High school and college students have a lot of needs. They’re trying to learn to navigate the world at the same time they’re trying to finish their education. This translates into a lot of stress and anxiety most adults have already handled and younger kids haven’t yet faced.
It also means that students gain extra benefits from practicing mindfulness that their older counterparts don’t. One of these is improved academic performance. They also see much stronger reductions in levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than adults do, and much stronger increases in memory and cognitive improvement.
Another unique benefit is a marked reduction in perfectionism among students who are prone to it. Perfectionist tendencies and the related stress all go down.
Social and emotional intelligence both go up when a student embraces a mindfulness practice. So does empathy. Both of these improve interpersonal relationships with both peers and others across the lifespan. Regularly practicing mindfulness is directly correlated with increasing numbers and strength of friendships.
All of these make students more resilient and less prone to giving in to peer pressure and dealing with stress in negative ways, such as by using substances or engaging in risky behaviors. There aren’t any downsides to cultivating mindfulness in students.
Both high school and college students can benefit from the same kinds of mindfulness activities that adults can. Mindful meditation is normally the starting point just like it is with adults. Mindful activities, particularly exercise, yoga, and sports of various sorts, are popular with them due to the increased physical energy of this age group.
A gratitude practice is also a great way for students to practice mindfulness. Breathing exercises are also a good way to get them to practice regularly and have the added benefit of being able to be done anywhere, including in school, and come in particularly helpful at testing time.
An anchoring phrase is also good for students. This is a quick statement they can say to help ground themselves, such as “My name is…Right now I’m feeling…It’s (date)…”
Finally, the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise is also helpful to most students. It works like this: the students take a deep breath and look around the room, then name 5 things they can see, 4 things they can hear, 3 things they can touch, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can see. It’s a great grounding mindfulness exercise and reduces stress too!
