Mindful & Motivated: Teenagers should meditate regularly as a way to reduce stress and increase mindfulness

Whether your days have become so monotonous you’re beginning to feel zombie-like or you’re constantly on the go and never have time to catch your breath, it’s easy to switch into autopilot and lose awareness of life around you.

Mindfulness is the key piece of our day we end up forgoing in effort to fit in every hour of studying. The quick fix to find some mindfulness and connect back to reality? Meditation.

Don’t worry — I’m not talking about the kind of hippy-dippy meditation where you sit criss-cross applesauce and hum “OUMMM” for an hour straight. I’m talking about the real, mind-stimulating practice of relaxing your body, closing your eyes and opening your mind. The kind that can help you do better on tests, improve your quality of life and be fit into even the busiest of schedules. With the stress of life in a pandemic on top of the current challenges teenagers face, meditation is a tool teens should take advantage of.

It’s no secret that teenage stress has worsened compared to our parents’ generation as a direct result of social media. In a study by the Journal of Adolescence, social media use was linked to poor sleep quality as well as higher levels of anxiety and depression. Striving for the unreachable perfection advertised on Instagram can lead to added anxiety on top of what teens already face from the pressure to perform in school and sports.

While anxiety — social-media induced or not — can be treated through a number of ways such as prescribed medication and therapy, it can also be reduced by focusing on your well-being through meditation. 

In eighth grade, I discovered meditation videos on YouTube and started practicing mindfulness as a way to relieve stress. When I can’t stop thinking about that upcoming chemistry test or feel overwhelmed with loads of homework, I spend 20-or-so minutes focusing on my breathing and playing meditation music on YouTube to clear my head. Whether it’s listening to a guided meditation outside or simply playing some relaxing music and lying down with the lights off, meditating calms me down so I can face the situation without breaking under the stress.

Aside from fighting anxiety, meditating can also help students with academic performance and improving physical health. I find it easier to focus through hours of studying when I’ve taken a moment to clear my mind beforehand and my sleep tends to improve after a pre-bedtime meditation. 

“With 15 minutes of daily meditation for at least three weeks, the brain becomes more responsive and less reactive — which can be especially helpful to teens prone to anxiety or erratic behavior,” behavioral health therapist Jane Ehrman said in an interview with Cleveland Clinic.

Meditating lifts my mood throughout the day and unscrambles my mind so that I am happier around family and friends. Those 10 minutes of calm make me more relaxed and focused, rather than frantic with my head all over the place.

It’s easy to brush off taking care of mental health due to a lack of time, but the great thing about meditating is that you can regulate how much time you dedicate to it. After three weeks of meditating for 15 minutes four to five times a week, the brain will often start rewiring and responding to it, according to Ehrman. So, even if you only have time for a quick morning breathing exercise, you can still improve your well-being through meditation — and from my experience, the results of having better focus and relaxation are worth it.

So if you’re feeling stressed about anything from finals week to the move back to in-person school, you might want to weave a meditation session or two into your study time. Plug in some headphones, relax your body and type “stress-relieving meditation” into your YouTube search bar. Aside from calming your nerves about the big test, it could help your focus and performance.

Everyone, especially us stressed-out teens, should pencil some time into our schedules to meditate, at least a few times a week. No matter what purpose you’re using it for, finding a moment to slow down in your day through meditation has short and long-term benefits for anyone who sets their mind to it.