Why Should Students Meditate?
Because science needs results that are verifiable through multiple experiments having controlled variables, it is quite difficult to acquire actual scientific data that speaks to the impact meditative practices might have on the minds of a young person. (Though some works of neuroscientists and educators are compiling data that is quite convincing!) For this, the validity of the practices and the value these experiences bring are based on the experiences of the young person who is meditating and those who are working with the student(s). For those who have experienced the impacts that meditation has on not only students with ADD and ADHD, but a-typical children, meditation is a proven remedy, beyond any doubt or scrutiny.
Logic dictates that if the mind is running rampant, and is stealing the attention of a child, then a stilled mind will result in better attention; it’s true for you, why wouldn’t it be true for them also, and why wouldn't this benefit their learning? The only people who can speak to this fairly are those with firsthand knowledge of the impact meditation has on the mind and one’s ability to control it.
Logic dictates that if the mind is running rampant, and is stealing the attention of a child, then a stilled mind will result in better attention; it’s true for you, why wouldn’t it be true for them also, and why wouldn't this benefit their learning? The only people who can speak to this fairly are those with firsthand knowledge of the impact meditation has on the mind and one’s ability to control it.
To be sure, there is no shortage of documented proof of the positive impact meditation can have on a person. There is hardly a single curable or incurable disease known where meditation wasn't prescribed, and where meditation didn't improve the quality of life of the individual who practiced it regularly. I am no longer an impartial judge. We are now certain that nearly every disease can be remedied in at least the slightest way with the systematic use of transcendental meditative practices. Mindfulness (attention) is related to the brain. Ironically, the portion of the brain that neuroscience has discovered to be responsible for attention is the same portion of the brain ancients told us to place our attention during meditation, the frontal lobe, or arjna chakra. Through this practice neural connections are strengthened, blood flow increases, and there is a marked increase in gray matter, a thickening/densening of the cerebral cortex (the information processing layer around the brain). This translates into the enhancement of brain functionality. The brain’s job, amongst other things, is to act as the processing hub for the sense organs. It is where information is processed, or not. If the frontal lobe is responsible for attention, reasoning, and empathy, then those tasks will be impacted by the increased cellular activity in that portion of the brain. The enhancement of this organ, ie. improving neural connections in the information processing center of the body, is exactly what we’re looking for in the minds of our students. I can’t imagine someone wishing against the enhancement of a student’s brain.
What is more, there is now no doubt that stress plays a key role in both the storage of information in the memory bank and the retrieval of that information. Washington University professor Jeansok Kim has made important discoveries in the relationship between stress and memory.[1] When under stress the information processing center is compromised. Students are blasted from all angles, all day, with information that we as teachers deem to be important. We craft lessons that we hope will effectively grab the students’ attention. We make the content interesting to help them learn it. However, adolescence is a very stressful period in life, if nothing else. The stress experience during the day is competing with both our attempts to help them learn the content and their attempts to show us they know it.
Meditation will help students handle stress, focus their attention, establish memory, and recall information when required. If meditative practices were implemented in class and/or at home to focus attention and reduce stress before studying then learning will be enhanced. Similarly, if meditative practices are used before assessments the ability to recall information will be enhanced. This isn’t to say that we’re looking for higher test scores, but rather the ability to retain knowledge and aptly apply it. These are the first steps towards wisdom! Test taking is practice, a means to an end if you will.
By learning to have full control over awareness, one strengthens their ability to dictate attention rather than having it run rampant. At such an influential age, there are life skills that are being established now that will determine the future of our students. The physiological impacts that make our students’ bodies will be perhaps one of the greatest determinants of the child’s future. So, should your students meditate? Perhaps the question should be: Why not?
Meditation will help students handle stress, focus their attention, establish memory, and recall information when required. If meditative practices were implemented in class and/or at home to focus attention and reduce stress before studying then learning will be enhanced. Similarly, if meditative practices are used before assessments the ability to recall information will be enhanced. This isn’t to say that we’re looking for higher test scores, but rather the ability to retain knowledge and aptly apply it. These are the first steps towards wisdom! Test taking is practice, a means to an end if you will.
By learning to have full control over awareness, one strengthens their ability to dictate attention rather than having it run rampant. At such an influential age, there are life skills that are being established now that will determine the future of our students. The physiological impacts that make our students’ bodies will be perhaps one of the greatest determinants of the child’s future. So, should your students meditate? Perhaps the question should be: Why not?
