or whatever is going on. 

So when you meditate, it is like doing a bicep curl. Each time your mind starts chattering away, you gently lift up the "weight with your arm" by bringing your mind back to just breathing or whatever you are doing to center yourself. 

And over time, this mental exercise will create a stronger ability to stay clear for longer amount of time, without distractions. Or if there were any distractions, they are easily ignored or set aside and your ability to be present grows exponentially!

Imagine the difference this will have in your relationships at work and at home!

Plus your ability to focus on a task at work and stay present in meetings!

This alone can be life-changing! 

Benefit #3: Clearer Mind & Better Decisions

So not only is less stress and a stronger ability to be present are super valuable... so is having a clear mind and the ability to make decisions. 

Because when you are able to act from a place of calm and clarity, of course your decisions will be more thought out versus acting from a place of fight-or-flight and survival mode!

Also, having a clearer mind allows you to see solutions to problems, come up with new creative ideas, connect to your intuition and see the bigger picture. 

These all lead to better decisions and actions every single day!

Benefit #4: More Compassion & Understanding 

A somewhat "side" effect of practicing meditation is a greater level of compassion for yourself. Because you stop beating yourself up for getting distracted during a meditation session, or start to see where you judge or criticize yourself or others. 

You become more connected to yourself and see the intricate connections and cause-and-effect of life, which allows you to better understand yourself and others. 

This way of being then flows into your leadership and interactions at work. While it doesn't mean that you "go soft" or become a "push-over" you do tend to become more wise and gently powerful when you add more compassion and understanding combined with the clarity, better decisions, ability to focus and withstand stress that we mentioned above. 

Benefit #5: Greater Self-Awareness & Personal Development

This is probably the greatest benefit that I have found from meditation. While the others are valuable, they are more like the appetizers while this benefit of greater self-awareness is probably the main course!

THIS is why I believe all leaders can benefit from a meditation practice. Plus all of the other points we've mentioned of course. But truly, when someone is more self-aware, they are better able to lead others. 

And the more developed a leader is, the more inspiring and influential they are for those that follow them and the businesses they lead. 

Discovering Your Own Benefits

I'd highly recommend that you start a meditation journal where you can write out your thoughts, experiences, benefits and changes that you see in your own life as your practice unfolds...

Especially as you're building your meditation habit into a regular practice. 

Focus on the feelings you're experiencing, what benefits you're seeing in your life... maybe you're sleeping better or feeling less rushed. Or maybe you feel more calm and reactive to stressors at work or at home. 

Maybe you just want to give yourself space to reflect and integrate your experiences with meditation through journalling. Kinda like meditating on your meditations... but really, just make it easy and simple. Nothing fancy.

The idea of journaling about your experiences is to help reinforce your behaviour by slowing down to recognize the benefits you are starting to see in your life so you continue to want to meditate! 

Conclusion

Okay, I could chat all day about any of these topics and would love to dive deeper with you... but the intent behind sharing benefits with you today was to show you what's possible. 

Meditation isn't like taking yucky medicine that you can't stand daily. 

It's like a breath of fresh air that enlivens you!

Sure, sometimes it can be difficult to motivate yourself to just do it... it's like any new habit or skill, the more you do it the easier it becomes and the better you get at it. 

To get access to my free email course where I'll walk you through each step of setting up your successful meditation practice, you can download your free Simply Mindful Meditation Starter Kit and email course here: 

And these benefits we mentioned of less stress and more resilient, better ability to focus and be present, being more clear and make better decisions, having greater compassion and understanding plus being more self-aware and deeper personal development...

Are like wonder side-effects of just unwinding your inner "spring" daily!

So don't get caught up in these benefits and whether or not you're seeing them in your life, you'll naturally discover your own as you continue to practice. 

Enjoy the journey!

Sarah