> > Meditation technique enhances children's mental health > > March 27th, 2013 in Psychology & Psychiatry > Meditation can enhance mental health in students. Credit: Shutterstock > > (Medical Xpress)—Teachers in schools across the globe are turning to a new > philosophy to help improve the behaviour and well-being of students. > > Mindfulness, a form of meditation, has been shown to help with a wide range > of mental health conditions and improve well-being in adults. However, few > trials have evaluated its effectiveness in children. > > Professor Willem Kuyken from the Mood Disorders Centre at the University of > Exeter is presenting new research findings from a feasibility trial which > show how the mindfulness technique is also effective in improving well-being > in young people. Speaking at the Mindfulness in Schools Project Annual > Conference in London, Professor Kuyken will describe the results of the study > which assessed how effective the intervention was at enhancing the mental > health and well-being of young people aged 12-16 years. > > Students from 12 secondary schools either participated in the mindfulness in > schools program or took part in the usual school curriculum. Mindfulness has > been described as the practice of becoming aware of what is happening in the > present moment and of learning to relate more skilfully to thoughts, > emotions, body sensations and impulses as they arise. The young people who > participated in the mindfulness program reported fewer depressive symptoms, > lower stress and greater well-being than those in the control group. The > findings provide promising evidence of the effectiveness of the mindfulness > in schools program. > > Previous studies have shown that mindfulness can have a positive impact on > physical health conditions, on social and emotional skills, and on learning > and cognition. Changes in the brain are the basis for these positive effects. > Neuroscience and brain imaging shows that mindfulness meditation alters the > structure and function of the brain to improve the quality of both thought > and feeling. > > Although there is more work to do to fully determine the effects of > mindfulness in young people, these results suggest that students > participating in the scheme are likely to benefit from improved emotional > wellbeing and mental health. Such interventions can fit within the school > curriculum, are inexpensive to introduce, can have rapid impact and above all > are enjoyable for both pupils and staff. > > The philosophy behind mindfulness is rooted in more than 2000 years of > history. In the 1970s the disparate approaches were brought together and > incorporated into a programme by Jon Kabat-Zinn called Mindfulness-Based > Stress Reduction. Since then mindfulness-based programmes have helped > thousands of people with chronic health problems and have been used to > relieve distress and enhance well-being. Ongoing research in Exeter is > examining mindfulness approaches for people with recurrent depression and > vascular disorders. > > Provided by University of Exeter > > > "Meditation technique enhances children's mental health." March 27th, 2013. > http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-meditation-technique-children-mental-health.html >
