Meditation for Students: Top 10 Ways Meditation Boosts Your Brain & Body.
Add to that holding down a job and you've got a perfect storm of stress. How to calm your mind? Meditation may be the answer.
Scientific studies are increasingly revealing some pretty amazing benefits of regular meditation practice, both for the general public and students in particular.
Meditation can help you better deal with stress and may make
your life as a student healthier and happier overall, a great trade off for just
a few minutes of mindful thinking a day.
Read on to learn about some of the latest and most telling
studies on student meditation to learn the amazing benefits it can offer you
this finals season and beyond.
1. Meditation Improves Academic Achievement
A 2009 study of 189 students in California who were performing
below proficiency levels in English and math found that meditation actually
helped to improve their test scores on the California Standards Tests. Students
were asked to practice transcendental meditation twice a day over a three-month
period. At the end of that period, 41% of students participating in the study
showed improvement in both math and English scores, sometimes moving up an
entire performance level, compared with just 15% who didn't participate in the
program showing improvement.
2. Meditation Improves Brain Function in ADHD Students
Those who have ADHD may find meditation an effective method for
improving concentration and brain function, at least according to one study
published in The Journal of Psychology. A paper called "ADHD, Brain Functioning,
and Transcendental Meditation Practice" appeared in the journal just last year,
showcasing the results of a study that followed a group of middle school
students with ADHD as they participated in a program that asked them to meditate
twice a day for three months. At the end of the three-month period, students
reported 50% reductions in stress, anxiety, and ADHD symptoms. Researchers also
found improved brain functioning, increased brain processing, and improved
language-based skills among ADHD students who practiced transcendental
meditation.
3. Meditation Reduces Academic Stress
Several studies have been conducted on the effect of meditative
practices on reducing academic stress, all with a similar finding: it works. In
2007 researchers at SIU in Carbondale, Ill. released a multi-year study on 64
post-baccalaureate medical students who participated in a deep breathing
meditation program. Students in the study were found to have reduced perceptions
of test anxiety, nervousness, self-doubt, and concentration loss. Another study
of students at American University had similar results, finding that students
who participated in three months of transcendental meditation practice reported
lower levels of stress (as well as increased concentration, more alertness, and
greater resistance to the physical effects of stress, as well as brain function
changes) during finals, often the most stressful part of the academic year.
4. Meditation Improves the Integrity and Efficiency of Connections in the Brain
It should come as no surprise that meditation practice can
cause physical changes in the structure of the brain; monks have been saying
this for years. Yet a surprisingly small amount of meditation can have an
impact, even with as little as 11 hours of meditating. A 2010
study looked at 45 University of Oregon students, having 22 of them participate
in an integrative body-mind meditation training program while the control group
simply completed a relaxation program. The IBMT students were found to have
changes in the fibers in the brain area related to regulating emotions and
behavior, changes which became clear via brain imaging equipment with just 11
hours of practice. The same changes were not seen in the control group.
Researchers believe that meditation may help students to better control their
actions, resolve conflict, and manage stress by actually physically changing the
brain connections that regulate these functions.
5. Meditation Reduces Drug & Alcohol Abuse
It's no secret that many college students go overboard with
drugs and alcohol, many binging on potentially dangerous substances multiple
nights a week. Yet meditation practice may help limit the desire to engage in
these activities, a study in Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly reveals. Looking at
both students and adults, the study found that daily transcendental meditation
practice greatly reduced both substance abuse problems and antisocial behaviors.
The results held true for all classes of drugs including illegal substances,
alcohol, cigarettes, and prescription medications, with meditation being in many
cases two or three times more effective than traditional drug prevention and
education programs.
6. Meditation Reduces Behavior Incidents & Absenteeism
In 2003, researchers Vernon Barnes, Lynnette Bauza, and Frank
Treiber set out to study the effects of meditation on adolescents, specifically
looking at the way it could potentially reduce stress and affect school
infractions. Their results were pretty striking. Forty-five high school-aged
African-American students were studied, some in a control group and others
practicing transcendental meditation on a daily basis for four months. At the
end of the study, the researchers found that the meditation group had lower
levels of absenteeism, lower levels of behavior incidents at school, and lower
levels of suspension. On the flip side, these behaviors actually increased in
the group that didn't meditate, suggesting that the meditation helped reduce the
psychological stress, emotional instability, or hostility that was leading to
negative and often self-destructive behaviors in these teens.
7. Meditation Makes Students Happier and Boosts Self-Esteem
Meditation might not just help your studies, it might also help
you be happier and more satisfied as well. Researchers at the University of
Michigan found 60 sixth-graders to participate in a study, asking a group of
them to take part in daily practice of transcendental meditation over a
four-month period. At the end of the study, researchers reported that students
had undergone some positive changes in emotional development, with students
getting higher scores on affectivity, self-esteem, and emotional competence than
when they started the program and when compared to their peers who did not
meditate.
8. Meditation Has Heart Health Benefits
Meditation is as good for your body as it is for your mind, a
study at American University reports. A study published by the university in
conjunction with the Maharishi University of Management found that regular
transcendental meditation helps to reduce blood pressure, anxiety, and
depression among college students. The study chose 298 students at random to
either be part of the meditation group or a control group, with a subset of
students at risk for hypertension also analyzed. After three months, students
were measured on blood pressure, psychological distress, and coping ability.
Students who were formerly at-risk of hypertension showed a major change in
blood pressure, associated with a 52% lower risk of developing hypertension in
later years.
9. Meditation Reduces Depression and Anxiety
Feeling a little overwhelmed with college life? You're not
alone. Studies are demonstrating that meditation may offer one solution to
better coping with the stress, anxiety, and even depression that many college
students experience. Research at Charles Drew University in LA and the
University of Hawaii in Kohala found that adults who participated in a
transcendental meditation program showed significant reductions in depressive
symptoms (an average of 48% lower than the control group), even those who had
indications of clinically significant depression. Similar results have been
found in students, with decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms at
significant levels after participating in a meditation program.
10. Meditation May Increase Intelligence
A study done by the Maharishi University of Management suggests
that meditation is a great way to work out your brain and that it might even
have positive effects on intelligence when practiced regularly. Looking at three
different studies, the university found that high school students who
participated in a transcendental meditation program had significant increases in
creativity and intelligence levels, compared to those who took part in a napping
or contemplative meditation program. Students in the transcendental meditation
group saw increases in brain function across the board, but most dramatically in
measurements of creative thinking, practical intelligence, and IQ.
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