Meditation sessions have become a wildly popular pastime in Congress ahead of votes, although the practice is far more common among Democrats than Republicans.

Rep. Tim Ryan began organizing two weekly meditation sessions at the start of the 113th Congress almost two years ago. One session is open to staff and one to members of Congress, which Ohio Democrat Ryan calls the Quiet Time Caucus.

These are held from 6 to 6:30 p.m. before votes begin each week the House is in session.

Ryan tells Page Six hes trying to persuade more members to join.

The more staffers on the Hill who are meditating, the more it will help Congress. Its mainly Democrats [in the group], we havent had a Republican yet. It is not something you can force somebody to do. We have teachers come in who teach different forms of meditation, mostly people who are working with veterans. Meditation has proven very helpful in getting veterans off their medications. We have Vietnam vets who say they havent had a good nights sleep for years before this.

The trends already caught on with hedge-fund moguls from Dan Loeb to Ray Dalio (who says it makes him feel like a ninja in a fight) and Hollywood players including Martin Scorsese.

Ryan believes meditation can also help pols be better at their jobs, explaining, There is a value in having some quiet time before votes it can help anyone make better decisions.

As for shaping political arguments and perhaps even getting dysfunctional Congress to work together better, Instead of overreacting to situations, it can help create a bit of space between a thought going off and that thought being verbalized. And he hopes it could make Congress start to work together across the aisles: Hopefully, it will give everybody a bit of courage and create more thoughtful arguments.

President Barack Obama has yet to join a session, but Ryan gave him a copy of his book, A Mindful Nation.

Ryan recalled, The president said, This is about getting in the right mindset. I think thats something that we could all do with.

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Meditation sessions become a hit in dysfunctional Congress