Why Students At Elite Colleges Are Turning To Meditation

Twice a week, stressed-out students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pry themselves away from the demands of school and meet in a reserved room on campus to practice yoga and meditation.  The gathering, called Art of Living, is one of the only times many club members unload their stress and find relief. It's a rare sanctuary at one of the most high-pressure colleges in the country. "Having a regular meditative practice is like being high all the time," Blake Elias, vice president of the club, has said. "It makes you realize that you have a choice of how you feel and that you can control your own environment rather than it controlling you." The club is part of a larger collective called Yesplus, a student-run stress management program that is working to incorporate meditation and yoga into everyday life on college campuses. The program is run by the Art of Living Foundation, an international nonprofit founded by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Since its creation in 2006, Yesplus has implemented retreats and on-campus clubs on more than 40 campuses. Schools like Stanford and Johns Hopkins University are even offering Yesplus as an academic course for credit. The programs focus on yoga and Sudarshan Kriya meditation -- a "cleansing" breathing technique that uses natural rhythms in the breath to harmonize the body, mind and emotions, according to the foundation's website. The regular meet-ups and the five-day medita...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news