The doctor is in

It seems this subject has been coming up weekly in my life. That subject is how we have become out-of-touch with ourselves due to the pressures exerted on us by technology on everyday life. This article is submitted by Dr. Rowe.

Kid contemplatives: UW neuroscientist's project aims to give middle-schoolers tools of 'mindfulness' and meditation

If gym class helps children tone the body, what helps them exercise the mind?

Homework and tests are logical answers, if proof of success is a higher GPA. But when the goal is to produce a more emotionally sturdy and thoughtful person, researchers suggest the ability to be still and contemplate is what can make a positive difference.

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.)

"Education," says colleague John Dunne of Atlanta's Emory University, "is not just about acquired knowledge but the development of virtues -- patience, kindness, learning how to be in a tough emotional situation without becoming unhinged."

Although researchers suspect the role of contemplation has value in educational settings, from kindergarten on up, it is rare for contemplative exercises to be a part of the school day.

Dunne, a former UW researcher, will return to Madison on Monday for "Contemplation and Education: Landscape of Research," a free panel discussion at the Wisconsin Union Theater. The event also features remarks by Davidson and the Rev. Thomas Keating of Colorado, founder of the centering prayer movement in Christianity.

"We're still trying to understand how these practices work" scientifically, in a grade K-12 setting, Dunne says. "It seems likely that there are things that can be done to regulate emotions effectively."

"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."

Calmness, clarity

The upcoming work with middle schoolers will occur under the auspices of the nonprofit Mind and Life Institute, which for more than a year has studied whether and how to move contemplative practices into the classroom setting. Davidson chairs the initiative, which also involves Dunne.

Although in "an embryonic state," Davidson says the studies will focus on kindness, calmness and clarity of thinking. Participants will follow a contemplative practice that is "being designed from the ground up." Participants have not been selected, although "informal contacts with several schools" have been made.

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.

"If kids are going to make a wrong turn," Davidson says, "this is when it starts to occur." He is referring to substance abuse and other high-risk behaviors.

"The brain can change in response to training," he says, dismissing any notion of unwarranted mind control. "I think this is actually deprogramming" children from media influence and "returning the mind to its natural, unprogrammed state."

It's not religion

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.

The level of controversy associated with bringing the concept into classrooms in part depends upon the presence of religious overtones.

"In my view, it's not a religious issue," says Keating, because of the many forms that contemplation can take. "Silence is not denominational, and it can be practiced in a methodical way."

Sitting in silence for 20 minutes, twice a day, "gradually introduces us to our deeper self," but the academic world "allows no time or place to pursue this" in an organized manner. That includes seminaries, he says.

Keating soon will help Milwaukee's Marquette University introduce a centering prayer program. "The fact that they see a need for this is very encouraging," he says, describing Marquette as one of the few schools nationwide that is incorporating the practice into its curriculum.

Therapeutic value

Like Buddhist meditation, centering prayer for Christians is an age-old religious practice that has experienced a revival in contemporary times. Keating says both practices "transcend the rational mind" and are "a way to be present to psychological content of the moment."

There is similar value in "gazing at a beautiful sunset or ocean -- just enjoying" and being aware of the emotions that are aroused. The therapeutic value, Keating says, is in identifying and releasing "negative energy that had never really been processed," which becomes "like junk food if it stays stuck in our unconsciousness."

Thousands of centering prayer groups (including four in Madison) exist nationwide. The gatherings occur occur in setting from rural churches to maximum security prisons.

"Most people without a special (contemplative) practice tend to be pushed around by external events," Keating contends. In classrooms, "the younger the child, the easier it is" to teach contemplation because young participants typically aren't impeded by as much emotional baggage.

For Dunne, whose daughter is 5, teaching contemplation means spurts of "lovingkindness" meditation -- concentrating on positive thoughts. He says sustained attention on a specific object for a few minutes, once or twice daily, might be a good contemplative practice for a slightly older child.

"Mindfulness -- stepping back from your emotional state" and learning to feel it without being overwhelmed might be appropriate to introduce during adolescence, he says.

Some of these exercises, although deeply rooted in Eastern and other religions, can be effective and inoffensive in a secular setting, Dunne says. The effort is about using "mental technologies" that have religious origins, not pushing theology.

The goal of compassion, he notes as an example, is not the sole ownership of Christians or Buddhists. "It becomes a universal human value."