by Mary Bergin
The Capitol Times
In 2008, local middle school students will among those who participate in a national pilot project that studies the effects of contemplation in the classroom, says Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin researcher/neuroscientist. (Time magazine selected him as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People of 2006.)…
The ground is ripe for this type of science to be conducted,” says Davidson, whose work already has shown that meditation can change the way the brain works. In college students, Davidson says research at the UW and elsewhere shows that contemplative practices cause “changes in the brain that promote empathy, compassion, increased concentration.”…
Davidson expects the work to begin within six months. Middle school students are being targeted because early adolescence is a time of heightened vulnerability due to body and brain changes….
Centering prayer, meditation, breath work, chanting, sitting in silence, extended concentration on an object and focusing on positive thoughts and images are examples of contemplative exercises that can be taught.Click here to read this entire article.
