One of the major problems faced by college students today is the difficulty of focusing on academic tasks because of their very stressful routine. They are accustomed to dealing with various technological temptations at the same time (smartphone, TV, computer, etc.) and they cannot concentrate on their university courses.

A good way to escape from this problem is practicing meditation, which provides a host of other benefits that are highly attractive to students. Nowadays, a college student can have a very stressful routine. After all, they always need to combine task overload, such as reading and solving problems, tight deadlines and meeting minimum requirements to graduate as a professional. There are also those who work and study, which further increases the sources of stress and even the chance of heart disease. To deal with all these difficulties, a student must take good care of the health of body and mind. In this sense, the benefits of meditation for college students may be essential not only for them to have good study results, but also to be healthy, even with a very stressful routine.

Check out some benefits of Meditation for students!

Increased concentration

The most immediate benefit of meditation exercises for students is increased concentration. Meditation help college students to be present (with their body and mind) in the present moment and in the place where it is practiced. So, it is a great way to fight those technological temptations of every day student: talk to the next colleague, check messages on smartphones and social networks, check emails and other distracting daydreams. Meditation is essential because the practice allows to learn to focus on what students are doing. While they are meditating, the areas of their brain responsible for memory and attention become deeper, helping them to record what they read, hear and see.

Intellectual development

Meditation also helps in intellectual development. It takes into account self-knowledge and the exercise of familiar “mental pathways”. It also helps in performing other activities involving the mind, such as intellectual reasoning. For example, college students who meditate are more able to create flowcharts and mind maps of the subjects they learn. This is a great advantage in the classroom, especially in taking tests.

via GIPHY

Improvement of health

Meditation helps fighting the ills of the mind and body. College students who eventually suffer from depression, anxiety and other diseases of the mind can benefit from this practice, which aids in the most difficult processes of healing. Patients learn to focus on positive thoughts and train their lines of reasoning to see the good side of things. In addition, meditation also helps improve the body’s health, since the brain and organs are intrinsically linked. The reduction of anxiety levels may be helpful for processes of recovery from nervous gastroenteritis and tachycardia.

Increased levels of self-esteem

In addition to all the benefits of meditation that were already mentioned above, meditation contributes to increased self-esteem, which stems from self-knowledge. Practitioners of meditation understand that all people are unique in their differences and that it is imperative to value these individual characteristics for personal success.

Helps reduce stress

The day-to-day running of the press and the pressures we face, especially with university deadlines and demands, can result in stress. Fortunately, meditation also helps in reducing stress state. A study conducted by the University of California has proven that its practitioners usually produce less stress hormones and that other levels of production, such as endorphin (known as the happiness hormone) tend to increase.

Improves sleep

Insomnia has several explanations: anxiety, excess of tasks, difficulty in dealing with daily problems, depression, among others. Meditation acts, in this case, providing greater relaxation of the mind and creating the possibility of establishing more neural connections. These connections work as if they were mind exercises, and the “stronger” students are, the less likely they are to get mental distress, which allows them to sleep more and better. With this, the reflexes for the quality of studies will be felt quickly.

Provides a better quality of life

The practice of meditation also provides a better quality of life, according to studies conducted by severals universities such as Yale, Harvard and MIT. This is because meditation reduces anxiety, heart rate, and consequently blood pressure, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. There is also evidence that the activity increases the immune resistance of its practitioners. Happier, more confident students. College students who meditate daily get higher scores on affectivity, self-esteem, and emotional competence.

Here’s student’s formula for happiness!