If you are a college student, stress can be an all-too-familiar emotion. From staying up late studying at the last minute to dealing with the emotional stress of navigating an unfamiliar environment, the college experience usually does include many stressful moments. After reading this blog post, you will have learned a bit of the history of meditation, the benefits of meditation as a medically proven antidote to stress, and most importantly how you can begin practicing this powerful technique as a supplement to your student life.

As a college student, I have personally dealt with my fair share of stress from classes, work, and sports as well as figuring out what I want to do in the future. Sometimes, it can feel as though one day is bleeding into the next and that I do not really have any control over my life. Meditation is a tool that has helped me to feel more present and relaxed. I discovered meditation as a child when I was exposed to my parents meditating for a bit almost every day to start the day. I would observe them and while I would not meditate much myself, I noticed the positive effect that meditation had on their mood, their resolve, and their concentration. As I have gone from high school to college, I have noticed that within a hectic schedule and life, positive daily habits are essential to feeling good and building a life that I look forward to rather than one that I dread. Although I practice meditation infrequently, I find that whenever I do, I am able to get out of my own head and the stressors of daily life and that I do feel much better for the rest of that day. I have noticed improvements in my mood, better interactions with others, and even a better ability to reframe problems or perspective shifts after meditating. With today’s society moving relentlessly forward and Hustle Culture (the feeling of needing to constantly be doing something) dominating, it is extremely important to build in time to consciously relax and focus on our wellbeing. For me, meditation has helped with this.

What is stress?

First of all, it is important to recognize what stress actually is. We all deal with stress every day. Put simply, it is the reaction of the body as it enters its fight or flight mode. Stress can be positive. It is what gives us adrenaline and helps us do great things from running races to writing fast to finish an assignment that is due soon. However, in the body, it is well known that stress also produces a physical reaction that releases cortisol into the bloodstream. Too much of this cortisol negatively affects almost all of the body’s processes and is linked to many health issues such as heart issues, lung issues, obesity, anxiety, and depression, according to an article from Healthline. A bit of stress is healthy and necessary for activation of the body’s systems, however too much can have negative effects on us. In everyday life and as college students in particular, stress can build up to a point where it starts to negatively affect our mental and physical wellbeing. To manage stress, many people practice positive habits including time management, good organization skills, and having a social life or hobby to counterbalance work or school. 

What is Meditation and Mindfulness?

Meditation is a technique of sitting in concentration. There are many different types of meditation however most of them focus on sitting in silence. According to the Cleveland Clinic, by doing this in a conscious way, we can gain control over our mind processes and focus. Meditation and mindfulness are both great techniques and are very interrelated. There is even a “Mindfulness meditation” involving breathwork that will be explained in detail later in this blog post. However, mindfulness by itself is the practice of being fully present and engaged in the current moment, aware of your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and surrounding environment without judgment. It involves paying attention in a way that is open and accepting, which helps reduce stress, increase focus, and improve emotional well-being. Meditation can be a great way of achieving this state.

I spoke with Elizabeth Treefon, a professional educator who started meditating daily about 30 years ago. She has taught many meditation classes in the Chicago suburbs and Michigan Grand Rapids area. In teaching her classes and in her personal experience she has learned that meditation is an amazing tool that helps her start the day with an “amazing attitude”. She states, “I am honored when I can teach others the art of meditation because of the great impact it has on me.” She says that she realizes the power of meditation ironically when she misses a day and feels as if something is “off” and is only resolved when she has a chance to meditate. “Meditation helps me feel calmer and it’s almost like a superpower”, she states. It is interesting how meditation, when practiced over a long period of time, produces calming effects in people. This information has been known for a long time as the origins of this practice are very ancient.

The History of Meditation

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years to still the usually constantly active body and mind and enter a very relaxed state. It is believed to have first originated in India and then to have spread to the rest of the world. If you are seeking to meditate, it may be helpful to learn how it came to be as a practice and how it has been historically used. Many have the misconception that meditation is only practiced in the East. While meditative practices do have a long history there, meditation has been and still is practiced in many parts of the world. All throughout history, this widespread technique has been practiced for religious purposes although we know today that there are many scientific benefits to it. Meditation continues to be practiced in many religious traditions around the world including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity.

 Recently in the 20th century Meditation started to become popular in the West as well. It went from being the interesting spiritual practice as many knew it, to being promoted to people everywhere for having many health benefits. Dr. Herbert Benson, a Harvard researcher, is credited for much of the popularity of meditation beginning in the U.S. He renamed meditation, - “the relaxation response”- and wrote a book on it. During the 1960s and 1970s, his studies were able to show that meditation promotes better health and lower stress levels in people that practice it frequently. Later on, Jon Kabat-Zinn was fascinated by the effects of meditation on health. In 1979 the United States’ Surgeon General released a concerning health report which prompted Zinn to look into mindfulness and conduct his own studies on the power of reducing stress through meditation. According to an article from the National Public Radio (NPR), Zinn was passionate about the medical situation in the United States, "It was an extremely powerful articulation that no matter how many billions of dollars we throw at the problems of health in the American population, no amount of money can do the job," says Kabat-Zinn, who at the time was a researcher at University of Massachusetts Medical School and taught yoga and meditation on the side”(Huang 2024). Zinn went on to start a course he called “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction”, where his message was to “teach people to take better care of themselves” using a technique of meditation to focus on the present moment.  

