1. Meditation is a Stress Relieving Technique that Need’s to be Utilized by all College Students
Public Health Literature
Jahari Shears
April 27, 2016

2. Topic
I.​ ​Abstract………………………………………………………………………………3
II.​ ​Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..4
III.​ ​Methods………………………………………………………………………………5
a. Information on reasons why meditation is relevant to students and their health…5
IV.​ ​Findings…………………………………………………………………....................6
a. Graph shows the percentage of students using health counseling………………..6
b. Data shows how frequency effects results of meditation……………...................7
c. How meditation compares to other stress management techniques ……….….....7
d. Data of experiment showing before and after test results…………………..........8
e. Experiment of a meditation curriculum done on school children …….................8
V.​ ​Discussion…………………………………………………………………................9
VI.​ ​Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..............12
VII.​ ​Recommendations……………………………………………………………………12

3. Abstract
In the Indus Valley, archaeologists discovered wall art of people meditating dating back
to 5,000 BCE. There are also descriptions of meditation techniques found in Indian scriptures
dating back around 3,000 years ago. Basically every culture and old religion recognizes
meditation as a mechanism for positive growth.
Meditation, along with yoga were introduced to the United States early in the 20th
century by Swami Vivekananda and popularized by Paramahansa Yogananda. In the 1960’s
there was an explosion of interest in meditation fueled by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi teaching
Transcendental Meditation. In 1971 the Yogi founded Maharishi University of Management,
located in Fairfield Iowa, USA. Students earned regular degrees, while being immersed in the
life of Yogi Transcendental Meditation.
Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education at UCLA’s​ ​Mindful Awareness
Research Center​ states, “Meditation has quietly taken place on campuses since the 1970s, but it
has been spreading on a larger scale in the last five years”. More Universities are realizing the
importance of meditation. Rutgers has a meditation and prayer room located at the College Ave
Student Center. At Georgetown University, students and others can attend general meditation
sessions twice a day at the​ ​John Main Center for Meditation and InterReligious Dialogue​. Many
students are taking advantage of these resources to gain self-power and connect to like-minded
peers. Unfortunately, the majority have never tried meditation or are not aware of the benefits
that meditation can provide for them.

4. Introduction
Meditation is a technique that college students can utilize to reduce stress along with
improve their lives as better students. In the methodology, it explains why meditation is
important to everyone, especially college students. College students act in unhealthy way when
they are stress, and studies are showing an increase of anxiety among the college population.
Meditation needs more recognition in the educational system as a technique that has been
scientifically proven with data. The methodology continues to read how about how i chose to do
my research using the internet and my own experience.
My findings start with a chart showing the university and college student mental health
trends of students already receiving counseling and services. I thought that it was important to
start off with this because it shows the whole purpose of even writing this paper. There must be a
need, and demand for meditation in order for it to be relevant for college students. This chart
shows why it is a demand, because college students are going down-hill when it comes to
anxiety, stress, and pressure. My second graph shows the impact of overall general health
separated in frequency. This shows that meditation does work, and it works if it is implemented
as a habit. In Order to make meditation a habit, it needs to be implemented into the campus as
part of the culture. This means having space to practice, organizations to interact with, and
courses to learn. The next graph shows how meditation is the best technique when it is compared
to any other stress relieving technique. The last finding is proof of a school that has already
implemented meditation into the lives of students, and had great results.
In my discussion I elaborated on my findings to better explain the graphs. I explained the
studies, and the end results. With my conclusion I explain why this is an urgent public health

5. need/issue. I explain why I chose the graph that I did, and how I ordered them so that they can
tell a story of where we are, how we can fix it and where we need to go.
Methodology
I chose to discuss the health benefits of meditation because it has personally changed my
life for the better. I would like to inspire other college students to begin meditation to improve
their stressful lives today and enhance the rest of their lives. Studies show how stressed college
students are, turning to alcohol, cigarettes and hard drugs. They are also engaging in excessive
partying, and unsafe sexual activities. Many have also engaged in self-inflicted injury or
attempted suicide (APA). The University of New Hampshire says that meditation can help
students have fewer cravings for​ ​alcohol​ and​ ​tobacco​, decreased stress/depression/anxiety and
achieve academic success.
Meditation is important because it can also improve sleep, lowers blood pressure, and
improves your immune system. More studies have shown improvement for debilitating chronic
diseases like​ ​fibromyalgia​ and​ ​psoriasis​ in patients who meditate (WebMD). Not only does it
affect the biological mechanisms related to stress, but it can actually change the brain. A study
done by the “University of Wisconsin saw increased electrical activity in regions of the left
frontal lobe, an area that tends to be more active in optimistic people, after only eight weeks of
training in meditation”(WebMD). Meditation is something that everyone should be doing to
improve the health of their mind body and spirit. Perhaps, if they knew all of the wonderful
benefits that can come from it, they will give it a try
Studies also show that when you begin meditating at a young age, you will reap an
abundance of benefits, compared to starting later in life. It is the same idea as for eating healthy

