Many studies, clinical trials and research have been conducted that proves music is very beneficial to improve and maintain mental health. It is found that students who listen to classical music have lower levels of stress and anxiety and do better in their exams. Singing stimulates the brain and improves skills, coordination and creativity in a person.

Research has shown that blood flows more easily when music is being listened. It reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, decreases cortisol (stress hormone) levels and increases serotonin and endorphin levels in the blood. It elevates mood. Listening to music can empower a person by increasing their ability to think, memorize and control emotions. It has the power to relax the mind. Music can be used to treat various motor nerve disorders as they act as supportive and facilitative therapy in rehabilitation.

Music has been proved as a powerful tool for brain adaptation and controlling emotional and thought processes. Music induces endorphins, also known as happy hormones, which calm the nervous system and help to ease anxiety symptoms. Music can be engaging, emotional, physical, personal, social and persuasive, and it promotes synchronization of movement. Several researchers have also speculated on the neural mechanisms underlying improvements in speech, motor, and memory functions following music-based interventions.

 Uses of music therapy

Music therapy is used in treatment of various nervous system disorders, cardiac conditions, depression, autism, substance abuse and Alzheimer’s disease. It can help with memory, lower blood pressure, improve coping, reduce stress, improve self-esteem and more. Many of us prefer to plug in our headphones to listen to our favorite songs before going to bed after a long day. This helps in reducing your stress for the entire day and lets you fall asleep easily.

Research has shown that listening to music reduces cortisol levels, which is a stress-causing hormone. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that music, a kind of art that is effective in reducing feelings of grief, can also be used to treat physical and mental health issues. Music therapy helps in improving the cognitive abilities of individuals and slows down the onset of dementia among the elderly. It has a high level of efficacy among Alzheimer’s patients. Music helps people feel more confident, more relaxed, and more emotionally healed. Additionally, music can help those who have endured traumatic events and can aid people in managing pressure and stress.

Benefits of music are mainly as follows.

• Lowering blood pressure
• Improves Communication skills (using vocal/verbal sounds and gestures)
• Social skills enhancement (making eye contact, initiating interaction, and self-esteem)
• Sensory skills (listening, levels of awareness)
• Physical skills (fine and gross motor control and movement)
• Cognitive skills (concentration and attention, imitation, and sequencing)
• Emotional skills (expression of feelings non-verbally)
• Improving memory.
• Enhanced communication and social skills through experiencing music with others.
• Self-reflection. Observing your thoughts and emotions.
• Reducing muscle tension.
• Self-regulation by developing healthy coping skills to manage your thoughts and emotions.
• Increasing motivation.

 Music therapy is mainly used as a supportive treatment for-

• Behavior disorders.
• Mood and anxiety disorders.
• Attention deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
• Trauma.
• Substance abuse disorders.

 Methods in music therapy

Any one of the below would help you gain the benefits of music in mental health.

• Create music by composing music, writing lyrics, or making up music together.
• Singing songs of your interest.
• Listen to music to Enjoy the sound and lyrics.
• Moving with music – It can be as simple as tapping your toes together or as complicated as a coordinated dance.
• Discussing lyrics – Read or listen to the lyrics of a song and talk about their meaning.
• Playing an instrument – Use an instrument like a piano, guitar, drums, etc. to share music.

Music is an excellent therapeutic tool that can be used by each and every one to improve their mental health and be happy. The rhythm, pitch and swaras of music create a pattern that stimulates our brain regions to trigger happy hormones and keep us healthy and strong psychologically.

Dr Rashmi Bhat

Shree raksha dental clinic and counseling center
karikkala, sullia
drrashmibhatta@rediffmail.com

The post How music improves mental health? appeared first on Health Vision.

Education refers to the process of learning and acquiring information and knowledge, developing various skills, kindness, honesty and the ability to understand. Education improves one’s life by increasing responsibility, empathy, care and respect for others. We fulfill the education needs of a country by schools, colleges and universities. The constitution of India provides free and compulsory education to all children from six to fourteen years of age.

Right to education is a right that provides free and compulsory elementary education along with study materials, food, books and clothing in a school in the neighborhood. Right to education is one of the fundamental rights given by our constitution in order to educate all children of the country especially the poor. Right to education is a powerful tool to help children in poverty to come up in life with the help of education. Education builds a person to take responsibility of house and family. It is a fundamental right where children can easily access the schools for their education.
When we see the world as whole there are many countries with million children not being educated. The reasons for these include poverty, financial deficit in developing countries, lack of schools and education systems, lack of knowledge and awareness on importance of education to children, lack of materials and equipment followed by lack of teachers, inequality between girls and boys.

