As an educator, I have every good reason to employ this teaching method. Research has shown that students study better and do better on testing if they have five minutes of meditation before the stressful event. Other studies have shown that stress can lower students' intelligence. A study by Dr. Bernard Brown of Georgetown University discovered that increased stress impaired learning, thinking, memory and problem solving in over 4,000 participants. In fact, increased stress even slashed IQ scores by fourteen points.
Teachers observe such results routinely in the laboratory of their classrooms.
The more stress, the more students tighten up and underperform. But teach a simple meditation technique and student stress is reduced. Meditation reduces the release of hormones linked with threat, while enhancing those linked with the ability to meet a challenge. Simply put, a relaxed nervous system functions best for learning. As a student, I wanted to learn about the whole person, what we really are, and what our potential is.