Corporate Retreats and Vedic Meditation: A Winning Combination
As so many companies have shifted to a virtual and work-from-home format, many employees have traded the stress of their commute for a different kind of stress. They now face the challenge of having their work and home life conflate, and of missing in-person face time with their team members. Corporate retreats offer a solution to these challenges, and Vedic Meditation retreats even more so.
In this post, we’ll cover why retreats are such a valuable team-building tool. We’ll also explore how Vedic Meditation retreats specifically can serve a corporate team far beyond a simple resort weekend.
Why Have a Corporate Retreat?
One survey by TravelPerk showed that 25% of employees identified missing regular in-person contact with their team members and peers as their biggest challenge with hybrid and remote work. 14% of those same respondents also shared that the virtual-only interfacing impacted the sense of camaraderie between coworkers. It’s not hard to relate— we crave in-person connection as humans, and work becomes more meaningful when we can work alongside people we feel connected to.
This is one of the main reasons corporate retreats have gained popularity. The opportunity to not only interact with peers in person, but to enjoy time around one another outside of the day-to-day working atmosphere is highly desirable.
Taking a break from the ever-present demands in the work environment also makes a difference. Employees appreciate the sense that their company values their wellbeing enough to invest in rest, connection, and even recreation together. Inevitably, that kind of investment provides greater perspective and shared experience as a team.
Bringing Vedic Meditation into this retreat environment greatly increases the sense of cohesion, unity, and relaxation among team members.
The company retreat purpose is elevated by a wellness practice that impacts every area of life positively. With a shared practice that allows each person to release stress and take time to turn inward, team members can return to their everyday lives feeling refreshed, valued, and encouraged by the shared sense of clarity and rejuvenation.
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BOOK A FREE INTRO TALKWhat is Vedic Meditation?
Vedic Meditation is a mantra-based, eyes-closed meditation practice that originated from the ancient Vedic Indian texts. There is no concentration or focus rewired, no special sitting positions or music needed, and thoughts are allowed.
The mechanics of the technique allow the body to reach a deeply restful state that allows the release of stress from the physiology, addressing backlogs of stored stress that create burnout and turnover at work.
How to Incorporate Vedic Meditation into a Corporate Retreat
The first step, potentially before the retreat, would be for each team member to learn the technique of Vedic Meditation.
The Learn to Meditate Course can easily integrate into a workweek and need only occur one time for each person to receive a mantra and learn how the mechanics and habits of the practice work. Over four days of individual or group sessions that last 90 minutes each, employees can learn Vedic Meditation and have a lifelong practice that will vastly improve their stress resilience at work.
The Learn to Meditate course could be taken as a retreat that is on-site or offsite. As a part of an off-site retreat, it would cover a 3-day and 4-night period, and other content could easily be covered in the daytime while the meditation portion is covered in the morning or early evening.
Rounding Retreats and Off-Sites
Vedic Meditation Rounding Retreats involve a blend of relaxing practices, where participants perform light asanas, gentle breathing techniques, and a meditation in a specific way to maximize rest and stress release.
One ‘Round’ of asanas, breathing, meditation, and lying down for 10-minutes provides a profound level of stress release. On Rounding Retreats, a qualified Vedic Meditation teacher will guide participants through many rounds per day, punctuated by nourishing Ayurvedic meals and Q&A sessions.
These retreats can be customized for your company’s needs, and we recommend they be separate from company-centric content. Rounding Retreats are most beneficial when the focus is completely on rest and rejuvenation and the natural camaraderie that happens in a retreat setting.
One recent retreat participant said that they had been on many retreats and team building experiences in their life, and this Vedic Meditation Retreat was the first time they felt they had the tools to continue to restore their nervous system beyond the short respite from their desk for a few days. They reported that it was one of the best corporate retreats they had experienced.
Balance Beyond Work
This is one of many differences between typical options for corporate retreats and the Vedic Meditation version – every participant in a Vedic Meditation or Rounding Retreat will see benefits far beyond work.
The deep rest and stress release that comes with a Vedic Meditation practice reliably:
- Improves sleep
- Reduces reactivity
- Lowers anxiety,
- Improves resilience and a sense of peace
This means that work-life balance improves, as the twice-daily meditations give each person enough energy and presence to bring their attention fully back into their home life even after a full day at work.
Corporate Retreat Locations
Corporate retreat locations are often chosen based on their proximity to most of the team. This can be ideal for convenience, but may or may not be an ideal location for fun, relaxation, or team building.
It doesn’t really work to search ‘corporate retreats near me,’ since typically the results are so broad, including things like wellness retreats and leadership retreats, which might not be what you need. It’s best to find one that focuses on team building and allows everyone to participate.
Post-Retreat Integration
Unlike recreational retreats or working off-sites, Vedic Meditation retreats have a natural and easy integration that brings all of the benefits of the retreat bank into daily life.
Each person continues their twice-daily meditations for 20 minutes per session, with one in the morning when they wake up, and one in the afternoon. So long as the company is willing to provide 20-minute meditation breaks and a quiet place for employees to meditate with a comfortable, back-supported seated position, the meditation practice can easily continue into the regular culture of the company.
Rather than needing to add more tasks to your team’s plate or prompt various team-building sessions that don’t quite hit the mark virtually, incorporating Vedic Meditation gives each employee an individual wellness practice that will improve every area of life in a sustainable way.
By addressing the root cause of division, conflict, and malaise (stress), corporate leaders key into a secret of high-performing teams.
Book a Corporate Meditation Retreat
To begin an on-site Learn to Meditate Course or design the perfect Vedic Meditation offsite retreat, email Susan at susan@meditatewithsusan.com.