Components
On 4th August 2009 parliament of India enacted an act that is right to education act, 2009 which changed the whole path of education system. This act came into force on April 1, 2010. This right provided compulsory and free education to children along with provision of free materials, uniforms, textbooks and stationery items. Along with India there are 135 other countries who have set Education as a right. It has also provided appointment of new teachers, safe drinking water and toilet facilities too. This act also takes care of number of teachers to pupil ratio in a school, separate toilets for girls and boys, working hours of teachers. This right prohibits all kind of harassment, mental torture, punishments, abuse, discrimination of class, caste, religion. This act also provides development of curriculum for the all round development of the child. It has created many committees to supervise the school system and education. This act provides freedom to society to complain on any harassment or abuse for justice. It provides 25 percent reserved seats for socially disadvantaged and economical weaker sections.

Features
The main features of the right to education act include availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability.

Importance
Constitution framed this right so that education system can be created through schools and colleges in various locations by providing safe school building, play ground, providing quality education by teachers using learning materials and equipment. This right has reduced the child labor and child marriage. Along with this education should be free of all types of violence and safe for girls, children with disabilities. Children of rural areas especially get benefited by this right. It has eliminated the financial barrier and most of the reasons and factor barriers.

Benefits
Physical and cognitive development, improving intelligence and brain activity, understanding socialization and interaction with others, development of human personality, developing peaceful society, providing sustainable economic development, building nations by enriching it with culture, value and identity and elimination of social inequality in gender and castes towards education are its benefits.
• Physical growth and development – when children go to schools they have sessions to play and do activities. This builds up their physical body and keeps them active. Children play different types of games and sports in the playground of the school with the help of play materials provided to them. This also creates interest in sports and extracurricular activities. Exercise and body movements are important for physical growth and development of a child. During the growing age child needs to play various indoor and outdoor activities and foster the skills and techniques. A further improvement can be done when children are taught about self defense in schools and colleges and create awareness about how physical health is important for one’s wellbeing.
• Psychological growth and development – schools create a learning environment where children not only involve in studying their subjects but also creating new hobbies of their interest. It can be singing, drawing, dancing, acting and some other art and crafts. This refreshes the child’s mind and helps him to get a stable mind. The child becomes strong mentally. He or she will know about life challenges and will be ready to face them and brighten their future career.
• Social growth and development – children interact with other students. They talk, share ideas, discuss, do group activities, project hence learn to do team work and respect others words and decisions. They learn to live with people by improving their communication skills. Interaction with the class students make them stronger socially. Moral values and education taught in school help children to interact with others and future in their life they inculcate the same values for a better life.
• National growth and development – No doubt the child is developed healthy physically mentally and socially through education. But how does educating children build nation? Will educating children help in development of the nation? If yes, then how? It is said that educating women in a family in turn educates the whole family. When children are educated about hygiene and health topics, there will be reduction in the spreading of various communicable diseases. Government has the chance to create new programmes of awareness and speech talk sessions at schools. Conducting health checkup for all students every year keeps a track of health status and helps in early diagnosis. There are opportunities to create free health checkups and camps that can be benefited by the students. Vaccination and immunization to school children also can be done at that place.
We know that in ancient times female were not allowed to go to schools. In present scenario this has changed. We have also seen that most of the top rank holders nowadays are females. Education system has solved all these inequalities. Awareness about child marriage, child labor, dowry.. all these have made society more strong mentally to face challenges. At last the country’s development depends on the educated people in it. Educated people are the assets of the nation. They are the powerful tool for economic growth and development.
The topic of education is always incomplete without the sayings of swami Vivekananda. He has contributed towards education a lot and empowered the young minds to continue education. He said “we want education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.” He describes that the very essence of education is the concentration of mind. This shows that recent student problems like lack of concentration, distractions from studies all these can be solved only through education. Education is a never ending process. You learn throughout your life. It is said that the secret of life is not enjoyment but learning through experience. “A nation is advanced in proportion to education and intelligence spread among the masses”. “Educate and raise the masses, and thus alone a nation is possible”. The above two quotes of swami Vivekananda can truly change a nation.

