A Sure Shot Way for Academic Success

Students can perform really well in academics if they are taught to control their thoughts.

A study conducted by three Universities pointed to the benefits of teaching students the art of "mindfulness" in schools. This improved children’s attention spans and also lowered their stress levels. These benefits translated into better performance in exams.

Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory
Mindfulness can reduce mind wandering, improves working memory and reading ability capacity, say researchers.

A nine-week course in mindfulness helped 250 children aged between 12-16 years in controlling the way they think. This course included breathing exercises as well as impactful visuals and clips.

"What we're teaching is the ability to have better attention and to be able to deploy that attention in ways that are useful emotionally, academically and socially," said Professor Willem Kuyken from the University of Exeter.

"It's like going to the gym and doing reps with the arms and seeing the arms getting stronger, but instead you're using meditative practices to train the mind to better hold the attention on an object you want to hold it on."

Depression-Related Symptoms in Adolescents Reduced by Mindfulness at School
A form of meditation therapy focused on exercising 'attentiveness' in people is called mindfulness.

"If a young person is sitting outside an exam hall 10 minutes before an exam and gets preoccupied with thoughts like 'I've not revised enough, I'm going to fail,' mindfulness training can train them to see their mind creating these thoughts, to step back and to choose not to put more fuel on the fire," Professor Kuyken said.

Mindfulness Brings Control Over Mood and Behavior
Those individuals who describe themselves as being more mindful throughout the day have more stable emotions and perceive themselves to have better control over their mood and behavior.

Source-Medindia

Mindfulness Meditation Enhances Musical Performance
A professor at University of Oregon is exploring how mindfulness meditation may enhance both music engagement and performance.