The Benefits of Meditation

While meditation has roots in religious and spiritual traditions, studies have shown that meditation can bring about physiological and psychological benefits, from reducing stress to altering brain structure and function. This can be great for college students that are looking for an activity to help reduce stress. Our body and mind are greatly helped through meditation which reduces cortisol levels and thereby helps combat stress. In addition, many people find that these benefits are noticeable after only a short meditation each day. In other words, by calming the body and mind, we not only become calmer for the time spent in meditation but also for much longer afterward. With this in mind, meditation can be a very good habit to introduce along with other habits to manage and deal with stress. 

I had the chance to speak with Brian Waterloo, a long-time advocate and teacher of meditation practices alongside his career as a Director of Sales at Rodeo CPG. He teaches “mantra meditation” or the repetition of key phrases to help focus the mind while meditating. He states that meditation helps him in everyday life to feel calmer, more upbeat, and full of energy. He says he feels so grateful that he discovered meditation and that it has helped him to be more focused in his studies and in his professional life. He states, “Meditation helps me feel so much energy that really is a boost to my day. Quite frankly I don’t know how other people without a regular meditation practice do it.” Brian is very passionate about meditation and has also been a daily meditator for the past 15 years. It was inspiring to speak with Brian and to see the positive impact meditation has had in his life. Many scientists have also noted and recorded the benefits of meditation. Listed here are some of the most relevant benefits.

Reduced Stress and Anxiety

Many studies suggest that meditation, particularly mindfulness-based practices, reduces stress and anxiety. It appears to influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates stress responses according to a January 2020 study funded by researchers from the Minnesota Medical Foundation. Meditation reduces cortisol levels, a primary stress hormone, and may even increase resilience to stress.

Improved Emotional Regulation

Meditation can enhance emotional control by helping practitioners become more aware of their thoughts and feelings without being overwhelmed by them. Regular practice has been shown to decrease negative emotions like anger and increase positive states such as calmness and happiness. During a group study of randomized subjects between the ages of 18 and 45,13minute guided meditations were tested everyday for a period of 8 weeks. They tested results compared to a control group that did not do the daily meditations for their scores on the Trier Social Stress Test. According to a research report collaboration between New York University and Virginia Tech Carilion Institute and published to Science Direct, researchers “found that 8 but not 4 weeks of brief, daily meditation decreased negative mood state and enhanced attention, working memory, and recognition memory as well as decreased state anxiety scores on the [Trier Social Stress Test].”(Basso et. All).

Enhanced Attention and Concentration

Meditation, especially focused attention practices, has been found to improve sustained attention and reduce mind-wandering. Studies using tasks like the Stroop task test (which measures attentional control) reveal that meditators often perform better than non-meditators.

Lowered Blood Pressure

Meditation may have cardiovascular benefits by helping to lower blood pressure. Relaxation from meditation affects the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, helping to reduce heart rate which can lead to lower blood pressure over time according to some studies performed by the Cochrane Heart Group from the UK.

Improved Immune Function

Some studies from the University of Florida indicate that meditation can improve immune function, possibly due to its effects on reducing stress. Chronic stress weakens immune responses, but meditation helps maintain immune health by reducing stress hormone levels and increasing antibody production.

Reduced Pain

Research on meditation’s effect on pain suggests that it can alter the perception of pain, making it less intense and more manageable. MRI scans of meditators show increased activity in regions of the brain associated with pain processing, but meditators report experiencing less discomfort, suggesting a different way of processing and experiencing pain.

Changes in the Brain

If those benefits weren’t enough, meditation has also been found to change the brain and how it operates contributing to a state of mind that has been well-researched with many cognitive benefits. The electric pulses of the brain and how fast they work are measured in hertz. There are different frequencies of these hertz for when the brain is very active as opposed to very inactive or recovering such as when we are sleeping. Dr. James V. Hardt, a brain wave scientist for the past 40 years and graduate from Carnegie-Mellon University, found benefits to increasing the states of alpha and theta wave production in the brain. These two states were found to be linked to an increased creativity and productivity in the brain. Dr. Hardt additionally found that these brain states can be accessed more through meditation which slows brain waves into this range and “can have lifelong benefits on your brain’s health.”(Howard 2022) according to an article from PsychCentral. Meditation can increase the alpha and theta waves and states in the brain, meaning that as you meditate, the effects on the brain will continue for long afterwards and ‘make alpha waves the brain’s dominant brain wave’ which can have a number of benefits. These include better sleep, reduced stress, and enhanced memory.