Our K-12 mindfulness tutoring programs can help students build confidence and overcome false narratives, whether that student is a 3rd grader struggling with reading confidence, an AP Physics student struggling with test anxiety, or a 10th grader who’d simply like to learn the skills of mindfulness and meditation to become a happier and healthier young person.
As with our other programs, our mindfulness tutoring programs are completely customizable to each student’s individual needs. We teach students practical, accessible tools that they can use to help themselves feel better when they experience stress and anxiety. Rather than seeking relief outside themselves, they’ll learn how to harness the power within themselves to manage and relieve the stress and anxiety of their lives. If you believe your student could benefit from the powerful practice of Mindfulness, please contact us!
Mindfulness and Mental Health
At RTC, we understand that mental health challenges are as normal as any other health challenges, and that people with or without mental health conditions can all benefit from practicing mindfulness. As you will see in the biographies of several of our Mindfulness Coaches, mindfulness can be ideal as a complement to comprehensive, high quality mental health care. However, mindfulness should never be utilized as a replacement for mental health treatment. If you currently have a mental health challenge or become concerned that any mental health symptoms are impacting you, we can help you identify what goes beyond the scope of practicing mindfulness and point you to appropriate resources that can more effectively meet your needs.
The Science of Mindfulness
Mindfulness can be a game-changer for our holistic health: scientific research indicates that a regular practice provides myriad physical, neurological, and psychological benefits. Physically, mindfulness can influence specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging. Neurologically, studies have found that the brains of long-time meditators have more grey matter volume compared to those who do not meditate. This suggests regular meditation may promote neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience) in the part of the brain responsible for executive functioning (the cognitive processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, recall instructions, and perform multiple tasks successfully). Psychologically, it can help students decrease stress, reduce anxiety, improve focus and awareness, and cultivate emotional regulation. An abbreviated list of recent research on the health benefits of mindfulness is below.
Research on Mindfulness
Below is an abbreviated list of some of the recent research on the impact of mindfulness.
Attention & Concentration
Jha, A. P., Krompinger, J., & Baime, M. J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(2), 109–119. (Mindfulness practitioners demonstrated better performance on objective tasks that required an extensive concentration span.) https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758%2FCABN.7.2.109.pdf
Napoli, M., Krech, P. R., & Holley, L. C. (2005). Mindfulness Training for Elementary School Students. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 21(1), 99–125. (First, second, and third grade students’ outcomes on measures of attention were improved after participating in a 24-week mindfulness program.) https://ajibik.typepad.com/pubs/files/J370v21n01_05.pdf
Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: a review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(5), 593–600. (Review paper) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/24ad/c36ba1d3662f58e60e84bf5a45c1043ab667.pdf?_ga=2.60463277.1419077449.1614900633-883685185.1614900633
Reduction of Stress, and Symptoms of Anxiety & Depression
Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83. (Social Anxiety) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41415753_Effects_of_Mindfulness-Based_Stress_Reduction_MBSR_on_Emotion_Regulation_in_Social_Anxiety_Disorder
Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Marques, L., Metcalf, C. A., Morris, L. K., Robinaugh, D. J., … Simon, N. M. (2013). Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 74(8), 786–792. (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23541163/
Raes, F., Griffith, J. W., Van der Gucht, K., & Williams, J. M. G. (2014). School-based prevention and reduction of depression in adolescents: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness group program. Mindfulness, 5(5), 477–486. (Depression). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-08064-001
Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: a review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(5), 593–600. (Review paper) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK77489/
Impact on Immune Function
Black DS, Slavich GM. (2016). Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1373(1), 13-24. (Review paper) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940234/
Emotional Regulation
Roemer, L., Williston, S. K., & Rollins, L. G. (2015). Mindfulness and emotion regulation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 3, 52–57. (Review paper) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X15000974
Ortner, C. N., Kilner, S. J., & Zelazo, P. D. (2007). Mindfulness meditation and reduced emotional interference on a cognitive task. Motivation and Emotion, 31(4), 271–283. (Mindfulness results in a better ability to engage in tasks even when emotions are activated.) https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/zelazo.pdf
Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83. (Mindfulness creates changes in the brain that correspond to less reactivity.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41415753_Effects_of_Mindfulness-Based_Stress_Reduction_MBSR_on_Emotion_Regulation_in_Social_Anxiety_Disorder
Increased Compassion and Self-compassion
Condon, P., Desbordes, G., Miller, W. B., & DeSteno, D. (2013). Meditation increases compassionate responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 24(10), 2125–2127. (People randomly assigned to mindfulness training are more likely to help someone in need.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256075736_Meditation_Increases_Compassionate_Response_to_Suffering
Birnie, K., Speca, M., & Carlson, L. E. (2010). Exploring self-compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Stress and Health, 26(5), 359–371. (Mindfulness practitioners have greater self-compassion.) https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/MBSR-Exploring_self-compassion_empathy_in_the_context_of_mindfulness_based_stress_reduction.pdf
Impact on the Brain & Cognitive Function
Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2010). A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations. Psychological Medicine, 40(08), 1239–1252. (The prefrontal cortex is associated with maturity, emotional regulation and decision making. This part of the brain is more activated and developed in mindfulness practitioners.) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/28fa/dbb09e3bf36e58660b30e626d870de43785a.pdf?_ga=2.89825051.1419077449.1614900633-883685185.1614900633
Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Vangel, M., Congleton, C., Yerramsetti, S. M., Gard, T., & Lazar, S. W. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1), 36–43. (Mindfulness practitioners have more grey matter volume in their brains.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004979/pdf/nihms-232587.pdf
Desbordes, G., Negi, L. T., Pace, T. W., Wallace, B. A., Raison, C. L., & Schwartz, E. L. (2012). Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6. (The amygdala plays a role in emotional regulation and is in a region of the brain that houses the primitive brain – our animal-like brain that can activate without our conscious effort when we feel afraid or threatened. It also activates when we detect or react to emotions, including challenging ones. Mindfulness can help deactivate this part of the brain in non-threatening moments, like test-taking.) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232814367_Effects_of_mindful-attention_and_compassion_meditation_training_on_amygdala_response_to_emotional_stimuli_in_an_ordinary_Nonmeditative_State