#56.Practicing Zen by Tania our 12 year old member

This is a text  written by Tania the youngest member of our group.

Imagine a world where you were happier, healthier and smarter. Mindfulness and Zen Meditation can make this happen. So today, I will be explaining about Zen Meditation and how you do it.

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention. Zen Meditation helps people be more aware. Let me teach you how to do it: sit comfortably, with good posture, close your eyes, focus on your breathing and then block all of your thoughts by concentrating on your breathing. This is Zen Meditation! What are the benefits of mindfulness? You can increase working memory, reduce stress and how you can control your mind to focus.

First let’s talk about how we can reduce stress. You should respond appropriately to reality. Zen meditation reduces the fight or flight responses. This will help lower your pulse rate, blood pressure and metabolism. It will improve your mood. An example could be meditation allowing you to keep calm and think what you’re going to do next or how to solve your problem.

Next, Zen Meditation helps you pay attention in class so you learn more by controlling your mind to focus. It also stops us from doing too many things at once or missing information. You should also rely on focusing on high performances. Try multiplying 12 by 12 and 9 by 13 at the same time, you can’t! Our brains are made to think one thing at a time. So multitasking doesn’t work well and only causes stress. Zen Meditation is the opposite of multitasking, focusing on one thought which is your breathing. Or be mindful when you’re eating, don’t text or watch TV. Just focus on what’s going on in your mouth.

Finally, increasing working memory (another term for short term memory) is located in our prefrontal cortex of our brain. This area of your brain is most involved in paying attention and controlling your thoughts which helps you be in the present moment. It also helps to increase your IQ or intelligent quotient. For example, you can focus on reading a book and understanding what is happening in the story by being able to block everything going on around you.

Mindfulness is a simple task with powerful results and it’s a life skill that everyone can benefit from. Now you must take the time to focus on your breathing for 10-15 minutes a day. It will make you happier, healthier and smarter. I promise!

By: Talia Jean Fallico