Power of Meditation for Exam Success

Meditation or the art of practicing mindfulness has manifold benefits, be it health-related, spiritual advantages, or the mindfulness you gain. Due to its manifold advantages, meditation, as a practice and a routine attracts people of all ages and all types of health and mental conditions. The healthy want to upkeep their condition and the unhealthy want to pace up theirs. The young want to achieve increased focus and mindfulness whereas the elderly want to take away their mind from the tensions around them and gain some calmness and serenity.

Not only the elderly, spiritual speakers, and trained professionals but even, UPSC, GATE, or other competitive exam aspirants can harness the power of meditation to lead a stress-free and focused earning period during their exam preparation. The power of meditation is simply working with the mind through simple and easy techniques to channel its maximum energy in the area that you wish to. Meditation advantages include an improved sense of presence, calmness of the brain, increased attentiveness, focus, and enhancement of human qualities like empathy and patience. In this blog, we discuss how the power of meditation can be advantageous in exam preparation for UPSC, GATE, or other competitive exams in the form of 10 benefits of meditation for students.

1. A calm brain is a better workstation: Meditation is a proven way of finding inner peace and it thus, helps in staying calm and composed. Needless to say, peace of mind is a prerequisite for the brain to work efficiently, especially for aspirants of exams like UPSC, GATE, SSC, etc. Most aspirants encounter the problem of only utilizing 50-60% of their study time efficiently for their preparation, while the rest is wasted due to a lack of mindfulness, worrying about the future, stressing about goals, or thinking about other tasks, while you try to do another. These problems of anxiety and stress can also be tackled through the power of meditation.
2. Reduced anxiety leads to increased scores: While one meditates, the sole purpose of the complete exercise is to increase the oxygen flow into and out of the brain. As oxygen flow increases, so does the blood flow, allowing the brain to function more efficiently. By taking this little break for the brain, one lets the mind achieve its peace so that it won’t stress or get anxious. One of the main reasons for anxiety is overthinking about the future, the goals, the results, and everything. Giving the thinking and oneself, a break definitely helps reduce the anxiety and stress in daily life. Moreover, it helps one channel all their workable energy to their exam preparation.
3. More energy, more efficiency: UPSC exam preparation demands rigorous hard work, and thus, an aspirant needs to have a lot of energy for doing that. One of the benefits of meditation is that it keeps laziness at bay, leaving the mind and body fresh and energetic throughout the day. One feels less urge for naps and sleep breaks to keep the mind fresh if the nap breaks can rather be replaced with small breaks of meditation. Moreover, at the starting of the preparation phase, many aspirants face an issue with long study hours, which can also be taken care of with the help of meditation.
4. Longer settings can be pain-free: To study continuously for several hours is not as much of a problem as being mindful and equally attentive throughout the span is. All the aspirants, at some point, feel difficulty in up-keeping long spans of sitting. Not to mention, some aspirants even find it tough to sit through the 3 hours duration of the exam continuously. To their rescue, a study on regular mindfulness meditation showed that the participants could focus on a task for a long period and they were able to reorient and maintain attention reaping the benefits of meditation. Not only does meditation helps in maintaining long study hours, but also in being more creative and applying yourself better in competitive exam.
5. Sharper the brain, better the grades: It is believed that students who practice meditation have higher IQ levels than others. A plausible reason is that meditation has the advantage of making the brain more alert and sharp. When aspirants are able to apply their complete attention to the task at hand, it is more likely that they would be able to attempt questions in relatively less time, in a more creative manner, and write them down in the best possible manner. With the introduction of QCAB in the UPSC exam, this is one quality that all aspirants must have. Many aspirants complain of forgetting basic formulae in the exam or being unable to write down even what they knew in the ESE exam. Meditation can help sail through this also.
6. To know is important, what is more, important is to apply: To have a clear mind, free of any distractions is inevitable for learning, as well as applying. One of the important benefits of meditation is that it helps clear the mind. Even in the class while learning and outside the class, while applying, clarity of mind is important, both to grasping and to reproduction. Often in exams, we are unable to pen down even what we absolutely know. Clarity of the mind helps in reproducing the answer in a structured way instead of jumbling the content. It also helps in keeping any kind of distractions, at bay.
7. Farther the distractions, the nearer the success: Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram; to put it in short: our mobiles, laptops, and all sorts of digital screens sometimes do us more harm than benefit in exam preparation. Even if you are completely determined to stay away from these distractions, installing apps to stay away from your phone, and finding alternatives, it is essential that your brain wants the same. To train your brain to keep these distractions at bay, meditation can be a helpful tool. The calmness of the brain is the power of meditation. It helps in leading a happy and confident life.
8. Happy from the inside, confident from the outside: As a result of all the other benefits of meditation, you become happier and more confident than before. Aspirants of the UPSC exam, who meditate regularly, develop the ability to handle stress and maintain their calm, even in pressurized situations. These qualities affect their self-esteem, emotional competence, and affectivity. Improved results bring happiness and meditation helps in improving results, so it becomes more of a chain reaction, initiated with meditation. Meditation advantages can also help one maintain the best of their health and get rid of any kind of distraction and addiction.
9. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body: Aspirants preparing for the UPSC exam mostly put up away from their homes and families, to study in solace. However, what becomes more important in such circumstances is to take proper care of one’s health and body. The benefits of meditation are that it lowers the risk of many heart ailments, later in life, helps reduce blood pressure, and helps to stay fit, in general. Research has also shown that meditation may help people learn to redirect their attention, increase their willpower, control their emotions and impulses, and increase their understanding of the causes behind their certain addictive behaviors. It may also help you control food cravings.
10. Sleep tight, study right: A relaxed mind helps in proper learning and a proper good night’s sleep can refresh the mind. The quality of sleep, the sleep cycle, and the daily routine, in general, is seen to improve with meditation. A meditated mind improves the quality of your sleep so that you wake up feeling refreshed, the next day. This makes the mind ready to receive information without tiredness and getting bored.

