Study shows Meditation lowers violent behavior in school

Since 2005 the David Lynch Foundation has shared Transcendental Meditation with our most stressed populations. If you are inspired by this video please make a donation using the Donate button on the right. The David Lynch Foundation runs entirely on donations and there is a long list of schools and organizations eager to participate. Change begins within!

For more information on how to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique, please visit http://www.tm.org?leadsource=CRM1262

Transcription:

Well now there's a school in Detroit that's helping students deal with the stress in a unique way. Here is NBC's Kevin Tibbles.

The boisterous kids at Detroit's Nataki Taliba School are really no different than any other. Except perhaps for 10 minutes twice a day when all they hear is silence. These students aren't napping they're meditating. 

Transcendental Meditation was brought to the West 40 years ago by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and made popular by the Beatles in the late sixties. Today it is used in this school as a stress buster.

Jane Pitt (Nataki ™ Coordinator): It (Transcendental Meditation) is not a religion, it is not a philosophy, it's not a way of life, it's simply a mental technique. It allows the system, the mind and the body to settle down and gain very, very deep rest.

Kevin Tibbles: According to these kids it helps...

Student: I have a tendency to dwell on things that happened in the past but when I meditate it helps me let them go.

Student 2: I pay attention better now.

Student 3: After Transcendental Meditation I feel great!

Kevin Tibbles: When we think of packing our kids off to school these days we often worry about the problems; high stress, substance abuse, even violence, things that threaten a child's education. But can ten minutes of quiet time really make a difference? The research says yes. The University of Michigan followed 140 of the schools 10 to 14 year olds.

Rita Benn Ph.D. (University of Michigan Researcher): They felt more connected, they felt happier, satisfied, peaceful and calm.

Student 4: I used to get angry a lot but now it's like I'm calming down.

Kevin Tibbles: And studies show that meditating kids actually do better than kids who don't.

Student 5: My grade point averages went up a lot. From a 3.4 to a 3.8. 

Student 6: Now I'm doing much better - I've evolved.

For more information on the David Lynch Foundation and the in-school Quiet Time program, please visithttp://davidlynchfoundation.org/