Welcome to the inaugural True Point Blog.

I look forward to discussing how teaching meditation in the classroom impacts education and how the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation enhances leadership and develops leaders.

The benefit of teaching meditation in the classroom is both well researched and documented.  Research indicates that teaching mediation leads to increases in

• the ability to pay attention,
• working memory, planning, and organizational skills
• social skills
• self esteem
• emotional self-regulation.

The research also indicates that teaching meditation also decreases:

• testing anxiety
• ADHD behaviors, specifically hyperactivity and impulsivity
• Negative emotions
• Conduct and anger management problems in the classroom[1]

Research on teaching meditation also indicates a neurological benefit of teaching meditation in the classroom.  The practice of meditation improves and strengthens neuronal connections between the thinking brain (frontal cortex) and the emotional brain (amygdala).  Meditating therefore improves cognitive functioning and regulation.  This measurable, physiological benefit underlies classroom benefits.

With appreciation,

Brian Callahan