If you have ever been stressed in your life, chances are that someone has recommended meditation to you. Meditation isn't for everyone, but if you are willing to give it a try and put in effort, incorporating meditation into your daily routine can have quite a few benefits, especially if you are a stressed out college student.
Full disclosure: I meditate every day. As someone who deals with anxiety and depression, I made the decision to meditate as a way to increase my happiness overall after doing research. There are various forms of meditation. The form that I practice is mindfulness meditation, which focuses mainly on the breath and on allowing thoughts to pass through your brain. For me, this is the most beneficial form of meditation because my anxiety causes me to hold on to thoughts and distract myself over them for days at a time. I've noticed a dramatic drop in periods of intense anxiety after meditating nearly every day for three months. This is just my own little testimonial, but here are some proven medical benefits of meditating regularly.
1. It reduces stress and anxiety (and blood pressure).
As a college student, you basically live in a stressful environment one hundred percent of the time. Stress is your life, and your life is stress. Whether the stress comes from classes, homework, a paper, your personal relationships, whatever, it is there and it is not fun. Meditation helps with stress and anxiety dramatically, bringing you away from your thoughts and into the present moment. Getting rid of the internal stress (to get rid of the external you have to actually deal with the problems at hand) will make you feel great. Less stress as a college student? Sign me up.
2. It boosts your immune system.
You know that kid sniffling down the hall from you, who sneezed on your roommate today? Well, he just brought the plague into your room, and you need to defend yourself against it. Meditation can help in building resilience against diseases, especially those caused by stress, like the common cold. Being healthy in college is so important for your overall performance, and if meditation can help with that, why not give it a try?
3. It reduces social isolation.
College can be a very stressful time, and if you are taking yourself away from everyone because of it, you can increase your stress. Building compassionate relationships that give you support is integral in having a positive college experience. We all need friends! Meditating can help you feel more open to meet new people and have new experiences, and that is extremely important in the college environment.
Meditation is not for everyone, but if you want to give it a try I highly recommend it. Try it for a week. Incorporate it into your daily routine and see if you start feeling lighter, seeing the world different, feel less stressed. Maybe you'll decide it isn't for you, or maybe you'll get hooked like I did. Just try it. You might be glad you did!
For more detailed information, check out these studies: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program,To Lower Blood Pressure, Open Up And Say 'Om', Effect of meditation on innate immune and behavioral responses to stress, Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness.
