Role of meditation to improve children's health: Time to look at other strategies

Abstract

In the United States, it is reported that up to 7 million of the population practice some form of meditation with the main purpose of improving emotional wellbeing and reducing stress. As the prevalence of mental health conditions continues to climb, other forms of health management strategies, including meditation practices, are increasingly used in adults. The evidence continues to emerge for the use of meditation as a way of managing health conditions in adults as demonstrated in systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials. There is also growing evidence evaluating the use of meditation practices and their potential benefits for child and adolescent health. Studies have identified improvements in mood and mental health conditions, school attendance and attention in the classroom in children and adolescents. This article aims to provide a perspective on commonly evaluated meditation types, such as Transcendental Meditation and mindfulness‐based stress reduction. The article also aims to discuss the available evidence for the use of meditation to improve health and general wellbeing of children, including the use of meditation programs in schools, the current downfalls and limitations to the existing literature around meditation, and important points that healthcare practitioners need to consider when discussing the use of meditation as an additional strategy to manage and improve health and wellbeing in children and adolescents.

Developing empathy as a process of re-humanization: insights from South American students and their experiences with contemplative practices.

“…However, non-meditative practices presented participants with their own set of obstacles; rst, the exercises done throughout this project required practitioners to interact with one another and often to make eye contact, two things that a few participants said it was hard on account of their perceived lack of social skills. Wilson (2021) notes how this, the act of being present for another, is key in the development of a contemplative mindset and in engagement with the contemplative tasks themselves; this is what Nhat Hanh (1997) describes as being mindful -a concept that in my view is often misunderstood and misrepresented in debates and conversations on this issue, where mindfulness and meditation are often used interchangeably. Being mindful is, simply put, being here now: our attention is fully devoted to this moment, and our awareness is in what is occurring at this moment.…”

Pengaruh Latihan Meditasi Terhadap Perkembangan Kejiwaan Dan Kecerdasan Anak-Anak

“…Meditasi atau latihan konsentrasi kesadaran merupakan metode yang sudah luas diteliti dan terbukti banyak manfaatnya, bukan hanya untuk mengatasi stres (Makarim FR, 2022). Pada awalnya meditasi banyak diteliti manfaatnya bagi orang dewasa, lalu belakangan ini metode tersebut juga mulai diteliti manfaatnya pada anak-anak dan remaja (Burke, 2010;Halodoc, 2018;Wilson et al, 2020). Mengingat berbagai proses patologis bersifat kumulatif secara durasi dan intensitas (De Vocht, 2015;Gina M et al, 2016), maka penting untuk melakukan intervensi sejak anak-anak atau remaja.…”

“…Meditasi ditinjau dari ilmu medis modern merupakan suatu latihan pikiran dan badan (mind-body practice) yang sejak dahulu digunakan untuk meningkatkan ketenangan dan relaksasi, keseimbangan psikologis, membantu mengatasi penyakit, memperkuat kondisi kesehatan dan kesejahteraan secara menyeluruh (NIH, 2016;Wilson et al, 2020). Terdapat banyak jenis meditasi, tapi umumnya memiliki kesamaan dalam empat hal, yaitu tempat yang tenang, posisi tubuh yang nyaman (duduk, berdiri, berbaring, bergerak), adanya fokus perhatian, dan sikap pasif atau tidak peduli pada usikan dari lingkungan (NIH, 2016).…”

Educating Through Attentional States of Consciousness, an Effective Way to Develop Creative Potential?

“…Some of these programs have already shown effectiveness in children in terms of: decreasing suicidal ideation (Britton et al, 2014), reducing blood pressure and heart rate (Barnes et al, 2004) and reducing stress for pupils and teachers (Bostic et al, 2015;Spijkerman et al, 2016;Dunning et al, 2019), which in turn leads to enhanced prosociality (Kreplin et al, 2018;Taylor et al, 2020), self-reflection (Yun et al, 2020), cognitive functions like working memory (Whitfield et al, 2021) and attention (Yun et al, 2020). Meta-analyses point to a general enhancement of well-being (Waters et al, 2015;Zoogman et al, 2015;Klingbeil et al, 2017;Theurel et al, 2018;Wilson et al, 2021). It should also be noted that mindfulness is an inclusive practice shown to improve psycho-emotional well-being, behaviors and executive functions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Black et al, 2009;Bigelow et al, 2021;Oliva et al, 2021), as children with ADHD may experience excessive spontaneous mind wandering (Bozhilova et al, 2018) but also hyperfocus (which can be understood as flow) at school, during screen time and during hobbies (Hupfeld et al, 2019).…”