Thitirat Pongprajuc (Nuch)

Professor Mathew Arndt

HLTH 1240: Theory and Practice of Meditation
June 17, 2015

Meditation, a Stress Healer for College Students

Stress is a major issue for college students who have lower academic performance. In
2014, the study of American College Health Association (ACHC) has shown that about 90% of
college students have experienced being stressful within twelve months of their college lives, and
30%, the majority of this group reported that their lower academic performances were due to the
tension they have during the semesters. Many people cannot deal with their stress, so they run
away from any tension they face. On the other hand, some people find solutions to relieve their
tension by different methods. Interestingly, some studies have found that meditation could help
college students overcome too much stress during their college lives (Cohen, Janicki-Deverts,
and Miller, 2007) (Oman, Shapiro, Thoresen, Plante, and Flinders, 2008). This research paper
will present the meaning of stress and its positive and negative effects to individuals, the authors
experience of being stressful in college; then, the meditation explanation and its benefits.
Furthermore, the author of this research paper will explain how meditation can be used as a
stress healer for college students.
Basically, Stress arises when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with
the demands being made on them or with threats to their well-being (Lazarus, 1966). In crisis
time, stress can rescue individuals lives because of its duty to do so. The researchers have said
When stress works properly, it helps people to stay focused, energetic, and alert. However
stress stops being helpful at a certain point and starts causing major damage to ones health,
mood, productivity, relationships, and quality of life (Smith, Segal and Segal, 2015). For

example, too much stress leads to physical problems: taut muscles, fatigue and headaches;
mental problems: muddled thinking, impaired judgment and negativity; behavior problems:
insomnia and restlessness; emotion problems: loss of confidence, irritability and depression
(Hints for Health, 2014).
I was the one who was affected by having too much stress when I was in college in
Thailand. I had encountered the same problems as the majority of American college students
who suffered from the tension. I would be stressed when projects were coming due and
especially three weeks before midterm and final exams. Because I expected high grades, I
dedicated and disciplined myself to my studying. The first phase of being stressful, I was staying
in my room and studying, and I preferred to not go out and play around with others. The second
phase, I could not sleep at night. I would fall asleep about three to five oclock in the morning,
but I had to wake up at six oclock to go to school, so this habit lead my health into a bad
condition. Moreover, I was fussy and grumpy. I complained about everything that bothered me.
When anyone made me angry, I said rude and used sharp words back to that person immediately.
After the two phases passed, I would be sick in the last phase. I usually had back pain, cold,
tonsillitis and a migraine at the same time. I took a bunch of medicine every time I was being in
the stressful cycle. My worst case was spending five days in a hospital to receive the tonsil
glands surgery due to frequent tonsillitis because of not resting which was caused by the stress.
A doctor suggested me to de-stress in order to avoid being sick. At that time, I only thought that
time would pass, I would be more relaxed and I would be getting better. I was not interested in
meditation. I did not even think that meditation would help me to be decrease my tension.
One year after I graduated from college, I practiced meditation in a Buddhist temple in
Thailand. In the beginning, I could not sit, close my eyes and pay attention to my breath. Only

thing I did was think about stories. My mind was traveling around like a monkey jumping in the
forest. If I did not think about other things, I would fall asleep easily. Buddhist monks advised
me to focus on breathing, so I followed their guidance, and I could stay in the mediation a little
longer. I practiced meditation everyday form ten minutes in the beginning to two hours within
three months. At that time, I felt that I was really relaxed, and I did not feel that I had any stress.
When any terrible situations happened, I would observe the situations in my mind, then I
observed my reaction to those situations. Then, I would accept either positive or negative results
and let them be. My family and friends were really surprised that my personality was completely
changed. Nevertheless, I regret that I did not keep practicing meditation since I got a job four
years ago.
After I decided to do a second bachelor degree, I came to the United States for studying. I
had attended English as a Second Language (ESL) program for one year. I got a lot of tension
from the intensive program especially during the final exams of each sessions, and it lead me to
be sick many times. Currently, I have been a college student again. Since my first semester
started, I have adjusted my life to a new school, new environment, new friends and new
academic achievement. Moreover, I expect a good grade from every class, so I do put a lot of
stress and pressure into myself; however I still cannot perform well in some the classes;
therefore, I have a lot tension from that.
Recently, I have taken Math test and quizzes, and I started getting stressed after the test
was given. I noticed that the test was not difficult, but I was still anxious. Thus, I tried to control
my stress and pressure by doing the test mindfully and calculating every single problems slowly.
Until I had fifteen minutes left, I was panicked and stressed because I was afraid if I could not
finish the test. I got the test back after grading. I found that I made the same kind of mistakes two

