Written by obsessive-ninja for thestudyblrs
I was always easily distracted as a child, and I picked up a whole heap of bad habits that would made studying really hard for me. Nearly every adult I knew, from my family to my teachers to my guidance counselor, would always recommend one thing — meditation. And I’d be like, “Please, meditation? I might as well just stay in bed all day.” Because as far as I was concerned, all meditation did was put me to sleep. Also, a lot of these people were suggesting 15 minutes of sitting alone in a quiet place while “keeping your mind blank”, which I found practically impossible. What does keeping your mind blank even mean? How do you go about doing that?
WHY I RESPONDED TO MINDFULNESS, AND WHY YOU COULD TOO:
A lot of the meditation that I was made to do focused a lot of spirituality, and finding your inner self and your soul and all that stuff. Now, I’m always interested in that stuff as a writer, but for myself? It just wasn’t something I could ever tune into. Mindfulness, however, is based entirely on science. Everything about it makes perfect sense, and the more you understand about how Mindfulness works, the more you get out of it! (Disclaimer: I’m no expert on science or meditation. There are probably other forms of meditation that rely on science. This just happens to be the first form of meditation I tried that worked for me, and you have to remember that meditation only works if you’re completely up for it.)
YOUR BRAIN IS NATURALLY ATTENTIVE, BUT ALSO NATURALLY LAZY.
If any of you have very young siblings, nephew and nieces, or even children of your own, you may have noticed that they have a tendency to be completely engrossed in whatever they’re doing. Human beings have a natural ability to be completely focused on the task in front of them, but as we grow older and experience more worries and have more tasks to do, we slowly lose that ability. We get caught up in memories and concerns about the future and daydreams and all of that actually inhibits us from focusing on the work that needs to get done (because let’s be real, homework takes 2380298 times less time and effort when you’re not worrying about 50 other things). What Mindfulness does is train your brain to be more attentive, and focus on the present in spite of all distractions. Forcing your brain back into it’s natural state rather than the Default Mode — that’s what psychologists call that familiar state of worrying, daydreaming and getting distracted — means we can slowly learn to live in the moment, becoming not just more efficient with our work, but also much, much happier.
BECAUSE MINDFULNESS ISN’T JUST ABOUT BEING A BETTER LEARNER.
Mindfulness is just as much about getting rid of stress and anxiety as it is about helping us focus. It also helps us become more open to our surroundings, more curious and more awake, and moves us away from jumping into judgement and criticism.
HERE’S A LIST OF JUST SOME OF THE WAYS MINDFULNESS CAN HELP YOU:
It encourages you to practice attitudes that lead onto a more satisfied life.
It makes it easier to enjoy what life can provide for you.
It drastically decreases stress. DRASTICALLY.
It can lower blood pressure, alleviate difficulties in your stomach and abdomen, reduce chronic pain and even reduce the severity of heart disease.
Great for depression, anxiety and eating disorders.
Helps a great deal with a ton of other mental illnesses too, like autism and schizophrenia.
Stops you from burning out too fast.
It even increases your immunity to the influenza virus. My god.
THE BEST PART IS, IT’S COMPLETELY DOABLE.
A daily mindfulness exercise takes ten minutes at the most, and you don’t have to sit in complete silence to do it. Initially, you’ll need a quiet room, but later stages train you to work even with loud noises all around you. All you need is a chair or cushion, and a few minutes to spare!
Many universities provide Mindfulness workshops that run from five to eight weeks, and they’re usually free, so check with your university to see if they have something for you. Mindfulness is usually taught by a trained psychologist, who really understands its effects on the brain, and talking to them about how it works will do you a world of favours. If you can’t find Mindfulness at your university, there are plenty of other ways you can practice it for free:
Headspace: You only get the first ten days free of charge, but it’s the best and cutest Mindfulness app available. The few psychologists I’ve talked to say it’s really worth spending your money on. It talks you through a ten minute body scan, and records your progress so you know how you’re doing. Plus, it’s really cute!
Smiling Mind: If you’re looking for something that doesn’t take the weight out of your wallet, this Australian app is another great way to play! You can choose your program depending on your age, and it has different levels of Mindfulness within that, according to your level of proficiency. You can work through all the levels really quickly, as long as you practice it daily. This one also lets your record your progress, and gives you cute little rewards when you reach milestones!
Stop, Breathe and Think: Now, I haven’t actually tried this one myself, but reading the description got me excited. Most Mindfulness apps ask you to input how you feel before and after your meditation practice (it’s either clicking smiley faces or dragging bars), but SBT actually recommends a particular exercise based on your input. This app is also hella cute, and hella free, so I’ll definitely be trying this one out in the future.
Here’s where you can get more of an insight to how Mindfulness works:
The Neuroscience of Mindfulness and Anxiety
Mindfulness Meditation: How It Works on the Brain - Huffington Post
Mindfulness for Life, by Stephen McKenzie and Craig Hassed (A best-selling book, and a LOT of important stuff can be read on Google Books for free)
Andy Puddicombe: All it takes is 10 mindful minutes (video)
ANY KIND OF MEDITATION ONLY WORKS IF YOU’RE FULLY WILLING TO GIVE IT A GO.
Practicing this half-hearted is not going to work for you. Don’t do it if you’ve just woken up and you’re not a morning person, or if you’re trying to pull an all-nighter but you’re already half asleep. Do it when you’re slightly more awake, or after you’re back from school or have had a nice shower. I just wrote this entire post in one go after a daily Mindfulness scan, and I’m more than ready to get even more of my tasks done — and it’s midnight!
Happy breathing, and peace out :)