Before diving deep into the steps to get started, let us find out the answers to some commonly asked questions about the power of meditation for students.

What is the best way of meditation for a student?

• With the rise in the awareness associated with meditation in the last few years, several meditation gurus have introduced a wide range of meditation techniques for different age groups. Therefore, it becomes critical to choose the best meditation technique to reap the benefits of meditation for students.

Mindfulness meditation is the best way of meditation for students. Practicing this specific type of meditation has helped several students improve their focus and attention while studying according to their study schedule. This kind of meditation is also known as guided meditation. Once you practice mindfulness meditation a few times, you will see its impact on your study schedule and subject material retention abilities. Every student must try it a few times to understand the power of meditation and reap the above-mentioned benefits of meditation for students. Students can even combine the meditation power with other mindfulness exercises such as mindful breathing, color breathing, the five senses, break time bell, and daily gratitude exercises.

How to do meditation for students?

If you are a student and want to reap the benefits of the power of meditation, then congratulations on your future version! Now that you have understood the importance of meditation, let us find out the expert-recommended ways that students can utilize to improve their mental, emotional, and physical well-being in the upcoming months.

• Calm yourself and choose a suitable location: If you want to reap the best benefits of meditation, you must understand that telling yourself to stay calm helps greatly. In this way, you can truly cherish the power of meditation and see the real change in your overall well-being.
• Keep your body straight: Most students feel lazy to sit straight for any activity. However, it is important to understand that our body must be in a straight position while practicing meditation. Do not try to pressurize yourself to straighten yourself. Follow the body’s natural curvature, and you are good to go with practicing meditation.
• Notice your legs: During meditation, one’s body must be in a stable position. Therefore, you need to place your legs in the rest position before you start the meditation session. After a few practice sessions, you will observe that your legs stabilize automatically during these meditation sessions. It will also contribute to realizing the meditation powers.
• Check your arms: Usually, students have restless minds, which makes them move toward their smartphones and smart devices. If you find yourself stuck in a similar situation, you must prioritize positive self-talk and stabilize your arms parallel to your straight upper body.
• Calm your eyes: Human eyes tend to wander throughout the day except for sleep time. The best meditation for students has the ability to calm our minds. As a student getting started with the meditation technique, you must focus both your eyes in one particular direction. It will help you focus on reaping the benefits of meditation powers.
• Engage while you breathe: Initially, it is difficult to meditate with complete focus, but with consistent practice, you can meditate mindfully. Over a period, you will observe that your entire focus is on your breathing and its pattern while practicing the best meditation for students. This way, you will become an expert in the skill of mindfulness meditation and build your improved version in the upcoming weeks to months.

Meditation can act as a boon for getting a peaceful mind. Not just the elderly, adults, and professionals, but also, students can harness the power of meditation and have a stress-free exam preparation. Now knowing several benefits of meditation as a UPSC aspirant, the next obvious step would be getting started with it.

However, meditation might seem boring for the students initially, but with time, you gain a nick of it. Also, as soon as you start practicing it regularly, the advantages will be pretty visible and before you know meditation would become an unavoidable part of your lifestyle forever. What you need to gain meditation advantages is, to be able to welcome peace to your mind. Here are a few steps that might get you started:

• Find a spot: Find a place to meditate, where you can practice it daily. A park, a terrace, or any open space is a good option. However, these are not absolutely mandatory. If you do not have access to any such place, any clean spot with good ventilation would be good to start.
• Choose a time: The time for meditation needs not to be early morning only, but it is preferred to do it in the cleanest of air. If possible, choose one convenient time and practice meditation daily, at the same hour. Don’t try to meditate on a full stomach or you might fall asleep.
• Look after your posture: Do not try any complicated or advanced poses, in the beginning, just try to keep your back straight, without straining your spine, keep your legs folded, hands on your lap, sitting on the ground, and eyes closed, as you start to meditate. Be comfortable and wear comfortable clothes.
• Close your eyes and clear your mind: Now just close your eyes and focus on your breathing. It is relatively easier to meditate with closed eyes than open ones. Leave all the thoughts aside for a while and try only to concentrate on your breathing. Thoughts running of your mind may disrupt your mind but gently bring the attention towards breathing whenever that happens. Do not judge the thought or do not be let down if you cannot concentrate. It takes time so be patient
• A chant may help: For beginners, it may be tough to maintain that type of focus or concentration, for long without being distracted. It is thus, recommendable that you chant any mantra or put on a track on your phone, which might help you to concentrate better.

The benefits of meditation are uncountable, while exam preparation for the UPSC exam, provided aspirants are ready to harness the power of meditation. Even a 15-minute session daily can reap the wonderful benefits of meditation.

Many aspirants of the UPSC exam have been following meditation, as a part of their lifestyle to lead more energetic, peaceful, and stress-free lives while their exam preparations, and thereafter. They also recommend the same to all upcoming students, as a part of their strategy.

We hope this meditation blog contributes in the proper execution of your competitive exam strategy.