Meditation has been around on campuses in the US since the 1970s, but there has been a larger push to make it more prominent in the last five years. As a result, several colleges and universities are making meditation rooms, gardens, and chapels a priority in their design plans.

Stress and Today’s College Student

Researchers reported the most recent research in 2008 on college students and the effectiveness of meditation contained in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, US National Library of Medicine. They found evidence that meditation-based stress management strategies reduce feelings of stress and even invoke feelings of forgiveness among college undergraduates.

And college students are under significant stress today. Besides learning to navigate their way in the world as newly minted adults, they have heavy course loads coupled with high expectations. Add to that the crushing debt most students carry, and you have a recipe for stress-related health issues.

Positive Benefits of Meditation

A centrally located building on campus where students can go to meditate or pray offers a boost to young people’s mental health. Many campuses today have created designed meditation rooms in their student unions open 24 hours a day and are always quiet, secure, and serene. Some even have built entire gardens and chapels dedicated solely for student use during meditation and prayer.

In addition to boosting mental health and relieving stress, meditation relieves anxiety and improve memory and focus, each an area that also plagues students. Schools like The University of North Texas are taking students’ mental health seriously and offering them alternatives. UNT’s Office of Spiritual Life encourages students to visit their dedicated meditation space in the student union to meditate, pray, or practice yoga.

Other schools like the University of Minnesota run a Center for Spirituality & Healing. Through their efforts, designated meditation rooms are put into the school’s housing units. And many other campuses around the US are following suit. Here is a link to information and pictures for 50 of the best campus meditation spaces.

Why Choose Sahaja Meditation in Particular

What this means for today’s student is access to a practice that can change their lives for the better. The younger you are, the better and more likely Sahaja meditation will work for you. College students have fewer obstacles and complications involving their subtle energy systems, making it easier to activate their systems and achieve Self-Realization.

And Sahaja meditation greatly enhances students’ power of attention and focus and their creativity, important for college-level courses. It helps students build resilience, too, so they can withstand the pressures and harmful choices of college life for four or more years.

Finally, if students wait until their adult years to begin a meditation practice, their chakras and channels clog up and are harder to declutter. This can hinder, and in some cases halt, an adult’s path to Self-Realization. Sahaja meditation isn’t a magic bullet; it won’t instantly whisk away your emotional baggage.

Final Thoughts

What’s most important to note, as said by Mark Reck, Interim Coordinator of University of Vermont’s Mind-Body Wellness Program, in a March 15, 2016, interview in USA Today:

“Once meditation is demystified and myths surrounding it are clarified, many college students find meditation to be more accessible than they realized and … become more attentive and attuned to automatic habits of mind.”

Meditation is a great investment for anyone just starting out their careers and can be an incredibly powerful tool for creativity and productivity for students. Whichever way we look at it, getting on board with meditation and Sahaja meditation is a no-brainer for any student.