The benefits of daily stress management/relaxation practices are now becoming more prevalent and well documented. Scientific studies are increasingly proving the measurable and positive effects that meditation and mindfulness can have on health, productivity, and attitude.

Soul Sparks programs provide tangible stress reduction tools and techniques that can increase overall health and well being. Below are just a few of the proven benefits:

• Improves energy and vitality
• Enhances memory, mental clarity, attention and focus
• Reduces stress
• Assists in relaxation
• Increases productivity
• Improves sleeping patterns
• Improves digestion
• Alleviates depression

Research and News

Sparking the Body and Brain

• Newsweek: The Neuroscience of Meditation, and the Virtues of Shutting Up
• Washington Post: Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brain
• Huffington Post Science: Mindfulness Meditation Can Help You Fall (And Stay) Asleep
• Forbes: 7 Ways Meditation Can Actually Change The Brain
• Wall Street Journal: Our Amazingly Plastic Brains – Mental and physical exercise can keep the brain fit and help it recover capacities lost to disease and trauma
• Harvard Business Review: Mindfulness Can Literally Change Your Brain
• The Atlantic: What a Happy Cell Looks Like
• MindBodyGreen: An MD Explains: Why I Prescribe Meditation
• Parade: The No. 1 Health-Booster in 2015
• Fast Company: It’s Not Just For Your Brain – Meditating Can Actually Change Your DNA
• Harvard Gazette: Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain’s Gray Matter In 8 Weeks

Sparking in Popularity

• Chicago Tribune: Think on this – Meditation apps are not good enough
• The Wall Street Journal: After Meditation, Self-Critical People Ease Up
• The New Yorker: The Higher Life – A mindfulness guru for the tech set
• Forbes: Paying Attention – The Hot New Trend At Luxury Hotels
• InStyle Magazine: The Zen Commandments: Your Field Guide to Living in the Now
• The New York Times Magazine: The Muddied Meaning of ‘Mindfulness’
• Mindful.org: Bill Murray Leads Impromptu Meditation Session
• Huffington Post: Why Mindfulness Will Survive The Backlash
• The Boston Globe: Finding escape from daily grind in meditation
• The Washington Post: You’re missing out on your experiences. A meditation expert explains how to live in the moment
• Elephant Journal:The Major Trend In Meditation For 2015—And What This Tipping Point Means For You
• CBS News: Anderson Cooper reports on what it’s like to try to achieve “mindfulness,” a self-awareness scientists say is very healthy, but rarely achieved in today’s world of digital distractions

Sparking Corporate

• Enterprising Investor: The Importance of Meditation for Investment Professionals
• CNBC: Enter the age of yoga and meditation meetings
• CNBC: Deepak Chopra: Why Wall Streeters need to meditate
• Huffington Post: How Corporate America Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Meditation
• The Atlantic: Corporations’ Newest Productivity Hack: Meditation
• LA Times: Meditation booms as people seek a new way to slow down
• The New York Times: At Aetna, a C.E.O.’s Management by Mantra
• LA Times: Meditation booms as people seek a new way to slow down
• Business Insider: Here’s why this founder asks employees to meditate together every morning
• Business Insider: Here’s How Zen Meditation Changed Steve Jobs’ Life And Sparked A Design Revolution
• New York Times: Amid the Chattering of the Global Elite, a Silent Interlude

Sparking Schools

• The Mind Unleashed: The Reasons Why We Should Bring Meditation into Schools
• NBC News: San Francisco Schools Transformed by the Power of Meditation