Do many men meditate?

Fewer than the wellness industry implies and more than most men assume. In the 2017 National Health Interview Survey, 11.8% of US men reported meditating in the past 12 months, against 16.3% of women (Clarke et al., NCHS Data Brief 325, 2018). Both numbers describe a minority, which is the useful part: meditation is uncommon full stop, not uncommon for men specifically. The gap between the sexes is real and considerably smaller than the practice’s reputation suggests.