|
|
National Summit on Student Health and Education in the Classroom The US Committee for Stress-Free Schools held its third annual National Summit on Student Health and Education on October 16th at the prestigious W Hotel in New York City. The Summit provided a compelling and inspiring introduction to the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation program as a solution to the dangerously high levels of classroom stress afflicting millions of students in schools in the US and worldwide. The TM program was also presented as an answer to the urgent need for students to have an effective tool to develop their full creative potential. Over 375 leaders in education, health, and business attended, including superintendents, principals, guidance counselors from 160 schools in the greater New York City area, as well as philanthropists and heads of foundations. Immediately after the two-hour Summit, representatives from 80 schools signed up requesting the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation program for their students. In just the past two years, over 50,000 students learned the Transcendental Meditation program through generous grants from the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Participating schools provide 10 to 15 minutes twice a day for students to meditate together. Speakers included David Lynch, Dr. John Hagelin, and famed entrepreneur and philanthropist Russell Simmons, as well as principals from several of the schools where the Quiet Time program is now in place. Here are a few highlights: Russell Simmons praised the programs, saying that “when Transcendental Meditation is offered in underperforming schools it helps students focus and improve grades.” John Hagelin, Ph.D., who serves as president of the David Lynch Foundation, cited the extensive published research on the TM program, which found decreased anxiety, reduced emotional stress, reduced depression, and reduced hyperactivity in students practicing the TM technique for 3 months. Sarina J. Grosswald, Ed.D., a leading researcher on ADHD and other learning disorders, reported on several studies showing that meditating students displayed significant improvement in behavior regulation, memory, and emotional control. Carmen A. N’Namdi Principal of Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse of Detroit was among the first to introduce the Transcendental Meditation program in her school twelve years ago. “We were not data driven in our TM program,” she says. “The students, however, insisted on volunteering anecdotes about being more patient, better focused on class work, and more energetic." When asked about the receptivity to the program, David Lynch said: "The day is coming very soon when it will be strange not to be doing Transcendental Meditation." To view a replay of the conference go to: webcast.stressfreesummit.org To find out how to introduce the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation program in your school, visit www.tmeducation.org © Copyright 2008 Maharishi University of Management |
|
