Meditation is wrapped around misconceptions. Some think it’s just woo-woo and while others dismiss meditation as an activity only for hippies and vegan yogis on a retreat in India. Meditation is wrapped around misconceptions. Some think it’s just woo-woo and while others dismiss meditation as an activity only for hippies and vegan yogis on a retreat in India. We’ve rounded up some favorite questions and statements from the most uncompromising of skeptics, and answered them in the most practical manner. No woo-woo, we promise. I don’t fancy sitting cross-legged chanting away, and don’t see how that can help me better my life?

improvements in brain health, reduction in stress levels, improved concentration and lowering of anxiety. There are a number of ways to meditate, and many of them don’t involve chanting or even sitting cross-legged. Millions of ordinary people meditate every day sitting in a chair, focusing on their breath or using similar simple concentration exercises. Think of it as taking your brain to the gym. And, like going to the gym regularly, meditation has measurable benefits. A famous 2012 Harvard study demonstrated that just meditating like this for 20 minutes a day over a period of eight weeks resulted in

Meditation is only for hipsters who drink deconstructed coffee

It is true that many of the first people in the West to adopt meditation did so at the height of the hippy era, primarily because The Beatles adopted meditation in 1968 and introduced that generation to the practice. I count this as the PR coup of all time.

But that hippy image of meditation is way out of date. Nowadays, your typical meditator could come from any sector of society. You can find meditation programs in schools, prisons, the military, corporations, even the British Parliament. Meditation is promoted as one of the keys to success by the heads of major corporations including Linked-In, Ford Motors, Salesforce, The Huffington Post, Aetna Insurance and many more.

Because it works. Meditation has been repeatedly shown to enhance focus, productivity, engagement, creativity and innovation, and employee retention. From 2010 – 2012, Aetna Health Insurance conducted a two-year study amongst their own staff and concluded that their new voluntary wellness program, consisting of meditation, yoga and dietary advice, reduced negative stress outcomes and increased productivity, saving the company an estimated $63,000,000.

And they didn’t even have to give up un-reformed coffee.

Meditation is just a placebo effect you play on your mind, there’s no scientific proof behind it.

The cool thing about placebos is that the science demonstrates that they actually work. The unresolved question is why. But meditation is not a placebo. It does not depend on your believing in it in order for it to have an effect. Modern brain monitoring technology has enabled researchers to measure the effects of meditation and now the jury is in. More than 1500 peer-reviewed studies support the long held claim that meditation has many lasting and beneficial effect on the brain, mind and body.

It’s super boring to meditate.

I lack patience and I am super easily bored. Yet I’ve been sitting for meditation every day for 2 – 3 hours for the last forty years, and I love it. And I am far from alone in this experience.