6. and exercising. A ​study​ from UCLA found that long-term meditators had better-preserved brains
than non-meditators as they aged. Participants who’d been meditating for an average of 20 years
had more grey matter volume throughout the brain (Forbes).
I started my search with google to get a general idea of the information out there on the
internet. I then went on the Rutgers site to find articles that could be helpful. Even though I didn't
use every article I found, they were helpful in guiding me to another article or specific topic to
research. I chose articles that were going to get my point across, which is that college student
should be practicing meditation I think that my research was very fruitful because I found great
information. I think that I did find what I expected. I was already a firm believer in the practice
of meditation, so finding supportive studies and data was not very surprising to me.
Findings
As previously mentioned, stress can have a lot of negative effects on college students.
These findings are evidence of how much college students are struggling to cope the stress and
pressures.
This graph was taken from the website of the Center for Evolutionary Learning (CEL).
They are a is a non-profit global research network specialized in the study of how individuals
and organizations learn to evolve towards ideal models of responsibility and sustainability in
their identity and behavior.
This is a graph based on a study done by Stanford University on college students. It shows how
using meditation is about twice as effective than using other modes of relief from stress and
anxiety.

7. Not only does meditation give students a channel to relieve stress, but it helps mold them to be
better students. Notice in the graph below how the student received better mark after the
experiment was completed.
Above is a study done with children, but I thought that it was very significant to add because
traditional college students, which can range from (16-24) are similar to children. At this age, the
college students still have the same malleable brain as children because the human brain does not
finish growing until the age of 24.
Discussion
The first graph is titled Students Under Pressure, and it depicts the statistics of college and
university mental health trends of students. The source comes from the Center for Collegiate
Mental Health. There is an obvious rising trend of the percentage of students needing mental
health services. The percentage of students taking medication has risen from 31.0% to 32.9%
from 2010-2013. The percentage of students being hospitalized for mental health concerns have
risen from 7.0% to 10.3%. Stress can cause seriously negative and harming habits to be
developed besides becoming dependent on drugs and alcohol. Some examples are self-cutting,
hitting, burning and hair pulling. The statistics show that this behavior has risen from 21.8% to
23.2%. Contemplating suicide has risen from 23.8%-30.3%, and actually attempting suicide has
risen from 7.9%-8.8%. Intentional injury to others has also risen.

8. For the second data sheet, their goals are to identify, evaluate, develop and promote research in
order to help the individuals and societies of the world experience the best personal growth. As
you can see in the graph, this is proof that meditation works. The graph is depicting how people
ranked when they were tested for overall health. Meaning they tested for everything physical,
mental and emotional. People who meditated several times a day surpassed the bar of an average
general health score. The frequency of meditation is a very important factor to the benefits one
will receive. Firstly, like anything in life, practice makes perfect. The more a person does it, the
more effective the meditation will be. To be still and calm is the main idea of meditation, but in
order to tap into the energy power strong enough to change your biology, the meditation must be
done correctly for a long enough period of time. Secondly, just like building muscle, there must
be consistency to keep the momentum of change.
The third finding shows a study which was a meta-analysis of 146 independent studies, and was
published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology. The data clearly shows how meditation is about
twice as likely to help with stress and anxiety. This data is very significant because it is showing
how specifically meditation is better than every other technique of relieving stress. One of the
red graphs is labeled concentration and contemplation. This is a technique where a person will
think about things that they are grateful for, or things that make them happy. This technique
involves the person concentrating on a certain idea to get their mind off of everything else. The
other technique involved exercise type activities, and breathing practices. There are many things
that college students can try to help lower their cortisol levels and release serotonin. Many
people like to go running, or watch a funny movies, but the studies show that nothing works as
best as meditation. Referring to this study Norman Rosenthal, M.D., Psychiatrist at Georgetown