Latest advancements
Our prime minister Narendra Modiji has introduced new educational policy that would act as a foundation for India’s 21st century education system by developing students into global citizens who are rooted with values and culture of our nation. This policy aims to transform Indian Education system by 2040. It reflects the ideals of Guru Rabindranath on Education which aims at bringing our lives in harmony with all the existence. This policy provided a holistic approach that was achieved successfully. Our former Vice president M.Venkaiah Naidu said, under National education policy 2020 that all school children would be provided with nutritious breakfast . Quote of our former president APJ Abdul Kalam says “The purpose of Education is to make good human beings with skill and expertise.” This improves peace and non violence in nation. Education been taught in mother tongue till class 5 is another improvement that would help the child to understand better and strengthen the learning power. This policy also says that no one will be forced to study any particular language and the medium of instruction will only be in English. It also ensures that talent of India remains in India and helps in development of our nation thus reducing brain drain also.

Dr. Rashmi Bhat

The post The Right to Education in Action – Ensuring Every Childs Future appeared first on Health Vision.

How do Tarot Cards work?

The tarot is a deck of 78 cards, each having a unique image, symbol, and narrative. The 56 minor cards of the Arcana portray daily challenges and hardships, while the 22 cards represent karmic and spiritual talents of life. Tarot card readings entail shuffling the deck, selecting a card, and displaying other cards to represent the difficulties and challenges you can encounter while carrying out a specific activity. Every Tarot card resembles a painting with bits of allusion, history, drama, and myth.

These tarot readings offer a pictorial portrayal of your soul’s trip of life, which discover both material and spiritual. Tarot is a qualitative study hence a reader of Tarot Cards needs to be in sync with the cards to form an accurate reading. Tarot is a spiritual guidance tool that enables people to read and connect with their inner wisdom; It does not predict the future. Tarot readings assist people in learning the information they require regarding a specific circumstance. As reading gives a person a summary of past, present, and future events based on their current life, decks are ideal as a tool of inner intelligence and direction.

Tarot cards can help a person understand the present situation and choose the best course of action, but they do not always predict what will happen in the future. The tarot card workshops and sessions at Make Me Pure educate you on how to perform and carry out these sessions on yourself. Our team includes skilled medical professionals, psychiatrists, therapists, caring coaches, and wellness specialists. They have the training and experience to help people live healthy, fulfilling lives, which gives clients satisfaction and dependability.

Tarot card reading is not just about predicting the future, but rather a tool for introspection and self-discovery. The card’s innermost thoughts, feelings, and beliefs influence our lives. Through the symbolism and archetypes in the deck, a tarot reading can help us gain clarity, guidance, and a deeper understanding of ourselves and our circumstances. It’s a powerful way to access our intuition and connect with the universal energy. Tarot reading is a journey of self-exploration, where the cards act as a guide to help us navigate life’s challenges and discover our true path.

Gurpreet Arora

Founder, Make Me Pure

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Do you feel sluggish, off-kilter, or need more direction? If this is the case, you may benefit from chakra alignment. Here, we’ll go through the fundamentals of chakras and offer advice on how to align them for the best well-being.

What Exactly Are Chakras?

Chakras are energy centers throughout the body corresponding to various emotional and physical states. According to ancient Hindu writings, there are seven major chakras that run along the spine, each with its own color and meaning. When the chakras are balanced and adjusted, energy flows more freely throughout the body, improving physical and emotional wellness.

When your chakras are out of harmony, you may experience a number of physical or emotional symptoms. These are some examples:

• Depression and anxiety
• Ailments such as headaches and stomach problems
• Insomnia or sleeping difficulties
• a lack of passion or motivation
• Fatigue and a lack of energy

Chakra alignment can be accomplished by a variety of methods, including:

Meditation is a fantastic method for opening and harmonizing your chakras. Concentrate on each chakra, beginning at the base of your spine and working your way up to the crown of your head. Think of a warm, brilliant light that fills each chakra with positive energy.

Yoga involves physical movement and mindfulness, which can assist in opening and aligning your chakras. Yoga positions specifically target each chakra, ensuring that energy flows freely throughout the body.

Aromatherapy Oils:- Chakras can be stimulated and balanced using essential oils. To induce relaxation, use oils like lavender, peppermint, or rosemary, or citrus oils like lemon or orange to stimulate energy and motivation.

