Reasons Meditation Should Be Taught In Schools

Being a student today is stressful, to say the least! Research has found that stress levels have risen in students since the 1990s. The stakes are much higher today in terms of academia than they have been in years past.

On top of stress, students' ability to focus has also become increasingly hindered. There are distractions galore, including cell phones, tablets, and other electronic devices. Between getting good grades, keeping up with a social life, and working towards college, coping with stress and a lack of focus is a must for students of all ages.

One thing that some students have recently become privy to is meditation. Meditation is a form of mental practice designed to encourage focused attention. It also aims to provide a heightened awareness for those practicing it regularly. There are various techniques used in meditation, such as mindfulness and focus on one thought, activity, or object. These techniques train the mind to bring its full focus and awareness to one thing. But what are the benefits of meditation and how can they transfer to help students? Let’s look at some of the reasons meditation should be taught in schools.

What are the benefits of meditation?
Meditation has been rigorously researched in recent years. Because of its growing popularity, the science community has investigated its claimed benefits, and as it turns out, a lot of the claims are true.

The first benefit is a reduction in stress. To understand how meditation helps stress, we first must understand the stress response. When a person feels stressed, their body releases cortisol, the stress hormone. When cortisol rises, inflammatory chemicals called cytokines are released. These cytokines end up causing inflammation in the body that disrupts proper function. This is why various areas of health are negatively affected during bouts of stress. In people that meditate regularly, however, this inflammatory response is reduced.

Meditation can also help to improve both mental and emotional health. Several studies have investigated how meditation can impact depression and anxiety. The results have found that symptoms of both mood disorders can decrease with meditation.

Other benefits of regular meditation can include:

• An increase in self-awareness
• A stronger attention span
• Reduction in age-related memory loss
• Increase positive feelings towards oneself and others
• Curbed addiction
• Improved sleep
• Reduced chronic pain
• Decreased blood pressure

These vast benefits have all been scientifically proven in recent years. This is why meditation is gaining traction in various mainstream industries, including education.

Why is meditation important for students?
Starting meditation as a child is important for many reasons. The first and most obvious is that starting anything young will help you master it faster! Have you ever heard the earlier a child starts piano lessons, the easier learning the instrument will be? The same can be said for meditation. Children have malleable and sponge-like brains, so when they're learning a new activity, information sticks.

Adults, on the other hand, are usually already set in their ways of doing things. This isn't to say adults can't meditate – it’s just that children will be able to effectively learn to do so in a shorter timeframe. Because they're able to pick it up quicker, children can experience its benefits faster.

When students use meditation, they can excel academically as well as socially. The vast number of benefits associated with meditation at a young age include:

• An increased ability to cope with the changes that occur during early childhood and adolescence
• More self-awareness, which helps them identify who they are and what they want to do with their lives at a younger age
• Higher level of emotional intelligence

These are just a few of the benefits that kids can take advantage of if they start meditation early on in life.

How does meditation help kids in school?
When looking at school and education alone, meditation can also provide various benefits that apply to a child's ability to succeed academically. According to research, when children meditate in school, the practice can:

• Increase their focus on their studies
• Prolong their ability to pay attention to lessons
• Reduce stress and anxiety that may increase during test time or other high-pressure school situations
• Improve their ability to regulate their emotions in class
• Help improve their sleep, which is vital to their overall ability to learn

Should schools include meditation or relaxation breaks during the day?
Breaks during the school day are a must. Students already get breaks to clear their heads and refuel their bodies – so why not bring meditation or relaxation breaks into the equation? Considering how beneficial meditation can be for students, it seems obvious that it should be included in the daily schedule.

It may be difficult at first to incorporate a new practice into the school routine. After all, starting something new is always a little overwhelming. But after educators see the benefits in action, they'll wonder why it wasn't done sooner.

Meditation for students is a great idea that schools should adopt as soon as possible. To start a meditation practice in your classroom, you can begin by providing a comfortable area for students to sit. One of the easiest ways to begin the practice is to focus on breathing. Tell students to concentrate on breathing in through their noses and out through their mouths. They can count their breaths to pull the focus to one thing. As the class gets a better grasp on the practice, you can move on to other meditation techniques.

Featured image by Sandeep Kr Yadav on Unsplash