4 Reasons You Should Be Meditating, From a Man Who Sold His Company for $130 Million Khajak Keledjian is on a mission to disarm anxiety and build clarity to entrepreneurs.
By Dan Bova
The year 2013 was a big one for Khajak Keledjian. He'd sold his luxury apparel company Intermix to Gap for a reported $130 million, got married and went to Burning Man. After walking into a temple, Keledjian saw other Burners meditating and having reflective moments. "It made me think, "Why aren't there places like this to have a similar experience in big cities like New York?'" he told Entrepreneur.
"The following November my father got sick while he was visiting Armenia. I went there to be with him and I also visited third-century monasteries built inside caves. They were bathed in candlelight and in this environment, my senses were heightened," Keledjian recalled. Again, he was left with a desire to bring the quiet and tranquility back home with him. So he went for it.
Related: 7 Proven Ways Meditating Prepares You for Success
The result was Inscape, a New York City meditation studio and shop, app and ecommerce site, that he founded and serves as CEO of.
Credit: INSCAPE
"I knew that to help people live to their fullest and navigate everyday stressors and challenges, we needed to create both an oasis and a tool," he explained. "We drew inspiration from nature, history, technology, art -- not just one thing. Then, we created app our to deliver efficient guided experiences to solve everyday problems, so you can recenter and recharge quickly, wherever you are."
Keledjian cites some pretty telling statistics when asked about the health and wellness market he's now working in.
- Anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults in America. (ADAA)
- One in three Americans have some form of a sleep disorder, resulting in shorter recommended sleep duration. (CDC)
- Eight in 10 Americans said they encountered stress in their everyday lives. (Gallup Poll)
Keledjian said it is his company's mission "to inspire people to connect with their best selves and live life to its fullest potential." Here's how he says meditation can help do that.
Related: I Tried This Oprah Meditation Hack Every Day for Two Weeks. Here What Happened
1. It helps with problem-solving.
"Being a busy CEO when I started meditating it helped me find answers to tough decisions that weren't in the books. In 2008, the economy was crashing and I needed answers you couldn't find on Google. Meditation helped me harness my intuition, think clearly and take bold risks, like selling my business and starting INSCAPE."
2. It relieves stress.
"Meditation reduces stress and cortisol levels, which are a result of people everywhere being overstimulated and stressed. With reduced cortisol, you're not activating your fight-or-flight response -- you can respond more and react less. So rather than losing my cool if something doesn't go as planned, I take a breath and focus on how to re-navigate to get back on course. This can be budgets, timelines, a surprise meeting -- anything that catches you off-guard."
Related: This is How Meditation at Workplace Can Improve Employee Efficiency
3. It re-energizes you.
"Improved sleep is priceless. Meditation helps you sleep better and deeper. I wake up without an alarm, feeling rested. Our App's sleep section helps me get my little girls to sleep, and it helps me relax and reset."
4. It helps you find clarity.
"Meditation helps me think with an aerial perspective like I'm in a drone. Sometimes the clarity means I can come off as shrewd, or fast. But the clarity also gives me a horizon view, and my compassion has increased … so there's a balance. This also helps me in my personal life, as a husband and father."