Many crystals are associated with various chakras and can be used to align them. Amethyst, for example, is thought to balance the head chakra, whilst rose quartz is related to the heart chakra.

The Advantages of Chakra Alignment

When your chakras are aligned, you may notice a number of advantages. These are some examples:

• Boosted energy and motivation
• Anxiety and depression have been reduced.
• Better physical health A stronger feeling of purpose and direction
• increased insight and creativity

Last Thoughts

Consider chakra balancing procedures if you’re feeling off-kilter or disoriented. The advantages of chakra alignment can be deep and long-lasting, improving both physical and emotional well-being. You may be able to uncover a sense of purpose and vitality that leaves you feeling godlike and invincible by incorporating practices such as meditation, yoga, essential oils, and crystals.

Aligning your seven chakras may make you feel like a deity, because within that sacred balance lies the extraordinary ability to manifest your divine potential.” An inner symphony unfolds as each chakra rotates in unison, resonating with the cosmic energy that runs through you. The first chakra, which is rooted in stability, roots you, while the second fires your creative fire. The third chakra strengthens your will, while the heart chakra flourishes with love’s limitless beauty. The fifth chakra empowers your voice to express your truth, while the sixth chakra wakes your intuition. Finally, the crown chakra connects you to the divine, helping you to transcend the boundaries of this world. Accept this precious journey, because when your chakras align, you will ascend into the realm of the gods.

Gurpreet Arora
Founder
Make Me Pure

The post Aligning your seven chakras might make you feel like a deity. appeared first on Health Vision.

Depression is still a serious health concern for the younger generation. Regular depression can increase the risk of heart disease and illness-related death. It affects 20% of adults over the age of 65. Also, it has an impact on people’s daily life by increasing social isolation and impairing cognitive performance, particularly memory. Meditation trains the brain to achieve sustained focus and to return to that focus when negative thinking, emotions, and physical sensations intrude — which happens frequently when you feel stressed and anxious. Stress and anxiety are major triggers of depression, and meditation can change how you react to those feelings.

It has been discovered that meditation alters certain brain areas associated with depression. The goal of meditation is to be aware of your thoughts and feelings while also realizing that you don’t have to act on them. It is not to ignore stress or block out negative thoughts. Simple techniques for doing this include counting breaths or simply closing your eyes and repeating a single word or phrase.

Connecting with your wisdom through meditation

The hippocampus is protected by meditation:- The hippocampus aids in learning and remembering. Your brain’s grey matter in this region grows when you meditate for 30 minutes each day for eight weeks. According to research, those who have recurring depressive episodes have smaller hippocampi.

Changing your way of thinking is helpful:– There are many pessimistic and melancholy thoughts associated with depression. It’s normal to feel angry with oneself and with life. You don’t have to ignore your stress or shut out unfavourable thoughts to meditate. Instead, it gives you a means of becoming aware of those feelings and thoughts. As it entails increasing your awareness of those thoughts and sensations, this may seem paradoxical. Nonetheless, the practice fosters acceptance of them and consciousness of them.

It readies the brain for demanding circumstances:- If you’re anxious or stressed about seeing your doctor, meditating for a little while prior will help. It causes the mind to shift from the stress response to a calmer condition. If you don’t want to, the practice enables you to resist acting on those ideas and emotions. Instead, you understand and appreciate that, even though they influence you, they are not you. As you’re meditating, gently let them go to break the tension and despair cycles.

Several Meditation Techniques for Depression

The following meditation techniques can help you manage depression: – Keep up with your drug regimen and other therapies even as you practice meditation. Take it under your doctor’s guidance and as a supplement to your regular medical care, if at all possible.

1) Loving-kindness meditation: Concentrates on making yourself a loving and kind environment. It can assist in eradicating self-doubt and self-criticism.

2) Mindfulness meditation: This type of meditation is regarded by some as the most effective. This style is where most other types of meditation originate. It involves being fully present in the moment and aware of it.

3) Cognitive therapy based on mindfulness: This type of meditation is a subset of mindfulness. It combines with cognitive behavioural therapy for efficient outcomes and concentrates on altering negative thought patterns and behaviour.

Meditation might help you get past the unfavourable thoughts and emotions that occur with depression. The goal of the exercise is to help you relax by helping you concentrate on one thing. Make meditation a regular practice by picking the method that suits you the best. You’ll observe that the symptoms are less severe or easier to control.

