Immediate Effects of Practicing Meditation on Secondary School Students

Meditation is a practice that combines the mind and body, aiming to increase calmness and physical relaxation, improve psychological balance, and enhance overall health and well-being (Kiefer, 2021). The present study was qualitative in nature and aimed to collate the responses of school students regarding their experiences with meditative practices. As meditative practices impact every individual differently on subtle levels, the students were given journals in which they had to record their everyday experiences of meditative practices. They felt calm, relaxed, stress-free and peaceful after practising meditation. For some of them, the meditation was amazing, and they enjoyed these sessions. Most of the students reported that they felt it was a good experience in their lives, and some of them reported it as a great experience. Some of the students said that meditative practices were helpful for them either in improving their personal life or academic life. A few also felt a decrease in their stress and overthinking. In addition, some unique responses were also obtained from the students, which count for their spiritual well-being. Along with all the positive responses obtained from the students as above, some of the negative responses were also recorded, such as a few of the students reported that sometimes they didn’t like to do meditation, or they felt bored. So, it can be concluded that with a few exceptions, most of the students observed improvements in themselves and enjoyed the meditative practices.