9. University Medical School stated, “No other ‘stress management technique’ has anywhere close
to this amount of hard data in support of its claims to reduce stress”.
The next graph shows the results from student who were in a small study. They asked them to
take exams, and recorded their results. The researchers also measured their level of concentration
and grasping ideas. Grasping ideas included understanding abstract concepts, and memory. As
shown in the data, there was a significant percentage of student who did better on exams after a
couple of weeks of meditation. Their concentration and ability to better grasp concepts has also
improved.
Mindful school partnered with the University of California, Davis in 2011-2012 to conduct one
of the largest randomized-controlled studies to date on mindfulness and children, involving 937
children and 47 teachers in 3 Oakland public elementary schools.
K-12 Mindful Schools Curriculum is used thousands of educators, mental health professionals,
social workers, and parents in 50 states and over 100 countries – is adaptable for classrooms,
after-school programs, clinical settings, and home. It uses developmentally appropriate language
for explaining key mindfulness concepts and practices to youth.
The study represents the control group and the experiment group. The experimental group
practiced meditation throughout the whole school year, and the control group practiced
meditation for 4 weeks. The attention span increased 3% with only 4 weeks of meditation, and
10 percent for the first school year.
The findings that I have come across from my research are very consistent. They all show that
meditation is a very great practice that everyone should engage in, especially those who live
stressful likes. College students live very stressful lives because many have to deal with the

10. pressures of choosing a major, which leads to choosing a job that they will do for the rest of their
lives. Then they have the pressure of how to pay for school, or the burden of their families
paying for the school. Therefore, the pressure of getting good grades is even far more. Students
come from all different backgrounds. Some may be the head of their household, taking care of
sick parents, or have children. I wanted to choose graphs that told a story portraying how
meditation could help these people.
Conclusion
College suicide and self-abuse is a growing problem that some consider a growing epidemic.
People have seen too many children on the news committing suicide due to bullying. Or having
students die because of tragic gun violence in universities. Perhaps with mediation, these young
children would have built the self-esteem, and personal resilience to keep their composer in the
face of strife. Sometimes self-power needs to be taught, and meditation teaches perseverance.
Perhaps those students who felt the need to aimlessly shoot across university campuses could
have been taught a better solution to handling anger and aggression. Meditation teaches that life
is about controlling the inside to handle the outside. It teaches self-control, forgiveness, and
patients.

11. All of the data graphs and survey statistics that I chose to use were chosen to portray a picture.
The overall picture of why students are suffering, what are the things that they are going
through? It is depression, anxiety, or bullying? Then, what are they doing about it? Are they
cutting themselves to relieve pain, or turning to violent outburst. Next is, how can they do
something better that is positive and I will actually help them, which is meditation. Lastly, I
chose data to conclude the picture demonstrating the great results meditation has on the body,
therefore the effect it has on the person. I hope that this compilation of research sheds light on
the growing population of unheard students who need a better way to live life.
Recommendations
Meditation has become not only a trend on campuses, but a trend around the world. You can now
go on any social media website, whether Instagram, twitter, or Pinterest and see meditation
flooding the sites. Today and age, young people are considering being healthy as a “cool” thing.
Meditation, yoga, nutrition and fitness are topics that young people flaunt about. There are
people who blog about what type of mantras they say, or the type of prayer breeds that they use.
It would be great if it became the norm for every University around the country to have
meditation as a part of the campus community. They should recognize the great benefits of
meditation and create an environment that fosters and cultivates that type of culture. They can do
this by making sure there are quiet private rooms around campus reserved for meditation and
prayer only. They can also include a course in meditation as a core course requirement for all
majors, or as an elective.

12. To go even further, there should be an educational policy that requires schools k-12 to implement
meditation a required part of the day such as lunch and gym. There is a multitude of data
showing that meditation influences brain development. It promotes creativity and qi, and calms
negative emotions. Starting while the children are young, it will allow them to be more
well-grounded young adults before they get to college. This will keep them from making those
bad mistakes and falling into bad habits.

13. Works Cited
"Colleges Use Meditation to Cut Rising Stress among Students." ​Washington Post. The Washington Post,
20 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
"Exam Fear Is OUT, Cool Confidence Is IN!" ​Meditation for Academic Excellence. Nap., n.d. Web. 27
Apr. 2016.
Feature, Susan Kuchinskas WebMD Magazine -. "Meditation Health Benefits and Stress
Reduction." ​WebMD. WebMD, Oct. 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2016
Monacha, Atlas. "Medical Science." ​Medical Science. N.p., 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Novotney, Amy. "Students Under Pressure." ​American Psychological Association. N.p., Sept.
2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Puff, Robert. "An Overview of Meditation: Its Origins and Traditions."​Psychology Today. N.p.,
7 July 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
"The Transcendental Meditation Technique." ​Stress Relief & Stress Management Through
Meditation. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Wecker, Menachem. "The Rise of Meditation on College Campuses." ​Deseret News National.
N.p., 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.