Meditation in schools

[Anchor]

How do you make a bunch of nine-year-olds improve their grades? Just make them lie on the floor... and meditate

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1376003/Meditation-yoga-classes-primary-school-pupils-improves-grades.html


Lying down in a circle may seem like a rather unusual way to run a lesson, but teachers say meditation and yoga has helped hundreds of primary school pupils to improve their grades.

The nine to 11-year-olds are taught to 'channel their energy' once a week in a class that focuses on relaxation and breathing techniques ...


John..

PS: Yay!!!!

[sunflower]

double yay! I recall a few isolated experiences in our school. The students noticed the difference themselves.

[pharoah21]

meditation is the single most effective thing you can do in life. it costs no money, and will fix and improve almost anything you're going through

[Etherios]

erm i dont want to spoil this BUT ... anything that the government does is fishy... i may be paranoid but they have done so much so far that i just cant trust any of them.

When i was reading the article it hit me... meditation state ... brain washing talks from teachers... yes i am negative on this i really hope i am wrong.

[Humble Janitor]

I'm conflicted because I'm against prayer in schools.

I believe that even if meditation is a spiritual gesture, that some may mis-interpret it as a religious exercise and cry foul.

[GK76]

It's about time the world knew the difference between spiritualism and religion, if schools teach any kind of religion... the personal spiritual path should also be acknowledged. Not to forget that most people these days only see this as a stress relief practice as spouted by the modern medical types - blind leading the blind.

For me, any kind of introduction to meditation for young people must be a good thing, a good habit learned at an early age. Hopefully they are free of enough of life's clutter and programming to achieve something positive, good luck to them they need all the help they can get in this world.

[Corncrake]

The multidenominational school my children attend in London practices meditation twice a day. I think it is wonderful and one of the reasons I chose the school - but other parents see it as a waste of time. From my own perspective meditation is a great tool and helps with clear thinking.

[conk]

That won't fly in the Bible Belt. Too much like magic for their pea-brains.

[Nyce555]

When I was in elementary school, I remember we used to have to say the "Pledge of Allegence" and then sing "America the Beautiful" and then we had a 30 second moment of silence in the beginning of everyday. During the 30 second of silence, I would pretend to close my eyes and try to look at other people to see what they looked like with their eyes closed. So although meditation is a great practice, I am curious as to see how many kids will be able to focus. If they had the proper education on meditation and it's purpose and an instructor that actually taught the kids how to focus their minds, it could be great. But American schools won't pay for that and American kids won't be able to sit still for me othan 15 seconds without some kind of loud outburst or snickering.

[Meesh]

I've often wished we would start teaching meditation to young children--make it a a developmental milestone like learning to brush your teeth, tie your shoes, etc.