Meditation and Mindfulness for Exams
“Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.” Thich Nhat Hanh
What are meditation and mindfulness?
Meditation, in its basic sense, is a way of releasing our minds and ‘decluttering’ our brains from day-to-day thoughts. It can help us filter out seemingly important sensory inputs and focus on our more spiritual beings. Meditation has been practiced in a variety of different forms for thousands of years. Meditation is referenced in the Hindu Vedas, some of which were written before 1000 BC.
Mindfulness is when we become deliberately aware of the present, without judging the situation. It is a way of living consciously, with the goal of making healthy choices that impact our entire lives and those around us. The term ‘mindfulness’ is derived from the Pali-term ‘sati’, which is an essential part of Buddhist practice.
Although these meditative practices have their origins in Eastern religions, they don’t need to be based on any specific belief systems. They have increased dramatically in popularity over the past decade or so and today many people practice regularly.
Meditation and mindfulness are now commonly employed in modern psychology to alleviate a variety of conditions including depression and anxiety.
A statue of the Buddha meditating
How can they help with studying?
There is now a large body of research that suggests that meditation and mindfulness can help to relive stress and anxiety. They can provide an excellent means for relieving exam induced stress and gathering your thoughts during your study period. It is not known exactly how meditation works to combat stress but it has been postulated that it has effects upon the sympathetic nervous system.
The value goes deeper than just stress relief though, and there is also now evidence to show that students that practice mindfulness can enhance memory capacity and improve academic performance. A recent study from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California showed that 2 weeks of mindfulness training improved test scores on a reading-comprehension test and working memory capacity. It also reduced the occurrence of distracting thoughts during the test.
How to meditate
For the uninitiated it can be very difficult to sit for long periods and have an ‘empty mind’. There are many guided meditation courses available where a teacher will help you to understand the process and get started. For myself, I found that starting with just a few minutes and then building up slowly to a longer duration helped me to adjust to the process. Try to practice, even if just for 5 or 10 minutes initially, on a daily basis so that it becomes a habit. Many people can quickly achieve 30 minutes or an hour of meditation in this manner. There are also many books and audiotapes available that can guide you through the process.
One way to meditate is to focus and concentrate on one particular thing. This could be as simple as focusing just on your breathing or perhaps thinking about a single word or staring at the flame of a candle. Find a quite, dark, calming environment, as free from distractions as possible. Most people sit cross-legged, but if you find this uncomfortable to start with you could sit on a chair or even lie on a bed. Every time your mind wanders, let the thought go and then try to re-focus your concentration again. This particular type of meditation is very good for improving your ability to concentrate.
Mindfulness meditation should be approached in a slightly different way. Again, find a calm, quiet setting but this time try to observe any wandering thoughts that drift into your mind. You should not try to engage with these thoughts or judge them but rather be aware of them and try to ascertain how they make you feel.
There are numerous other ways to meditate, and yoga and tai chi practice can also have similar benefits. Some people have a preference for one particular type of practice whilst others practice a combination.
If you would like to learn more about meditation and mindfulness, the Oxford Mindfulness Centre is an excellent resource: http://www.oxfordmindfulness.org
Key points to remember:
✅ Meditation and mindfulness have a wide range of benefits and can
help to relieve exam stress and anxiety
✅ Mindfulness can also enhance memory capacity and improve
academic performance
✅ Start with short periods of meditation and build up gradually to
longer durations
In the Zen Garden would like to thank Dr. Marc Barton for permission to reproduce this extract from his book ‘How to Pass Medical Exams: A Survival Guide for Medical Students and Doctors’
About Dr. Marc Barton
Dr. Marc Barton qualified from Imperial College School of Medicine in 2001. Since that time, he has worked in a variety of different medical specialities. He worked as a GP partner from 2006 until 2008 and more recently as a higher specialist trainee in Emergency Medicine.
‘How to Pass Medical Exams’ is available for purchase here. Marc has also written several articles for a medical education website.