New York, NY | December 22, 2025 — In an extraordinary display of global unity and collective consciousness, millions of people across the world came together to observe World Meditation Day, joining a live, synchronized meditation led by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar from New York City. Participants from more than 150 countries, spanning thousands of cities and including people from 45 U.S. states and 133 American cities, took part in what organizers described as one of the largest coordinated meditation gatherings in history.
The global meditation marked a powerful moment of silence and reflection, underscoring the growing international recognition of meditation as a tool for individual wellbeing and collective harmony. Addressing participants worldwide, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar urged people to make meditation a daily practice. “Let’s resolve to meditate every day and bring it to every individual on this planet to create a happy and healthy society,” he said.
The worldwide meditation followed Gurudev’s keynote address and guided session at the United Nations on December 19, where he spoke to senior UN officials, diplomats, and international representatives. In his address, Gurudev highlighted meditation’s critical role in reducing stress, building emotional resilience, and supporting peacebuilding across cultures and nations.
The UN’s designation of December 21 as World Meditation Day reflects a growing global consensus that inner peace is foundational to social stability and sustainable development. Diplomats and wellbeing experts attending the UN session noted that, in an era marked by conflict, anxiety, and rapid change, practices that strengthen mental and emotional health are no longer optional but essential.
This year’s observance also coincided with a surge in global interest in understanding meditation’s impact at scale. During the New York celebration, Gallup and The Art of Living Foundation announced a landmark research collaboration aimed at creating the world’s first comprehensive global dataset on meditation and wellbeing.
“Gallup’s World Poll shows that negative emotions worldwide remain far above levels from a decade ago,” said Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup. “We’re proud to partner with The Art of Living, founded by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to study a widely practiced but undermeasured aspect of wellbeing at a globally representative scale — meditation. Together, we aim to generate a first-of-its-kind global dataset to understand how meditation relates to emotional health, stress, and overall wellbeing around the world.”
As part of the collaboration, Gallup will integrate new meditation-related questions into its World Poll, which has already surveyed more than two million people across over 140 countries. This will enable unprecedented cross-country comparisons on how meditation influences emotional resilience, stress levels, and quality of life. Findings from the study are expected to be released on World Meditation Day in December 2026, providing policymakers, leaders, and communities with data-driven insights to inform wellbeing strategies.
Observers say the initiative represents a major step toward bridging ancient wisdom with modern social science. By quantifying meditation’s benefits on a global scale, the project aims to elevate inner wellbeing as a measurable and actionable dimension of public policy.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost spiritual and humanitarian leaders, has spent decades promoting peace, resilience, and non-violence. Through trauma-relief and meditation programs, he has worked with war veterans, disaster survivors, prisoners, and at-risk youth across continents. His peacebuilding efforts have extended to conflict zones including Sri Lanka, Iraq, Venezuela, and Colombia, where he is credited with playing a key role in supporting dialogue during the country’s historic peace process.
His organization, The Art of Living Foundation, operates in 180 countries and has touched more than 800 million lives through programs focused on stress relief, emotional wellbeing, and community resilience. Founded in 1981, the foundation’s work is guided by the belief that a stress-free and violence-free society is the foundation of lasting peace.
As World Meditation Day 2025 concluded, participants across time zones echoed a shared sentiment: that inner transformation is inseparable from global progress. In a world grappling with division and uncertainty, the collective pause offered a powerful reminder that peace, when cultivated within, has the potential to ripple outward — shaping communities, nations, and the future of humanity itself.
