Mindfulness is the buzzword that you keep seeing in healthcare blogs and social media these days, which has led to the sudden increase in the practice of meditation.
Mindfulness is a process of paying attention and bringing your experiences into the present moment. One of the most common ways to achieve mindfulness is through focused attention on one’s breath.
Two recent studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reveal that practicing mindfulness has the potential to improve mental health of students, in turn improving their academic performance.
The study was conducted in leading charter schools in the city of Boston. The team looked at 100 students from the sixth grade for the study. 50% of the students were asked to start with coding classes, whereas the other 50% were given mindfulness classes daily for eight weeks. The students who took up mindfulness classes reported having less stress as compared to the other group. The same students also reported feeling fewer negative emotions.
In the second study, researchers took a larger sample size. They evaluated mindfulness of 2,000 students ranging from elementary school to the middle school. The students who took up mindfulness produced higher test scores and better overall performance at schools.
These studies went on to show how schools could benefit from implementing mindfulness training in their students.
The applications of mindfulness meditation are not limited to students or monks, the practice can benefit everyone ranging from doctors to young mothers and even people struggling with illnesses.
Reference: Trisha Daruwala, Clinical Psychologist at Synapsium