times in two different problems, so I tried to figure out why I did that. I discovered that I did not
pay attention to the problem that I was calculating. Instead of focusing on the present problem, I
was thinking about the previous problems if I did them correctly. Because of not being aware at
the present moment, I got negative results which were lower scores than I expected. Moreover, I
got more tension because I was disappointed in the test scores. I negatively imagined that I
would fail the class. I was really stressful, and I did not want to talk to anybody, so I just stayed
in my room to avoid talking to housemates. One week later, I took the pop quiz, and the same
situation as the first test happened again. I immediately noticed that I did it inaccurately after I
already handed in the quiz. I was upset at myself and started thinking negatively again. I made
mistakes even though I know the rules and I know how to do the problems. After spending time
to think about it, I realized that I still had tension from the last test and I got stress from
homework and projects of other subjects which were coming due.
Since I have attended meditation class this semester, I have an idea of practicing
meditation to reduce the stress of my college life because meditation can restore individuals
calm and inner peace. Meditation can helps one become a mindful person because practicing
meditation develops an unawareness mind to be an awareness mind. Kabat-Zinn (1994) stated
mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and
not judgmentally. In addition, when individuals focus their attentions during meditation, they
can eliminate monkey mind which causes stress. I think meditation benefits are very useful
because I can learn to calm the stress and control my mind and my emotions. Therefore, I would
like to apply meditation into my daily life in order to reduce stress from studying.
BuddhaNet has suggested that individuals should meditate for fifteen minutes every day
and then extend the time by five minutes each week until reaching forty-five minutes meditation

daily; gradually, their concentrations will get better. Moreover, Kabat-Zinn (1994) has suggested
that individuals should keep practicing meditation. They should not think that they understand
the state of being mindful, so they just ignore or stop practicing meditation. They should be
prepared for big events by practicing, practicing and practicing meditation. I am one of people
who stop meditating that Kabat-Zinn mentioned.
Additionally, the researchers have proved training college undergraduates in integrated
meditation programs can reduce their levels of perceived stress (Oman et al, 2008). I am
interested in the point of decreasing the degree of perceived tension. Therefore I have tried to
meditate when I am taking a bus, before the classes and before I go to bed. Meditating on the bus
is difficult because there are a lot of distractions such as noise of the traffic and other passengers
talking loudly. Practicing meditation before the class is good to prepare my mind and my brain
for a new lesson. Meditating before going to bed challenges me to balance my awareness to not
fall asleep. Most of the time, I fall asleep during the meditation, but I am trying to not fall asleep
until I finish practicing meditation.
After analyzing my current situation as a college student and information about
meditation, I will meditate everyday in order to reduce my tension from studying because
meditation has many valuable benefits. For instance, meditation provides me mindfulness,
acceptance, peace and a sense of calm. The most important benefit of meditation to me is to
lower a chance of getting sickness that I suffered when I was a college student in Thailand.
Hopefully, my meditation practice can help me eliminate tension, and it can develop me to be a
mindful person.

Works Cited
A Basic Buddhism Guide: Meditation. A Basic Buddhism Guide: Meditation.
BDEA/BuddhaNet. Web. 12 June 2015.
Hints for Health: Stress and Your Health. Health Care Ministries L Bringing His Hope That
Heals. Ed. Karen Herrera. June 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Reference Group Executive Summary, Spring 2014 American College Health Association.
ACHA-NCHA Data. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Cohen, Sheldon, Denise Janicki-Deverts, and Gregory E. Miller. "Psychological Stress and
Disease." JAMA (2007): 1685. Print.
Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.
New York: Hachette Book Group, 1994. Print.
Lazarus, Richard S. Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1966. Print.
Oman, Doug, Shauna L. Shapiro, Carl E. Thoresen, Thomas G. Plante, and Tim Flinders.
Meditation Lowers Stress and Supports Forgiveness Among College Students: A
Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of American College Health 56.5: 569-78. Print.
Smith, Melinda, Robert Segal, and Jeanne Segal. Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes. Stress
Symptoms, Signs, & Causes: The Effects of Stress Overload and What You Can Do About
It. Helpguide. Web. 16 June 2015.