You can imagine how the calm alertness of the meditative state provides an ideal basis for dealing with life’s challenges.

Three recent studies by So & Orme-Johnson examined the effects of meditation on cognition.

One hundred and fifty-four Chinese high school students were randomized into a meditation group or a napping group. Meditation and napping were practised for approximately 20 minutes twice a day. At 6-month follow -up, the meditation group demonstrated significantly increased practical intelligence, field independence, creativity, and speed of information processing, as well as significantly decreased anxiety compared to the control group. The authors suggest that these findings indicate that meditation’s effects extend beyond those of ordinary rest.

Reference: So & Orme-Johnson, 2001

Read the study here