Find Your Zen!
Is meditation for students really beneficial?
For many students, the “college experience” is reminiscent of late-night parties, the dreaded freshmen year, lack of sleep, and hangovers. However, no one said that should be the case.
Many students are using the university experience as an opportunity to explore new healthy lifestyles that they are not familiar with at home. Those who are accustomed to a healthy lifestyle can use their increasing independence to customize a healthy practice according to their specific needs.
For example- meditation. Meditation for students is uncommon but highly effective. College is the perfect time to engage with your emotional health. In other words, find your Zen.
Technically speaking, Zen is a specific physical and mental exercise that can be traced back to Chinese Buddhism, but because it emphasizes meditation, personal awareness, and expression, Zen is often used as a general term to describe the balance of mind and body.
I am a Perfectly Healthy College Student, Why Should I Meditate?
There are plenty of reasons why meditation is highly recommended for students. The following are the benefits of incorporating meditation into your college life:
- Stress and Anxiety Relief- College is a high-pressure environment, and some students may become anxious or completely stressed out due to constant demands. Studies have shown that regular meditation can help you reduce your anxiety by reducing stress hormones such as cortisone in the body.
- Increased focus and academic success- Students who practice meditation and mindfulness on a day-to-day basis tend to focus on homework and avoid distractions. Various studies have shown that students who meditate or have time to rest learn better and end up achieving better results in their academics
- Improved memory and creativity- Confident minds like to find creative solutions to problems and problems. Meditation has been proven to promote creativity and inspire curious minds to inspire innovation. A study in psychological science found that students who practice mindfulness can improve short-term memory, reduce distraction, and improve verbal thinking.
- Reduced possibility of addictions and substance abuse- Meditation usually focuses on self-care, which increases the self-esteem of some students and can reduce the obsessiveness of addiction or use of addictive substances. This may include any negative behaviors, such as pornography addiction, drug addiction, or alcoholism.
- Increased efficacy- Students who meditate are more energetic and confident, which helps them complete homework and homework quickly and efficiently. Healthy and well-rested students are more attentive in class, which can lead to many positive events, such as increased confidence, better grades and less stress.
How Can I Incorporate Meditation into my Daily Life as a Student?
We understand that college life can be difficult and time management can really make you quite anxious. There are many ways that you can gradually include meditative practices in your day-to-day life. Try the following tips:
Eat healthy and mindfully
Meditation does not only have to be about taking deep breaths. Mindful eating can provide more than just physical benefits.
In addition to the potential benefits of reducing sick leave, increasing energy levels, cleansing the skin, and improving overall health, mindful eating can also connect students to their bodies and environment.
By going beyond the simple act of filling the body with food, but considering and understanding the influence of such food choices worldwide, students can be aware of their status and the impact on the local community and the world. With a solid self-image, you will gain more confidence, more empathy, and better stress management skills.
Being aware of your breath
The reason the meditator focuses on breathing is simple: it connects us to the body. When we hold our breath, every breath, every breath, we are always in touch with the present moment.
Don’t control your breathing, but stay curious. Observe the airflow through you. Feel the air entering your nostrils, filling your lungs, and then coming out again. Whenever your heart is distracted, use your breath as a carrier to master it again.
Scan your body
No, with a machine. The body scan is a popular method of casually adding meditation into your life. Starting from the top of the head, pay attention to any sensations, stiffness, or resistance. Can you relax in this area?
Work on the forehead, paying attention to feeling and tension again to relax the area. Work slowly: focus on your eyes, cheeks, chin, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, abdomen, fingers, and even legs. This is a systematic way to get rid of the body’s past stress.
Maintain a gratitude journal
When students feel stressed about school, they will focus on negative emotions, which eventually lead to depression and anxiety.
Keeping a gratitude journal will help you get rid of negative influences and remind you that despite the stress, good things can happen in your life. Take a few minutes each day to write down the things they are grateful for, students can break the negative conversation in their minds and return to the present.
Observe the nature around you
Nature is always around you, but people, especially students, tend to ignore it in a hurry on busy days.
When students go to class, they may think of their work instead of admiring the things, trees, grass, and sunshine on campus. By paying attention to and valuing these things, they can enjoy the moment without worrying about what to do next.
Meditation is Good for Students- Is it Backed by Research?
To simply answer the question- Yes, meditation is absolutely backed by research.
This ancient discipline benefits people of all ages. Research conducted on more than 1,800 students from all over the world shows that meditation can improve students’ mental health, academic skills, and social skills.
Students who are taught about how to meditate in a school report that they are more focused and that they are more confident and positive about life. Meditation has been shown to promote greater self-identity and greater optimism.
In today’s turbulent world, students are struggling with the need for school and privacy; they often feel overwhelmed; external factors such as social media, peer pressure, and family problems only make the situation worse.
Let us Look at a Study
According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), meditation can help reduce depression and anxiety; in the long run, it can improve mental concentration and brain function, so it is particularly beneficial for young people.
This discipline strengthens the connection between body and mind and promotes healthy living. Researchers are currently studying its beneficial effects on adolescents with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and PTSD.
Students who meditate are better at dealing with stress and experiencing more positive emotions. Meditation helps reduce stress by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. Over time, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system will decrease.
When you are nervous or anxious, your body will enter a fighting or flight mode, and cortisol levels will rise. Meditation helps reduce cortisol levels and improve the body’s ability to cope with stress. Young people who only meditate for a few minutes a day feel worse.
Other studies have shown that after 15 minutes of meditation twice a day, students’ creativity and intelligence will increase. This subject can improve brain function, increase optimism, and increase alertness. Transcendental meditation seems to be the most beneficial for students.
How to Start Practicing Guided Meditation in College?
- Find a quiet place- This will help you find a practice location where you can be sure that no one will disturb you during those few minutes. This can be your own meditation corner at home, a quiet space at work or school, outdoors or anywhere other special place
- Choose the right posture- You don’t need to sit in a perfect lotus pose for several hours, but find a stable posture and posture during your chosen meditation time. Relax your shoulders and release any tension you feel in your body, especially your neck, chin and other body tensions, but keep your back straight.
- Schedule your meditation sessions- A quarter of an hour is ideal, but you can also start every 5 to 10 minutes. Before starting, please commit to practice. When meditating, focus on your body’s rest, and gently pay attention to any tension in your body.
Change your Lifestyle Today!
Meditation can be frustrating at first, and it is easy to give up if you feel that you are not doing any good or study too long. But please try to stick to it! Try to shorten the meditation time and build yourself up over time. The benefits will only start to show with time.
Meditation is particularly valuable to students because, in addition to the many proven benefits for the body and mind, it can also bring greater happiness. However, the truth is that discovering the benefits requires a certain amount of effort, practice, and commitment.
