Qigong Anyone? Trying to Quash Stress
Sept. 15 -- At one law firm in Buffalo, N.Y., Mondays are a time for peace and quiet, reflection and relaxation.
But it's not because the lawyers at Renda, Pares & Pfalzgraf don't have enough work to do. They begin their weekly meeting at noon on Mondays by meditating.
"It's our universal experience here that much more can be accomplished in the practice of law if we are doing it in a thoughtful and quiet manner rather than in a frantic manner," says David Pfalzgraf, a partner at the firm.
Pfalzgraf's firm has been meditating for five years, but more recently, many companies have started using methods such as meditation, massage, mind-body exercises like yoga or Qigong and other relaxation techniques to soothe the frazzled nerves of its workers.
And outside of the workplace, some communities and schools are trying to alleviate mounting stress and tension with new programs. This November, residents of Denver will vote on a controversial initiative that would allow the city to provide stress-relieving activities such as group meditation to alleviate society-wide stress.
Blamed for everything from physical illness to psychological problems, depression and growing health-care costs, stress has been a growing problem for decades. Now more organizations are turning to alternatives to try to get people to relax — and save money at the same time.
Rising Cost of Stress
Job stress is estimated to cost American industry alone $300 billion a year from factors like absenteeism and job turnover, according to the American Institute of Stress, a Yonkers, N.Y.-based nonprofit organization that serves as a clearinghouse for information on stress.
More than half of the 550 million working days lost annually in the United States from absenteeism are stress-related, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Unanticipated absenteeism is estimated to cost American companies $602 a worker per year, and health-care costs are nearly 50 percent higher for workers who report high stress levels, according to surveys cited by the AIS.
