As educators, our goal is to provide students with safe spaces that allow them to grow and flourish. Every student has had a unique upbringing with a different set of experiences that have shaped their brain thus far, and although we cannot control what goes on outside of the classroom, we need to be doing everything we can in order to help each student achieve success while in the classroom. There are three major areas where mindfulness has been shown to improve performance or reduce the effects of: stress and anxiety, various executive functioning skills, and academic performance. 

Anxiety and negative self-image are two major concepts that young people commonly struggle with. A 2016 study on habits related to mindfulness in high school students found an improvement of self-concept as well as a decrease in anxiety levels (Lopez-Gonzalez et al.,2016). This is extremely powerful because we know that students are not able to carry out the functions of a student until their basic human needs, including security, are met (Lopez-Gonzalez et al.,2016). Physically, mindfulness has been shown to increase grey matter density in the hippocampus; a structure within the limbic system associated with emotion and memory (Congleton, Holzel, & Lazar, 2015). The hippocampus is home to many cortisol receptors and can become damaged by chronic stress, leading to disorders such as depression and PTSD (Congleton et al., 2015). People who suffer from disorders such as depression and PTSD tend to have smaller hippocampi (Congleton et al., 2015). Having increased grey matter in the hippocampal area relates to resiliency and the ability to recover after episodes of high stress (Congleton et al., 2015). In this sense, mindfulness provides students with a strategy to cope and efficiently recover from episodes of stress.

Many tasks that teachers request of students require strong executive functioning skills. Beyond school, in order to organize and maintain your lifestyle, you must be able to exercise many executive functions. Practicing mindfulness has been linked to increased activation in brain regions that govern attention (Flook et al., 2013). Mindfulness also contributes to strengthened self-regulatory neural circuits in the prefrontal cortex, which corresponds to increased attention capacity and emotional regulation capability (Flook et al., 2013). Aside from the prefrontal cortex, the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is also heavily impacted by regular mindfulness practice (Congleton et al., 2015). The ACC plays a major role in self-regulation, directing attention, flexibility, and making decisions based on past experiences (Congleton et al., 2015). It is not uncommon for those with damage to the ACC to show impulsivity, heightened aggression, and the inability to switch strategies when something is not working (Congleton et al., 2015). Participants who underwent and eight-week mindfulness training program showed heightened activation in the ACC which corresponded to their high-caliber performance on tests of self-regulation and resisting distractions (Congleton et al., 2015). Through mindfulness, students are able to strengthen skills that teachers demand of them on a regular basis and skills that they will carry with them for the remainder of their lives. 

Academic success is another major goal that teachers have for all students and there are studies that support the idea that mindfulness practice supports and helps increase academic success. A 2008 study looked at the influence mindfulness had on academic performance and classroom climate; to which they found a significant relationship (Lopez-Gonzalez et al.,2016). Mindfulness practice allows students to concentrate effectively on a task or concept at hand, as well as process information accurately and efficiently (Lopez-Gonzalez et al.,2016). Mindfulness habits were found to be closely linked with robust academic performance and overall classroom climate (Lopez-Gonzalez et al.,2016).