In a world that places so much emphasis on staying busy and being productive, finding moments of peace can feel nearly impossible. Meditation, which involves focusing on your breath and letting everything else slip away, is a simple but effective tool that many people use to promote mindfulness and calm in this chaotic world.
Meditation uses physical and mental techniques to clear your mind of any thoughts that might be causing you stress. For many people, this involves sitting or lying in one position and letting all thoughts just drift away, but there are many different ways to meditate.
Yoga and Meditation Instructor Tammy Spiewak is a firm believer in the benefits of meditation. She said, “Meditation gives you a chance to just sit and be as opposed to doing, and I believe that when we do that, it helps us to be more calm and let our nervous systems settle and gives you space so you can think better, feel more relaxed and have more space for whatever it is you want to do.”
Meditation has many benefits, including helping with sleep, reducing stress, and lengthening attention span. Nearly 90 percent of participants in a study done by the National Library of Medicine said that meditation helped them relax and decrease their stress. Because of these benefits, it’s unsurprising that meditation has grown more popular in recent years. The percentage of American adults who meditate rose from 7.5 percent in 2002 to 17.3 percent in 2022, according to nccih.nih.gov.
Meditation can be beneficial to children and adolescents, too. According to apa.org, over 20 percent of youth worldwide struggle with symptoms of anxiety. Between schoolwork, extracurriculars, and other activities, it’s easy for students to feel overwhelmed, and meditation is a simple and effective way for students to cope with this stress.
Junior Autumn Harper, who meditates for 10 minutes every night, said, “I think [meditation] is very beneficial because I have dance and cheer and so much stress, so trying to take my brain off of everything else helps me go to sleep better and wake up the next morning feeling more refreshed.”
Guidance Counselor Jamie Glickman said that, while meditation isn’t for everyone, “having that time where you don’t feel like you’re always just grinding helps put things into perspective, and I think that is lacking from a lot of kids.”
Choir Teacher John Brzozowski agrees that it’s important for students to take time for themselves. He sometimes plans Meditation Mondays, giving his students 10 minutes at the beginning of class to meditate, to help with this. He plays a guided meditation video from YouTube, and students are free to lie down or sit but are expected to remain silent during this time. Brzozowski said that his goal for his students is to “at least give them a little bit of breathing room in their academic rigor.”
Most people, though, don’t have a choir teacher to help them get into meditation, and starting can easily feel overwhelming. Spiewak said, ”I think that meditation feels hard when you start to do it if you’re an anxious, busy person with a busy mind because there’s this idea you’re trying to stop your thoughts, but you’re really just observing your thoughts.”
Because meditation seems intimidating for many people, Spiewak recommended using social media as an introduction to meditation. Many creators on these platforms make short-form content meant to promote mindfulness. She also recommended trying a meditation app like Calm or Headspace or even just taking a walk on a nice day and focusing on your breath and your surroundings.
There are no strict rules for meditation, but the goal should always be finding a way to promote calm and mindfulness for yourself. Even though meditation isn’t for everyone, it is a valuable and easily accessible practice that has helped many people improve their well-being.