Meditation and workplace health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of mental and cardiometabolic outcomes among employees
Health Psychology Review April 16, 2026 Mahesh Kumar Khanal, Peter Saunders, Kathy Nguyen et al.
Meditation, particularly Mindfulness and Transcendental Meditation, improves employee mental health—reducing perceived stress, distress, job stress, anxiety, and depression while enhancing well-being, resilience, and sleep—according to a systematic review of 132 randomized controlled trials involving 23,080 participants. Most effects persisted at three-month follow-ups, and benefits for perceived stress, distress, and well-being lasted longer. However, meditation did not significantly affect blood pressure, cortisol, heart rate variability, or inflammatory markers. The evidence certainty was moderate for well-being and sleep but low to very low for other outcomes, and findings should be interpreted cautiously due to heterogeneity and risk of bias.