Your College Students Are Stressed

 3 Reasons You Should Meditate With Your College Students

Your college students deal with a great amount of stressful situations in their young adulthood. A majority of them are struggling to pay for college, don't have enough financial aid, are trying to pay their rent, and pass their classes all at the same time. Many professors expect their students to be grown up because life is hard, but no one should have to endure that type of stress on their own. 

3 reasons:

1. Improved Grades:

According to the blog "The Benefits of Meditation for College Students", "meditation can help you improve concentration, memory, and learning" (Mcgivney, Jen, 2020). All professors strive for their students to make good grades in classes, however, they often forget that a numerous number of students have test anxiety or another stressor. Meditating a few minutes before class starts, or before your students start a test can help them focus better. Better focus will lead to improved grades. 

2. Improved Mental Health:

About 27% of college students have a diagnosable mental illness, and that isn't including the students who have mental illnesses that are undiagnosed. The most common illness's are anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Numerous studies show that about 1000 college students take their own lives each year. As a professor with hundreds of students, you can't tell who is depressed. This is why you should introduce meditating to all of your students. 

3. Improved Sleep:

It is proven that meditation can help your students sleep better at night. As stated by "Affordable Colleges Online", the practice of meditation decelerates their metabolic activity. Sleep deprivation is also linked to anxiety, which is reduced by meditation as well. Better sleep will lead to an improvement in mental health which will also lead to better grades. 

Articles on the benefits of meditation:

https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/meditation-for-college-students/#:~:text=%20The%20Benefits%20of%20Meditation%20for%20College%20Students,you%20improve%20concentration%2C%20memory%2C%20and%20learning%20More%20

Guide to Sleep for College Students & Older Teens | Affordable Colleges Online

Anxiety Sucks!

How Meditation Can Ease Your Students' Anxiety

Anxiety is a mental illness that has 6 forms; Generalized anxiety disorder, Social anxiety, Obsessive compulsive disorder, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Separation anxiety, and Panic disorder. Anxiety & Depression Association of America, conducted research and found that "anxiety disorders affect 25.1% of children between 13 and 18 years old. 

It is proven that meditation can help ease anxiety. According to the Cleveland Health Clinic, during our teen years, the Amygdala (a part of our brain that is related to our survival mechanism) is most active, and because of all the stress we endure it can strain it. The frontal lobe and Amygdala have trouble communicating throughout these years which leads to anxiety and risky activity. With about 15 minutes of meditation daily, it'll help the brain become more responsive, and it can be beneficial for teens suffering from anxiety (Health Essentials). 

The Interview:

I interviewed my close friend Simone about her experience with anxiety, and this is what she had to say: "My experience with Anxiety hasn't been the best, but being diagnosed with it has helped generously. One way it has helped me is by setting standards to help me cope in certain environments. When I was first diagnosed with anxiety, I was informed that it was caused by a variety of things. For instance, too much stress, and my depression was a huge factor of my chronic anxiety. I personally haven't been treated differently, but there are some instances where people who are aware of my anxiety ask if there is something they can do to make me feel more comfortable. My experience with anxiety would've been less traumatic if I had a better support system."

Initially, I asked what form of anxiety she was diagnosed with, and Simone replied, "I was diagnosed with Generalized anxiety, PTSD, Social anxiety, Separation anxiety, and Panic disorder."

 Additionally, I asked her to compare her anxiety medication and mindful meditation, and tell me which had the most positive outcome. She answered, "I would have to say my medication, only because it worked faster, and was more effective when I needed it. However, now that I am off of the medication, meditation is a better alternative, it is much safer, and better for my body."

Furthermore, I asked if her grades have ever dropped due to her anxiety. She said, "A couple of times, but I was able to pick them back up easily."

As stated briefly in my other posts, meditation is the key to easing various mental illnesses, especially anxiety. These are reasons why all teachers should incorporate meditation into their daily activities, lesson plans, etc. 

