You have probably heard the rapturous, breathtaking, tear-jerking, hilarious, funny, ridiculous, but always exciting stories about college life told many times by your parents and their friends. No matter what they say, the conclusion is always the same: the college years are the best years of a person’s life!

When you are young, your whole life is ahead of you. Everything is interesting, everything is new. We learn together to rejoice in other people’s victories and to overcome difficulties on our own. Even if you are struggling with tasks like writing an essay, you can hire someone from the essay writer service EssayPro to help you. Within a short period of time, you will have your perfect essay done.

Most people learn what life is and what real love and friendship, betrayal, and disappointment are at college. But nothing in this life happens by itself. Each event is a consequence of the previous one. So are anxiety, stress, and depression. The studentship is not only about enjoying the youth. It is also about never-ending homework, finals, deadlines, etc. All these factors have a huge impact on students’ performance.

In order to handle all the stress connected to studying and everyday life, it is highly recommended to practice meditation. This phenomenon is hard to ignore – it’s everywhere now. Hundreds of books are published each year on the conscious approach to parenting, nutrition, healing, family relationships, and shopping – right down to conscious dog training. So let’s get into details about why it is so important to practice meditation.

Improves Your Attention

Not surprisingly, meditation has a huge impact on attention. There are a lot of contemplative practices that aim to develop the skill of concentration and focus. Researchers have found that meditation interferes with habituation – the tendency to stop paying attention to new information in familiar environments. Meditation is also believed to reduce the tendency of people to have their head in the clouds and improve problem-solving skills. It helps you regain your ability to focus on the here and now, to gather your attention to one point, and focus on one task.

Cope With Anxiety And Depression

This statement, however, is the most controversial thing right now. On the one hand, meditation helps to reduce stress and anxiety. But in some cases, it will not help without meds, psychotherapy, and other ways of coping with mental illnesses. This is where you have to be especially careful. There are some studies that believe that for people with post-traumatic stress syndrome, for example, meditation without professional supervision can even be harmful. It can cause reliving unprocessed trauma, re-traumatization, and worsening the condition.

So if you have any mental issues and peculiarities, before you start meditating, it makes sense to consult with someone who is specialized in these issues. And no, it is not an old lady on the porch, not your best friend in a bar, not a random expert from the Internet, but a psychotherapist or even a psychiatrist.

Regular Practice Builds Stress Tolerance

Stress is an essential part of students’ lives. Various attention training techniques (particularly the 8-week MBSR – Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course) can calm you down. In addition, meditation causes an increase in the prefrontal cortex, which facilitates logical decision-making.

It is known that two pathways are often triggered in humans when making decisions. One uses the amygdala body, the other just the prefrontal cortex. (In those who have experienced serious stress, the pathway using the amygdala body is more active.) Also, the prefrontal cortex is known to be more active in the DMN after meditation, which contributes to greater stress tolerance.

Revitalize the Body from the Inside

Some studies have shown that people who take at least 15 minutes a day to meditate have increased the tone of the vagus nerve, which connects the heart to the brain. At the same time, levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, have decreased in the body. These two phenomena collectively tend to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack. Besides, meditation practices lower blood sugar levels, useful for diabetics, strengthen the immune system and slow down the aging process in the body.

Improves Creativity

The ability to come up with new ideas is certainly a distinctive and unique characteristic of the human brain. For a long time, it was believed that the hemispheres of our brain were responsible for different functions. The left hemisphere was responsible for logical thinking, and the right for imagination. The birth of creative ideas requires the work of both hemispheres. The better the hemispheres are connected, the more new and unusual ideas a person will come up with.

However, modern research questions the possibility of separating the brain into two unrelated parts. Although, at the same time, scientists confirm that neural connections in the brain play a key role in creativity. And meditation is just a way to improve the “connectivity” of the brain.

Use Apps for Practicing Meditation

No doubt, it can be hard to start practicing meditation on your own without any training. You might be confused “How should I sit?” “Where should I put my hands?” “How should I breathe?” or “Am I doing it right?”. That’s why you are provided with plenty of meditation apps you can use:

• 10% Happier. The app is based on the famous “10% Happier” project created by “Good Morning America!” host Dan Harris and secular meditation guru Joseph Goldstein. A concise design, strictly scientific approach and simple explanations of the practice, an impressive selection of topics, and quality content, even in free access.
• Headspace. Fun animated design, easy recommendations, intuitive interface understandable to kids and seniors alike. The promo version has ten days of free lessons – a convenient format to figure out if the app is right for you.
• Buddhify. More than 80 practices for all occasions are available. Here is a list of some: meditation when waking up, while eating, on a walk, while waiting, at the computer, during difficult times, insomnia, during finals, illness, on the road, and so on. The app counts the time you spend practicing, and by evaluating your state before and after the class on a suggested scale, you can observe and record your effectiveness.
• Calm. Beautiful meditative design with landscapes and sounds of wildlife. Options include theme-specific retreats. Here is a list of some: seven days of stress management, seven days of increasing focus, seven days of practice for quality sleep, and so on. Meditations can be chosen by category: improving relationships, working with emotions, and taking care of yourself.

Summing Up

Meditation is the observation of oneself and one’s thoughts. It is a conscious experience, allowing you to separate from the emotional component and not to identify with your thoughts.

So in any kind of chronic stress, which all students can experience, practicing meditation is very important. It helps us to simplify seemingly tough things, give our brain a rest, and believe that everything is not that bad. It helps to rest, focus, improve concentration and attention, relax the nervous system, and allow you to calm down and concentrate.