There is strong evidence to suggest that meditation can help reduce symptoms of depression. Research studies have consistently shown that regular meditation practice can lead to improvements in mood, self-esteem, and overall well-being. One of the key ways that meditation can help with depression is by reducing stress and anxiety. Meditation encourages a state of deep relaxation and calm, which can help to counteract the negative effects of chronic stress on the body and mind. It can also help to improve self-awareness and develop a greater sense of acceptance and compassion towards oneself and others.

Gurpreet Arora

Founder, Make Me Pure

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Positivity is for a long time seen as the hallmark of psychological health. This fantastical momentum of the word is so attractive that optimism, in the 21^st century, has become a consumer commodity. Everywhere that goes, someone is trying to sell optimism. It comes wrapped in different packages. Sometimes, it is the sparkly package of faith at other times it is the somber package of hope. But the question that we should all ask ourselves is that are we approaching  positivity negatively?

In today’s pandemic hit the world, it would seem foolish to dismiss the need for optimism but perhaps, it would be disastrous to keep telling ourselves a fictitious story and expecting everything will fall into place. By doing so we risk falling into the vicious trap of optimism bias. If we are optimistic that we will not catch the illness but remain reckless then we are bound to become prays of the proverbial predator. Tali Sharrot (2012) calls this one of the “greatest deceptions” in human history (Sharot, 2012). It has led to many destructive outcomes from economic meltdown to wars. Even India’s tackling of the covid-19 was affected by this fateful bias. But it would be incorrect to dismiss optimism as a smokescreen therefore, perhaps, what is necessary is to understand how to engage in healthy positivity.

Even when it comes to diseases like HIV and cancer there exists a negative relationship between dispositional optimism i.e.,belief that the future outcomes would be better and the course of the disease (C.Segerstrom, 2005).  The explanation for this is that because stress forces us to be on-guard and conscientious, it inadvertently helps increase our chances of vigilance and therefore, predicts a better course of progression of the disease. It also doesn’t help increase antibodies in the immune system (Lena Brydona, 2009).  But it would be fraudulent to dismiss optimism altogether. Because although dispositional optimism doesn’t account for the eradication of illness, it does, however, affect the mood, T-helper cells, and natural killer cells count in the body. There exists a positive relationship between optimism, elevated mood, T-cell, and natural killer cells count in the body (Segerstrom, 1998). Optimism helps deal with disease-related stress by increasing proactive behavior, reducing avoidant coping, and reducing depression (Gail Ironson, 2005).

How to handle stress?

Therefore, a better way to handle stress would be through learned optimism rather than dispositional optimism. This can be done by what Seligman called the ‘ABCDE’ approach. He derived this from the CBT therapeutic techniques of Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. This stands for adversity, belief, consequence, disputation, and energization. So, a person should first analyze their adversities. For example- during the pandemic, one adversity may be that one has lost their job. Then they should evaluate their beliefs, for example- one might believe that they will never be able to find another job.

After this one needs to engage in consequence visualization i.e., think of the consequences of your belief. For example- because one feels that they will never be able to get employed again, their self-esteem and self-efficacy go down. The consequence of this could be that they are being unproductive and suffer from additional mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. Then the person should engage in the disputation of this irrational belief. By doing so they will realize the negative effect it was having in their life. finally, they should engage in energization i.e.,after one has disputed the past beliefs, they should create healthy goals that motivate them to achieve more.

This way one can, if not solve problems, at least try reducing the effect of toxic positivity and pessimism. Other additional things that one can do is-

1. Engage in self-talk– the truth remains that humans are best convinced when the opinion comes from within. Therefore, there is no shame in having a conversation with oneself. You will be surprised by your hidden wisdom!

2. Focus on solutions, instead of problems- developing a problem-oriented coping mechanism is always healthier than avoidance-oriented. This will also motivate you to work further.

3. Positive visualization- let your imagination run wild. Think about things that make you feel happier, safer, and comfortable.

