A recent study in Kyoto, Japan found there is a significant improvement in learning outcomes if meeting participants undertake at least 10 minutes of meditation before a meeting.
Highlights of the research identified:
• Average improvement of 12.5% across all tasks
• Largest improvement for single task 117%
• Largest individual improvement 21% (across all tasks)
• Smallest individual improvement 2%
Reverend Matsuyama, a Zen Buddhist priest, who conducted the meditation session comments: “It is a simple principle, if your tea cup is already filled; there is no point in pouring more tea in it. People who come to attend seminars and meetings are often under pressure. If they are to take on-board new information they must first make room for it. Simple meditation exercises can make all the difference – enter the meeting in a calm state of mind, take a few deep breaths. The difference is profound and it can also have a brilliant effect in bringing out a lot of positive energy in you.”
Research was undertaken in spring 2011 by the Kyoto Convention Bureau based on the assumption that a short meditation at the start of a meeting helps clear the mind and allows the participants to take in more of the taught material than if meditation is not practiced.
As part of the research, a group of people (twenty individuals), taking part in a regular event, undertook five separate exercises on two separate occasions (twelve days apart).
These included memory, language, comprehension and listening tests. Before the first session there was no preparation, before the second session there was a ten minute mediation exercise.
James Kent from Kyoto Convention Bureau, the organisation behind the research said: “The findings of the survey are simply astonishing. Japan has traditionally been known for meditation and we are very happy to have some of the finest schools of meditation and teachers here. We are taking the results of the research very seriously and making a concerted effort to include them in future events and meetings.
James continues: “The event industry calendar here is steadying after the recent turmoil across the country. However, this has nonetheless made the introduction of these sessions slower than we hoped. Despite these challenges, we are so convinced by the research that we are starting a campaign to persuade organisers around the world to take up the use of meditation. Above all these simple 5-10 minute meditation exercises are not meant to take time away from people’s work – but to help them be more successful at their jobs.”
