Meditation help kids ace maths & calm children down

                It has long been known that meditation can help calm children down, but new research is helping quantify its benefits for elementary school children. Fourth and fifth graders who participated in a four month programme showed improvements in cognitive control, working memory, cognitive flexibility – and better math grades. A recent study recently in ‘Mindfulness’ found similar improvements in mathematics in fifth graders with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These investigations illustrate how meditative practices have the potential to change the structure and function of the brain to foster academic success.

                Fundamental principles of neuroscience suggest that meditation can have a great impact on cognition when the brain is in its earliest stages of development. This is because the brain develops connections in prefrontal circuits at its fastest rate in childhood. This extra plasticity creates the potential for meditation to have greater impact on executive functioning. the meditation seems to act like a ‘hard reboot’ for the brain, almost instantly resolving mood swings or lessening anger.

Two Ways To Try It:

•          Finger counting breaths – Creates gentle fists with your hand, and with each breath, unfurl a finger from your palm. For example, on your first exhale open your left thumb from your fist. Pause and enjoy an inhale. On your next exhale, unfurl your left index finger. Pause and enjoy an inhale. Continue until you have two open palms on your lap.
•          Deep breaths before bed – Take a deep breath in through the nose, and on the exhale chant out loud: ‘three’. Enjoy another deep in-breath, and on the next exhale, chant ‘two’, and then ‘one’. Relax for a few breaths, and enjoy feeling your body sitting or lying on your bed.

Yoga, Meditation likely to cut Alzheimer's risk

                If you are trying to improve memory or offset the risk for developing memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease, regular practice of yoga and meditation could be a simple, safe and low-cost solution to improving brain fitness. A three month course of Kundalini Yoga and Kirtan Kriya meditation practice helped minimize the cognitive and emotional problems that often precede Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

                Kirtan Kriya, which involves chanting, hand movements and visualization of light, has been practised for hundreds of years in India as a way to prevent cognitive decline in older adults. Yoga and meditation were more effective than the memory-enhancement exercises that have been considered the gold standard for managing mild cognitive impairment, the findings showed.

                Memory training was comparable to yoga with meditation in terms of improving memory, nut yoga provided a broader benefit than memory training because it also helped with mood, anxiety and coping skills. The study of 25 participants, all over the age of 55, measured changes not just in behavior but also in brain activity. Eleven participants received one hour a week of memory enhancement training and spent 20 minutes – verbal and visual association and other practical strategies for improving memory.

                The other 14 participants took a one-hour class once a week in Kundalini Yoga and practised Kirtan Kriya meditation at home for 20 minutes. After 12 weeks, the researchers saw similar improvements among participants in both group in verbal memory skills – which come into play for remembering names and lists of words.

                But those who had practised Yoga and meditation had better improvements than the other participants in visual-spatial memory skills, which come into play for recalling locations and navigating while walking or driving. The yoga-meditation group also had better results in terms of reducing depression and anxiety.