Statistics, Meditation progress for anxiety, and more:

https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics

How to Use Meditation for Teen Stress and Anxiety – Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Meditation in Special Education!

 Can Meditation Be Used In SPED?

Special Education classes are filled with students who struggle with a variety of medical, physical and mental disabilities. It is highly anticipated that their disabilities will affect their speech, motor skills, and social interaction. The most common disabilities are Autism, Down syndrome, Vision Impairment, as well as an Intellectual disability. As claimed by the National Center for Education Statistics, in the school year of 2018-2019, 14% of students enrolled in public schools in the United States received special education services. 

Many people believe that a child with disabilities doesn't feel stress, anxious or even sad, but this way of thinking is disgusting. They have many feelings, but it can be extremely hard to show them. 

Many of these students tend to be easily triggered, whether it's because of a certain sound or they don't feel comfortable. For example, many triggers I have seen in children with autism is that if they hear a sound they don't like, they'll hold their ears and make a humming sound. I have seen my brother do this thousands of times, including when my mom tells him no. 😂 Furthermore, another trigger I have seen is when a child is getting used to a new routine, i.e., "snack time", they will get upset when they aren't able to eat more snacks throughout the school day. 

Relating back to my first post, "Your Students Are Overwhelmed!", my brother has Autism and his teachers rarely tried to learn anything about his triggers, and what to do to calm them down. They would send my brother home by 9:00 AM almost every morning. One day, I saw my brother and his teachers walking around outside, as soon as I stepped outside he looked at me and tears started running down his face. They wouldn't tell me anything, they were more afraid of what I would tell my mother (It was a small incident between another student). That was the moment I finally knew that they weren't doing anything to make him feel better, because if they were they would've found a way to contact me. They were only walking him around to pass time. That was the moment I finally knew what I wanted to study in college, that was the moment I realized that I wanted to do things differently. 

Meditation Techniques for Children With Special Needs

What is meditation? According to the article "Meditation and Children with Special Needs - How To Start A Simple Practice", Meditation is "the practice of focusing your mind on the present moment in order to gain a more clear and calm mental and emotional state" (Beurkens, Nicole, 2018, Par. 3).

Getting a child with disabilities to sit still for a long time is very difficult, but with patience and the right motivation you can get them on a daily routine of "calm time". Taking 5 minutes out of your day could go a long way. A good technique would be to simply make some time without any interruptions for you and your students. You could get some comfy yoga mats, and listen to calming music, or keep the classroom completely silent. A few minutes of silence could ease a great deal of their stress, anxiety, and sadness.

Articles on meditation techniques for children with special needs:

https://www.drbeurkens.com/meditation-children-special-needs-start-simple-practice/

Medication or Meditation?

 Why Meditation is Better For ADHD/ADD Than Medication

Photo from https://www.denver-eval.com/blog/differences-between-add-and-adhd/

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mainly known as ADHD or ADD, is a chronic disorder that consists of difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity, and sometimes just one or the other. They are viewed as a subtypes of the same diagnosis. This typically starts at a young age and can continue into adulthood. A lot of children are diagnosed after being in school for a few years, their parents or teachers notice that they struggle to pay attention or have an abnormal amount of energy. In most cases, these children were put on a medication, and likely have to take it for the rest of their lives depending on if they can control it better. 

I do not have ADD or ADHD myself, however I have interviewed two close friends of mine who were diagnosed with it at young ages. Alexus is 20 years old and she has ADD, which means she has trouble paying attention, minus the hyperactivity part. Additionally, Simone who is 17 years old, has ADHD. Although they don't share all of the same symptoms or experiences, they have similar answers. I started my interview by asking both girls the same questions, individually. 

First and foremost, I asked them if they could explain how their parents and teachers comprehended that they had ADD/ADHD. 

Alexus said, "When I was younger my teachers noticed I would always be looking around instead of paying attention to them. However, I did that because every time I'm in a new Environment I like to look around, especially when they decorate the room. I still do it now, It's just that I don't do it as much as I did when I was little."

