4/04/2009

Meditation to Reduce Academic Stress

Location: Social Work Building #328, University of Houston

Date: Tuesday (3/31) & Thursday (4/2)

Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm

Sponsor: Learning Support Services (http://www.las.uh.edu/lss/)

Due to popular demand, Master Jian Dan was invited back by University of Houston’s Learning Support Services to give two seminars on mediation and academic stress. Learning Support Services offers tutoring, learning strategies workshops, learning style assessments and other activities to support and increase student academic performance. Master was invited to teach students how to reduce academic stress through meditation practice.

Survey collected by Learning Support Services showed that students regarded this seminar a positive experience. One student commented, “the presenter was knowledgeable & entertaining,” while another wrote, “the topics is pretty interesting for me.” Students listed new skills they learned from “take a deep breath and count the number,” “meditation to concentrate,” “focus on only present situation,” to “trying to stop wondering thoughts.” So, how will the new learned skill help them academically? One student shared, “It would affect me greatly academically because I could reduce lots of stress.” Another student indicated that the new skill will help him or her more “easier to focus on assignments & exams w/o being distracted.” “Help me pay attention in class,” “be able to concentrate better and relax more”, and "better performance grades wise and career goal wise” were among other answers.

Integrating regular mediation sitting into daily routine undoubtedly requires certain level of commitment and motivation. Students who are interested in knowing more about mediation should go to a reputable mediation center and seek guidance from well-trained teachers.