World Meditation Day Date in the current year: December 21, 2025

Meditation is a practice that involves focusing one’s attention on the present moment to achieve emotional calmness, mental clarity, and physical relaxation. It has been practiced in numerous religious traditions around the world for millennia. However, it is possible to practice meditation for its health benefits without any religious or spiritual aspects. Advances in modern technology have broadened access to meditation. Now, apps allow people to practice meditation anywhere, anytime, and in any way they want.

There are many forms of meditation, each offering a different path to cultivating clarity, calmness, and balance. Studies have shown that meditation lowers stress levels, enhances concentration and emotional regulation, helps with anxiety and depression, and improves sleep quality. Meditation also positively affects physical well-being by lowering blood pressure and reducing pain.

The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the significant advantages of meditation, particularly mindfulness-based practices. In its stress management guidelines, WHO emphasizes the need for effective coping mechanisms and highlights meditation as a supportive method for maintaining mental and physical health.

WHO also points out that meditation can serve as a helpful form of self-care, complementing treatment and improving overall well-being, particularly for those dealing with anxiety. Incorporating even a short mindfulness meditation practice into your daily self-care routine can promote greater calmness and concentration.

Meditation has long held special significance at the United Nations. In 1952, Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld commissioned the construction of a meditation room at the UN headquarters in New York City. The room provides a space for people of all faiths to spend time in silence and introspection. Since then, the Meditation Room has become a gathering place for peace-related events.

To remind people that meditation is a meaningful way to promote unity and compassion in our modern, tumultuous world, which faces global challenges such as climate change, wars, and rapid technological advances, the UN General Assembly designated December 21 as World Meditation Day. World Meditation Day emphasizes the importance of cultivating awareness and clarity to face these challenges and encourage balance within ourselves and our communities. When people develop inner calm through meditation, they help lay the foundation for a more stable and sustainable world for present and future generations.

World Meditation Day was established in accordance with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which emphasizes good health and well-being as a sustainable development goal. Meditation is an accessible tool for promoting mental and physical well-being that should not be overlooked.