I asked Simone the same question, and she said, "My mom realized before my teachers ever did. She disguised it as me having a lot of energy, and having a super fast brain. At parent teacher conferences, my teachers would explain that I would finish my work early, and often said that I had a lot of energy. Ever since that conference, my teachers came up with ways to distract me, such as; trips to the front office, helping teachers, and being a TA".

I then proceeded to ask them my next question, which was: Given the chance to participate in Mindful Meditation to help with your ADD and/or ADHD, would you take that chance or still take medication for it and why?

Alexus answered, "As a kid meditation wouldn't work for me because I would have been distracted, it would only work now since I'm an adult. As a kid I feel medication works better."

I explained my question more thoroughly, "So you don't think that if your teacher took the time with your class, and made sure everyone was participating, and did breathing exercises daily it still wouldn't have helped?" 

She then said, "It wouldn't have helped me, however, I had helpful teachers that would take me to a separate room, and do challenges and activities with me that best suited my condition at the time". 

I asked Simone the same question, but to my surprise she was never put on any medication. Instead I asked her which one she felt would've worked the best for her, meditation or medication. She replied, "Meditation would've worked better because I personally feel medication takes a toll on you over time. Even though the medication can help with a certain issue in your body, it can possibly have side effects that will mess up something else in your body." In short, she said that taking medications can help you, but can cause other issues as well, and that's why she deals with her ADHD in a more natural unharmful way. 

Now that we've seen the views of two people who have dealt with ADD/ADHD head on, ask yourself this: do you think children/teenagers should be put on medication for their ADD/ADHD or are you willing to integrate Mindful Meditation into your daily lesson? 

Your Students Are Overwhelmed!

If you are a teacher, then you know that many students suffer from anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADD/ADHD, and many other disorders and disabilities. It is a fact that around 40% of students lay bare to some sort of traumatic stressor, and this is not counting the percentage of students who are not able to say anything, or are afraid. The majority of guardians are impoverished and cannot afford therapy for their child. Instead of letting your students suffer in silence, introduce them to daily (mindfulness) meditation techniques. 

Reasons Why You Should Use Meditation In Your Classroom

Many teachers fail to realize that most of their students are struggling mentally. A child can experience anxiety, and other emotions at an early age. The majority of children are born with mental illnesses, disorders, and disabilities that were passed through their genes. Some teachers think a student is misbehaving because they aren't being punished correctly, instead it could be their cry for help. Although this has nothing to do with the teacher, I feel like they should be more understanding of the fact that many children cannot control things that are happening to them mentally. 

At any age, school can be extremely stressful. Meditation should be used to help ease a child's mind, especially once they start taking state tests or tests in general. A great deal of teachers always speak to their students about test anxiety, but they never give good tips on how to stop it.  

Not only is mindfulness meditation good for students, it is a good technique for teachers to use as well. I have seen many instances where teachers tend to take out their stress on their students. For example, my family had a lot of issues with my brother's special education teachers throughout high school. Instead of learning about his triggers, and wanting to help him grow into an amazing young adult, they would send him home by 9:00 AM almost every morning. They were overwhelmed with their jobs, and most likely went into the wrong career. My brother learned more at home, than he did at school because the only thing he did was watch YouTube on the school's computer. Teaching them to meditate or explaining "calm time" when they're upset is a tough job, however, it might work if you get them on a daily routine. Attempting this would relieve stress for everyone, but some teachers rather take their stress out on children and teenagers who can't speak up for themselves.

If you want more information on why mindfulness meditation is good for you and your students, here are some amazing websites:

https://eocinstitute.org/meditation/meditation-and-teachers-benefits-for-educators-and-students/#:~:text=Meditation%20helps%20teachers%20resist%20stress%20and%20respond%20effectively,their%20jobs.%20Benefits%20of%20Meditation%20in%20the%20Classroom

https://www.learningliftoff.com/meditation-in-schools/