Yoga and meditation have long been mental health and physical health intervention tools. A number of doctors and mental health professionals advise their clients to use yoga, meditation and other mindfulness techniques to deal with the stress of daily life, which in turn enhances their well-being along with with medication and therapy. The modern day lifestyle puts a lot of stress on an individual, and one section of the population that undeniably suffers from a lot of stress is our youth, and specifically the students who are putting all of their time, money and effort to build something to of their lives.

One of the major goals of student life is to focus on all-round development of an individual focusing on various facets- physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and personality development. In today’s time, due to high performance pressures on students and long hours of studying, students are generally leading a sedentary lifestyle coupled with high emotional pressures culminating into depression and anxiety issues which is readily seen in adolescents and young adults.

Yoga and meditation can help a student effectively deal with these issues, simultaneously promoting all-round development, physical and mental health, develop good concentration levels, mental clarity and higher focus. Some of the benefits of yoga and meditation in various facets of a student’s life are as follows:

Better Academic Performance: To enhance academic performance, a shorter span of concentrated study has proven to be more effective than long hours of being glued to your books while your mind is wandering places. We must understand that mind is a muscle. Just the way you have to train your muscles to be strong and pick up weights, similarly you have to train your mind to focus better. Yoga and meditation practice enables your mind and body to show greater stability and balance that further enhances your mental focus and clarity.

Better Emotional Regulation: With rising competition in today’s environment, students are going through great emotional highs and lows and it is extremely necessary for them to show greater resilience and emotional intelligence to be successful and fulfilled in life. Various mindfulness techniques, like breath work (pranayama) bring our awareness to the present moment, liberating us from the various scenarios our mind creates that feeds to our negativity. This allows students to deal with emotional pressures and stress effectively while they strive to create the life of their dreams.

Weight and Health Management: With the modern day sedentary lifestyle, high pressures and the easy availability of junk food, obesity rates among students has been increasing leading to a sharp increase in both physical and metal issues. Moreover, anxiety and depression promote binge eating. Yoga serves to be a good form of exercise for students, promoting strength and flexibility, weight and health management becomes easier for students. Moreover, they become more particular about their dietary choices which further promotes health and well-being.

Improved mood and behavior: Depression and anxiety is related to lower serotonin levels in the brain. Yoga and meditation help to promote higher serotonin levels that aids in better mood and better behaviours, therefore.

Better Stress Management: How our body reacts to stress is dependent on our heart rate variability i.e; that the change in time between heartbeat. Increasing this enhances our relaxation process. A higher HRV means that the body can easily adapt to stress. Yoga not only increases this but also reduces the resting heart rate and blood pressure, promoting better stress adaptability.

Apart from these, yoga and meditation increase a person’s confidence, dynamism, calmness, happiness levels, energy levels and mental strength. All these qualities are extremely essential for students to develop to excel in their life and create a fulfilling life for themselves. Therefore, we should seek to make yoga and meditation our life-long companions in this journey of life for a healthy and fulfilling life.

Author-Niyati Magan