In conclusion, I encourage you to explore the vast and magical territory of optimism but don’t be too mesmerized by its fantastical nature. The important thing to remember is that one has what one needs within themselves. Optimism doesn’t increase antibody cell counts but it does aid in strengthening the immune system. Therefore, whenever you are tormented by demons think about the line from the Albert Camus poem, an invisible summer- “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me, there lay, an invincible summer. And, that makes me happy. (Camus, 1958)”

Srishti Sharma
UG student from CHRIST (deemed to be university).
(under the guidance of Dr. K Jayasankar Reddy)

References

• C.Segerstrom, S. (2005). Optimism and immunity: Do positive thoughts always lead to positive effects? Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity, 195-200.
• Camus, A. (1958). the invincible summer. new york George Braziller, Inc.
• Gail Ironson, E. B. (2005). Dispositional optimism and the mechanisms by which it predicts slower disease progression in HIV: proactive behavior, avoidant coping, and depression. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 86–97.
• Lena Brydona, C. W. (2009). Dispositional optimism and stress-induced changes in immunity and negative mood. Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity, 810-816.
• Segerstrom, S. C. (1998). Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1646-1655.
• Sharot, T. (2012). The Optimism Bias: Why we’re wired to look on the bright side. New York: Random House.

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What really is Mindfulness and why is it important to students today and how does it help them in whatever they are doing? These are some of the potent questions people are increasingly asking nowadays. I will try and address these questions from scientific, ancient wisdom and practical perspectives.

When we were students we all had a nice dream in our heart of making a colossal impact on the society with our inborn talent. We never questioned where these dreams appeared from, but we simply knew we will make it happen one fine day. This is like standing on one side of the river bank knowing very well that the other side of the river is the place where my dreams will come to a reality. Also, we knew we will reach there eventually. The only aspect missing was to know what is required to cross over to the other side of this river to eventually actualise our dreams.

Well, at most we knew that we need a boat to cross the river but how to control the boat and row it to the exact place, this would be the missing element in all of our lives. And this is what separates ordinary from the super successful ones. Not only the super successful ones know the exact place they want to reach but they also know the means to reach- the rudder or oar of their journey to their dream land. Yes, it’s this ‘rudder’ that I am talking about- it’s called – Mindfulness and the boat is the positive thought that we can strive for. So, by using the rudder of mindfulness on the ship of positive life, one can actualise the childhood dream.

Positive thought very vital for attaining success in life. Good thoughts lead to better responses which helps in inculcating appropriate behaviour and finally results in success. So, you can see how significant our positive thought tone is to attain our dreams be in it any area of our life. Now, the biggest question is how do we have a sustained positive thought in our life where we consistently keep encountering negativities. Well, the answer is again – Mindfulness

Mindfulness is basically a method to make your mind more effective, to achieve the things that you want to achieve in life in a positive direction. It is simply about learning to manage your attention. When you can master this with help of ancient techniques clearly spoken about more than 2500 years ago, you are gradually matching it with corresponding responses and related behaviours to finally achieve success. Even neuroscientists have attested to the relevance of Mindfulness to have a truly successful life.

The flow looks like this: Thought -> Response -> Behaviour -> Success

So, it’s clear that you need a rudder to row the boat and that you need to know the direction in which you need to direct your boat.

Mindfulness will not only help students in learning to manage their attention but also give them the necessary course correction to engage in time to time from two major standpoints -attention and social emotional awareness.

In the 2011-12 school year, Mindful Schools partnered with the University of California, Davis to conduct one of the largest randomized-controlled studies to date on mindfulness and children, involving 937 children and 47 teachers in 3 Oakland public elementary schools. *¹

Studies suggest that for schools to engage in mindfulness they are likely to have beneficial results on the emotional wellbeing, mental health, ability to learn and even the physical health of their students.

With Mindfulness students can just jet-set to their goal with minimum resistance! Which means, mindfulness is the rudder that students can use to row their positive thoughts to their dream destination!

*1- http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research/

Sandeep Pandit

Holistic Wellbeing Expert, Mindfulness Trainer and

Integrated Life Coach

Founder & CEO

Soul in Harmony

www.soulinharmony.in

email your views: sandeep.pandit@soulinharmony.in

The post Mindfulness in Schools a Good Idea appeared first on Health Vision.

For most of the student exams is the worst part of studying. You are stressed and if you have not been studying properly within the academic year then exam becomes big task. This is the matter bothering many people. Children are worried that they cannot keep in memory the lessons they studied. Now, don’t forget to read these guidelines!

