Meditation has become unbelievably popular over the years. But this unique relaxation technique has more to it than just what we can perceive at first glance.
According to some of the most fascinating mindfulness statistics, meditation does more for your body and your mind than you can imagine. It lifts your spirits immediately, but it also has some long-term benefits that make a huge difference in your quality of life.
Once you learn how many people meditate, why they meditate, and how amazing the experience is, you won’t be able to resist the technique yourself!
Top Ten Fascinating Meditation Facts and Statistics
- 76.2% of people meditate to promote general wellness.
- In 2017, the mindfulness app Calm generated $1,983,380.
- 40% of Americans meditate weekly.
- 35% of people meditate to reduce stress.
- 66% of Buddhists in the US meditate weekly or more often.
- 94% of women find meditation helpful.
- 5.4% of American children practiced meditation in 2017.
- Meditation slows down the aging process.
- 22% of companies had mindfulness programs in 2016.
- The largest online meditation lesson gathered 33,061 people.
General Statistics on Meditation
Now that we’ve been over the key stats, let’s get the basic meditation facts and numbers straight first. How popular is meditation? Who are the people who meditate? Why should you do it? Read on and enter the world of meditation.
1. 76.2% of people meditate to maintain general wellness.
(Nature)
Among other popular reasons for meditating were improving energy (60%) and aiding memory and concentration (50%). Fewer people named anxiety (29.2%), stress (21.6%), and depression (17.8%) as health problems for which they meditate. People usually have practical reasons in mind or they turn to meditation for health.
2. Over $659 million is generated in revenue in the meditation studio market.
(MarketResearch)
Meditation studios in the US are closely connected to yoga studios. Both of these have increased in popularity immensely in the last few years. About 2,450 meditation studios are active, most of which are nonprofit organizations. The nonprofits generate around $165,000, while the for-profit ones gross much more, $269,000, within the mindfulness industry.
3. In 2017, the mindfulness app Calm generated $1,983,380 in revenue.
(Statista) (TechCrunch)
In a digital age, people have apps for everything. Meditation is no exception to this rule. Some serious apps have been developed over the years, and Calm is number one when it comes to usage.
The second place is taken by the app Headspace, both when it comes to the revenue and downloads. People support platforms where they can practice mindfulness meditation, one of the most popular types of meditation out there.
4. 40% of Americans meditate weekly.
(Pew Research Center)
All over the world, people are discovering the therapeutic qualities of meditation, and they’re practicing it more and more often. Almost half of Americans meditate regularly, this statistic on meditation suggests.
Only 4% of the population in the US meditates just a couple of times a year, 8% meditates up to two times a month, and 45% of Americans say they meditate rarely or never.
5. 35% of people meditate to reduce stress.
(NCBI)
People have different reasons for turning to meditation. However, a large portion of the population has issues with stress. When that’s considered, it’s no surprise that a bit more than a third of meditation users turn to meditation for that very reason.
6. 66% of Buddhists in the US meditate weekly or more often.
(Pew Research Center)
It’s not strange that Buddhists are toward the top among meditation users considering their religious practices. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses meditate the most, with 77% doing it at least once a week. Mormons (60%) are next on the list, followed by Catholics (40%), Muslims (36%), Hindus (33%), and Jews (28%), according to the mindfulness statistics.
7. 94% of women find meditation helpful.
(NCBI)
Men and women have different practices when it comes to meditation. As mindfulness statistics show, 90% of men find meditation useful and helpful. According to our fitness industry statistics, men prefer going to the gym more than women, while women are more interested in meditation.
8. As of 2017, non-Hispanic white adults were most likely to use yoga or meditation or visit a chiropractor.
(NCCIH)
People of all ages, genders, education levels and professions have tried meditation and, in most cases, like it. When it comes to gender, in 2017, women turned to all of these approaches more often than men did. Non-Hispanic white adults were the most likely to contribute to making the popular meditation trend even more so that same year.
9. 14.2% of adults used meditation in 2017.
(CDC)
In 2012, just 4.1% of Americans were meditating. Along with other forms of alternative medicine, meditation has earned its place in Americans’ lives over the years. Namely, in 2017, the number of people who meditated had tripled. The use of yoga increased significantly as well, from 9.5% in 2012 to 14.3% in 2017.
10. 5.4% of American children practiced meditation in 2017.
