Why Teaching Meditation In Schools Could Change The World

   Imagine if meditation was a regular part of each morning at school, like saying the pledge of allegiance. Since we now know that meditation reduces stress, increases cortical thickness in our brain, and significantly improves focus and concentration, it seems logical to make it part of every child's daily routine. Numerous studies indicate meditation increases self-awareness, compassion, and introspection, including a recent study from Harvard.

    In your brain, regular meditation increases gray matter (neuronal cell bodies and synapses) in the: 

• Insula - Handles interoception (sense of your own body); self-awareness in general; empathy for the emotions of others 
• Hippocampus - Key role in personal recollections, visual-spatial memory, establishing the context of events, and calming down both the amygdala (the alarm bell of the brain) and production of stress hormones like cortisol 
• Prefrontal cortex (PFC) - Supports the executive functions, self-control, and guiding attention

Regular meditation also:  

• Increases activation in left PFC, which lifts mood
• Increases the power and reach of very fast, gamma range brainwaves, which promotes learning and perhaps a sense of integration in awareness
• [in a three month retreat] Preserves the length of telomeres, the caps at the ends of DNA molecules; longer telomeres are associated with fewer age-related diseases 
• Reduces cortical thinning due to aging in the insula and PFC

     Becoming a consistent meditator was quite difficult for me. It sounds like it should be easy to just focus on your breath, or pay attention to what is happening at each moment, but when we sit down and close our eyes, we discover it is not easy at all. Our minds usually take off, and often it can take a minute to even realize it is happening. We are so caught up in our thoughts from the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep. It is an enormous relief to be able to put that burden down, if only for fleeting moments.

     Just think how different the world would be if every child was able to connect to the ocean of consciousness that permeates all that is. It seems to me that the desire to do wrong by others would dissolve, and the ability to enjoy each precious moment would be the norm, rather than the exception. Instead of worrying excessively, getting caught up in portraying a certain image, or escaping through distraction, we'd enjoy each precious moment, unearth our creative potential, and learn to live fully in the present. Meditation allows us to discover through experience the truth of who we really are. What better gift could we possibly give to the next generation?

If every eight year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” –Dalai Lama