Can Meditation Help Minimize Stress For Students?

There is a tremendous amount of evidence that the students in our schools today are under a lot of stress. Whether we are talking about inner city students who come to school through violent neighborhoods, or more affluent school children who are under academic stress and social pressures, 70% of distressed children are not getting the mental health care that they need. The bottom line is, a stressed student cannot learn.

Say children are living in a very dangerous neighborhood, they may see violence on the way to school and on their way home. Day after day the students become terrified, even though they are in the safety of the school the effects of the violence they have just seen lingers. This prevents them from focusing and attending to their schoolwork because they are so stressed and anxious.

Dr. William Stixrud, Clinical Neuropsychologist:

When we talk about stress, what we are talking about is really things in life that trigger the flight or flight response. Traumatic stress is stuff that is overwhelming, it is overwhelming events like accidents, or in many cases the kids we see, kids who are abused, kids who have spent time in orphanages where they are neglected. Life gave them more than their nervous system could handle. I am very confident that we will see students increasingly feel safer in their own skin, feel safe in the classroom and use their attention energy and intelligence to their own benefit.

Sarina Grosswald, Ed.D. says, “[Meditation] provides a mechanism for students to be able to manage themselves, to be able to deal with the stress and have clearer thinking.”

See this video on meditation and stress for students (3:01)

What we know about Meditation is that it reduces stress, not just because we see it, but because we can measure it. The brainwaves in the electroencephalogram (EEG) change. There is more alpha wave strength, which means a more calming effect for students. There is more coherence, which means the brain is working efficiently. What meditation can do is settle down the nervous system to de-stress these students so that their minds are now open and available to being educated and to learning.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman

For more information on Student meditation you can visit www.studentmeditation.org