(CDC)
In 2012, 0.6% of children in the US meditated. According to mindfulness statistics on teens, meditation was the first choice of older children. In fact, meditation took first place for 6.5% of kids aged 12 to 17 in 2017, while chiropractors were the favorite in 5.1% of cases.
Meditation Facts for a Greater Peace of Mind
In the end, let’s go over some interesting facts about the benefits meditation can have on your health and overall wellbeing. Keep these in mind next time you meditate. Before you clear your mind of all earthly worries, that is.
11. Meditation is helpful when it comes to chronic pain problems.
(NCBI, The Atlantic)
Chronic pain statistics show just how unpleasant and difficult this issue is. Luckily, due to the benefits of meditation, this problem can get at least a bit less serious. Even though the evidence isn’t of high quality, it still is there, and it could pave the road to some new research and even better results.
12. Meditation improves memory.
(Mindworks)
Mindfulness meditation is one of the most commonly used techniques of meditation. Awareness meditation comes second on the list of everyone’s favorites. It’s no surprise these two are so loved. As the science of meditation shows, the activity affects your cognitive processes, enhances them, and helps you never forget anything!
13. Meditation helps with lower back pain.
(JAMA Network)
Patients with lower back pain were studied in two different approaches: mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive-behavioral therapy. The results were very similar, and there was nothing that would prove that meditation doesn’t help with this issue as much as other approaches.
14. 22% of companies had mindfulness programs in 2016.
(Benefit News)
Workplace stress statistics show how and why people are stressed at work. Fortunately, as statistics on meditation show, some bosses understand why they don’t benefit from burnt-out and stressed-out employees.
In fact, 21% of participants in the same survey said they were thinking about introducing a mindfulness program by 2017. A third of the companies that had already established such programs even allowed participation by spouses and dependents.
15. In the Indus Valley, written evidence of meditation has been discovered from possibly as far back as 5000 BCE.
(Psychology Today)
We’re witnessing meditation becoming popular in increasing degrees, each day. Today, this beneficial practice is done all over the globe. However, it appeared in India many millennia ago.
Meditation, as well as yoga, didn’t reach the United States until the 20th century. From the 1960s onward, meditation started earning the position it deserves in many cultures and societies.
16. The largest online meditation lesson gathered 33,061 people.
(Guinness World Records)
The Chopra Center for Wellbeing (USA) holds the record for the biggest meditation lesson, held online on August 8, 2014. The 30-minute long session was led by Deepak Chopra and Gabrielle Bernstein. The users simply logged on to the website to take part in this historical moment.
FAQs
Is meditation scientifically proven?
Yes, in fact, the six most popular meditation benefits have all been scientifically proven. Namely, numerous studies have been conducted on whether mindfulness helps improve anxiety, counteracts implicit age and race biases, or reduces depression, and the results were all positive. It was also proven that meditation improves a person’s perception of their body, increases cognition, and helps filter out unhelpful distractions.
(Forbes)
How popular is meditation?
In a 2017 study comparing the use of yoga, meditation, and chiropractors, meditation took second place as the most commonly used approach in unconventional medicine. In it, data from 2012 and 2017 were analyzed and compared.
The results were the following: by 2017, 14.3% of adults regularly used yoga, 14.2% used meditation, and 10.3% of adults used chiropractors.
(CDC)
Can meditation be dangerous?
Meditation isn’t necessarily always beneficial. There are instances when you can get hurt while meditating. You could inadvertently encourage negative thoughts, you could affect your sensory perception, or you could experience decreased motivation.
Other not-so-pleasant experiences could include reliving negative memories or bringing about physical side effects such as pain, pressure, or fatigue. Finally, your sense of self might get challenged or you could become asocial.
(Insider)
What does meditation do to the human body?
Meditation affects both your mind and body in many ways. The first thing you should experience is stress reduction, followed by improved heart health. Your whole body gets relaxed as muscle tension decreases. Finally, your immune system benefits a great deal from meditation.
(Gaiam)
Conclusion
The ancient practices of meditation and mindfulness are proven remedies for so many of our health problems. Meditation is a unique approach that simultaneously benefits your metabolism, blood pressure, heart rate, and brain waves. It relaxes you, heals your mind and brain, and helps you get through the day.
These mindfulness statistics demonstrate how amazing meditation is for us and no doubt will make people want to get to meditating right away. If you haven’t already tried meditation, there’s no reason to postpone it anymore. On the contrary, we’ve given you plenty of reasons to try it out!
