Meditation and Improved Academic Performance
By Sydney Brezany
As you go through your day, do you find yourself experiencing episodes of anxiety or stress? Are you lacking focus in school, work, or your personal life? Is your head swimming with so many thoughts at times that you feel they might just start spilling out of your ears?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, congratulations! You are human.
I’m here to tell you that these experiences are quite normal and there are coping outlets we can all use to handle them in ways that will leave you feeling happier, healthier, and more at ease in your own life. I have found the art of meditation to be essential in handling these difficulties. I use the word art because meditation is something that takes time, patience, and practice.
I had my first meditation experience when I was 21 and traveling abroad in Rajasthan, India. At first, it seemed almost too simple. Floor, mat, timer – let’s do it. But I learned very quickly that it is much more than that. As I closed my eyes, my mind continued to wander through the ins and outs of things like what I had to add to my grocery list, when I should call my mom, and what I was going to have for lunch after I was finished. I completed my first meditation feeling a small tinge of failure. However, what I didn’t know at the time was that there is no right or wrong way to go about settling your mind and all I needed was a little practice.
After finishing my travel study and some much-needed meditation practice, I finally understood what all the hype was about. At this point, I had spent several weeks focusing not only on my breath but on the awareness of my own body and the environment surrounding me. The best advice I ever received was to treat every intruding thought as if it were a cloud floating in the sky – notice, acknowledge, and let it pass on by. The art of meditation is harnessing the ability to be aware of your thoughts, but not letting them control you. As a result, the changes in your life could be significant. A Harvard University study conducted in 2011 showed that even short-term meditation efforts result in “positive physiological changes in the brain structure related to attention, impulse control and anxiety.” (Whyte & Whyte, 2019). Find some free guided meditation exercises and additional resources here.
The advice I will leave you with is that meditation is not a means of control, but a form of guidance. There is no magic remedy that will rid us of the stress and anxiety of day-to-day life, but there are ways to harness those negative thoughts and mold them into something productive. Meditation can help you gain more insight into your own thought processes and open your mind to different perspectives, problem-solving strategies, and help you focus on what is most important in your life.
References
Whyte, A., & Whyte, A. (2019, August 13). Mindfulness Archives. Retrieved from https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/category/parents/mindfulness/