“Everything we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we have become,” proclaimed Buddha, an enlightened individual known for his words of wisdom and known as a symbol of peace and happiness. But more importantly, it is remembered for its meditation practices and how it has the potential to awaken the mind and promote a healthier lifestyle that creates a positive and relaxing atmosphere for those who choose to use this technique. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Meditation is a technique that has been practiced in many cultures and is the process of relaxing the mind and promoting awareness and harmony in daily life. It has the ability to broaden the mind, which can create a state of peace and serenity conducive to a person's well-being and transform one's attitude into one that is content and joyful. How, then, could this beneficial technique be used to promote a healthier lifestyle and introduce people to the positives it has to offer? Meditation should first be implemented with those who need these positive aspects the most: high school students. High levels of stress and tension increase moderately as students rush to meet the academic standards set for them and reach their full capacity in order to succeed in the future. Alexandra Ossola says, “It's more competitive than ever to get into college, so it's up to students with the means to apply to the most competitive schools to present the strongest portfolio possible, and their parents and teachers push them to do it. This type of pressure produces a problematic and unhealthy lifestyle by creating stress and other negative qualities that could have serious consequences on the student's academic and personal future. Tension and anxiety levels continually increase, further reducing the student's exquisite ability to realize their true potential regarding their education. This then tends to lead students to make poor performance decisions in order to cope with the intense burden of meeting the demands placed on them. However, if meditation were integrated into their daily lives, then the intensified pressure would lessen, allowing the student to create a clearer and more positive atmosphere. That being said, if meditation were integrated into secondary schools in the United States, then the results would be higher. of students containing feelings of stress or pressure would significantly decrease, allowing for a more efficient and clearer path for the student's education and future success. Meditation has the ability to clear the mind, allowing it to accept the difficulties of daily life and then turn to transform them into something positive. When exercised or practiced, it brings a sense of awareness to your well-being and fills your body with serenity allowing all distractions to evaporate. Clive Erricker explains meditation by stating: “The main purpose of basic meditation is to calm and stabilize both the mind and physical body, and to inspire. As such, it is a practice of reflection, awareness, calm and well-being.” Through the awareness and relaxation it creates, positive aspects are therefore produced to create a feeling of peace and tranquility throughout life. Given the pressure and strain placed on high school students,one must be aware of the negative consequences that high school allows them and how it affects them in an intimate and educational way. Due to high pressure and tension, students may be more susceptible to stress and anxiety. Such pressure would be due to attempting to earn good grades, take AP courses, participate in extracurricular activities, and other encouraged activities in order to achieve the succession of getting into higher colleges and pursue education.well-paid career in the future. A psychologist named Mary Alvord describes the pessimistic effects that schools have on their students by saying, “In the short term, it can cause anxiety; over long periods of time, high levels of stress hormones can degrade the immune system, cause heart problems, exacerbate respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, and cause chronic anxiety and depression. “It’s bad for everyone, but it can be especially bad for high school students.” It has been reported that meditation brings many positive aspects which are extremely useful in the case of our high school students. Perhaps the most important ability of meditation is the ability to improve one's health and well-being. Scientists have carried out experiments proving how meditation can positively change the brain. In an interview by Brigid Schulte, neuroscientist Sara Lazar carries out an experiment and discovers through the results that specific areas of the brain are positively influenced and improved through meditation. Sara gathered a group of people who had never meditated before and put them through an eight-week “mindfulness-based stress reduction program.” Four different regions were influenced, but perhaps the most important in this case was the left hippocampus, which "helps with learning, cognition, memory and emotional regulation" and the amygdala which is involved in feelings of anxiety and stress. The results of these changes in the brain indicate that there may be improved learning and a significant reduction in the anxiety so common among today's students. Dr. Philippe Goldin conducted an experiment similar to Sara Lazar's and the results were essentially the same. It proclaims that participants reported "less anxiety and worry... They self-depreciated less and their self-esteem improved." One of the most important concerns of participants is self-esteem: if a student cannot feel confident and stable in their life, how will their self-esteem and therefore their motivation improve? This becomes one of the main causes of symptoms leading to depression and then depression itself. Research took place in two high schools with 128 students. Many reported coping with high amounts of stress, but perhaps the most devastating fact was that 26 percent reported being clinically diagnosed with depression, which is "more than four times the national average of 6 percent." . This clearly shows that students are negatively influenced by the work that secondary schools offer them. If meditation was available to them throughout the day, signs of depression would decrease due to the calm and relaxation that meditation can provide. Based on the fact that meditation can improve well-being, we can then establish that it can help improve the academic performance of the student. Meditation has the ability to help increase attention span and concentration. Thanks to the opening of the mind following meditation, the brain can then collect moreof information and is more likely to be stored in long-term memory. Clive Erricker discusses the potential of mindfulness, saying: “When the young mind is open and flexible, it can more easily absorb new habits such as the power of mindfulness. This attention is not only intended to absorb information, but also to develop a more protective state of being.” Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, expands on this benefit further by proclaiming that meditation can help ignore distractions that lead to greater ability to concentrate. This is due to an activation of specific regions of the brain that are responsible for improving attention during meditation. By increasing their attention, students can focus more on their daily lessons and thus improve their academic excellence. Many schools in the United States have incorporated meditation into their curricula and have reported high success rates as well as a decrease in acts of violence among students. For example, a primary school replaced detention with meditation and the results show that children are less violent. Instead of sending the students to detention, they are sent to a meditation room to learn how to control their actions with grace and peace. Andres Gonzalez is the co-founder of this program and recounts the benefits and effects of this new idea on his students by proclaiming: "When you face an intensified scenario, whether it is anger, stress or frustration, your heart rate increases. , and if you're able to use your breathing to slow everything down, you're not as impulsive, you're not as reactionary, and you're able to react to whatever scenario presents itself.” As a result of this program, the school reported having significantly fewer behavioral problems. Since they do not have to send students out of class for disrupting others, students can use this valuable time to learn the lesson being taught instead of wasting their learning time in detention. Another school that offers a meditation program to its students claims that students are less stressed and therefore more willing to learn. Dr. George Rutherford is the principal of Ideal Academy Public Charter School and reports that the student's ability to learn has increased. He proclaims: “If children are stressed, they are too agitated to learn. If our students are clear and calm, then they are receptive to learning.” One student who attends the academy proclaims that he has noticed a difference in his grades and behavior due to the meditation program offered to students. Clearly, meditation had a significant positive impact on these students. Regarding violence, as students' pessimistic behavior can change through meditation, their ability to make bad decisions can also change. More and more students are turning to the side effects of drugs and alcohol to cope with the stress and anxiety they contain. Research scientist Marya Gwadz proclaims: “It’s a quick fix to forget the real problem instead of tackling it, and it can also lead to long-term addiction.” As stated earlier, meditation has the ability to decrease stress and anxiety and therefore can be an alternative to help deal with such disabilities instead of getting involved in the consumption of substances that may lead to addiction. Despite all the benefits that meditation has to offer for high school students, there are still critics who are completely against the idea and criticize how meditation could impact..