We remember only 18% to 20% of what we have learnt initially, after 24 hours and we tend to forget rest.  The human brain has 10,000 million nerve cells. Each single brain cell makes connection with 5000 to 10,000 other brain cells; the brain can be imagined to be a huge telephone network. When we learn something, new connections are created in the brain. Repetition strengthens that network.

Stop worrying that your memory power is weak- here are the tips to improve memory power:

• Get a strong impression by paying careful attention
• Repeating helps to remember better
• It is necessary to understand what we repeat for longer memory
• Study a little but often(Spaced learning)
• Systematic revision is extremely powerful scientific technique for transferring information from the short-term memory to long term memory.
• Instead of remembering a thing or an activity by name, visualize and picturise it in your mind
• Write down what ever you want to remember
• Take good food– more of fruits, pulses and vegetables because body needs glucose and oxygen.
• Do some physical excise, yoga – pranayama
• Play puzzles, riddles and mental games
• Rest and relaxation is also required
• Listen to music and watch nature
• Take practice tests at home, so that you can find out your strength and your weakness.
• Do not study more than half an hour continuously without any break( in the break you may get up and walk or you may close your eyes and relax)

SECRETS FOR GETTING MORE MARKS

Here you will learn some simple concepts and techniques that can help you maximize your marks in any exam.

• Make sure you will collect all lecture notes and related material at least 1 month before the exam.
• Refer previous years question papers. Answer all past exam papers and check your answers
• 15 days before the exam talk to your tutor about the kind of questions
• Carefully plan your time for exam preparation. You should give yourself at least 2 full days to prepare.
• Start preparation from an early morning. Switch off mobile phone, TV, don’t check your emails and avoid any other disturbances. Make sure you have enough high-calories food (like chocolate).
• Read all your lecture notes. If you don’t understand something – talk to your classmates, read books, search Internet. Make sure you understand everything.
• If you have a chance – talk to your senior who took exam. Quite often you can receive some valuable information.
• Make sure you get good sleep before the exam. Many students are much stressed and can’t sleep. Try to use your own tricks to avoid it, for example go to bed earlier, read something, don’t watch TV and etc.
• Wake up at least 2 hours before you need to leave the house. If you want – do some reading and reviewing, but not much. Eat well. Don’t forget to take all of your lecture notes, because you may wish to look at them to clarify something at the last minutes.
• Take your own stationary: several good pens, calculator and etc.
• Before entering the exam hall finish your restroom works.
• Enter the exam hall with confidence

 Mental attitude

You should reach the exam hall ahead of time. In the exam hall, you will have about 5 to 10 minutes before your invigilator gives you the question paper and the answer book. Use this time to relax. Inhale and fill your lungs with air. If you do this, your brain will remain fresh. Have confidence in your ability to do your best You should reach the exam hall ahead of time.

• You should not have heavy breakfast or lunch before going to an exam. Because you may feel lazy or sleepy after eating food. This also means that your intelligence IQ or your brain power decreases for a few hours (2 or 3 hours) after you eat heavy food. If you feel hungry before your exam, you can eat fruits.
• You must sleep well during the exam days. Sleep is very important for you. It makes you fresh. It gives you energy.

 Tips for writing an answer paper to get good marks

• Read the question paper carefully. Don’t lose marks by failing to observe the examiner’s instructions.
• Make a sensible choice of optional questions
• Do not use light colour ink. It looks light and not serious. It looks not worthy of high marks. Use dark ink
• When the exam has started – DON’T PANIC even if you seem not to know anything
• Relax and write everything you know.
• Keep pace with time, so that you have approximately equal amount of time for each questions.
• Answer the questions you feel easy and have the confidence that the answers are correct in the beginning itself. If the first few questions are correct, it puts the examiner in a positive frame of mind.
• Write neatly and legibly- Bullet the points. It is easy to read. Do not Scrabble the answer books.
• Have reasonable empty space in your answer paper. It relaxes the eyes and mind of the examiner.
• Underline the headings, sub-headings and important points. Do not underline all the points in the answer.
• Avoid spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, if time permits
• Write the exact Question Number and don’t split the answer.
• Try to attempt required number of question, if you don’t know the actual answer, write related answer. You may get some partial marks for the attempt. If you get stuck while answering, leave some space and move on to the next question.
• Revise your answers at the end quickly.

After handing over the paper, forget about the whole thing. Don’t repent or regret. You just can’t do anything now.  Move ahead in your studies and life.

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