Image via Wikipedia With so many distractions coming from various directions, teens are prime candidates for learning lessons in mindfulness. This generation and the one following close behind are prepped to multi-task from birth. As teens are expected to juggle and negotiate everything from school to social media to the latest technology, it’s not surprising they are also seeking a means of “escape” or a way to do more in less time, i.e., drugs and alcohol. So, why not provide them with the tools to manage the business of their lives mindfully? The fact is, doing too much at once has a higher probability of lowering one’s efficiency while also raising one’s stress level–and let’s not forget, it also portends one being less likely to pay attention to what’s important. How present can one actually be if they’re having a conversation with you while typing an email or texting someone else? Or better yet, how much academia is a teenager actually going to digest if texting, social media, and their iPhone take precedence?
These days, with the buzz about “Eat, Pray, Love,” the accessibility of the Dalai Lama, and the edginess and cool factor of groups like Against the Stream or Insight LA, the path of mindfulness and meditation has become less of a stigmatized lifestyle choice and more of an accepted means of moving through one’s day. It is better to be present and engaged than disconnected and preoccupied with which one of the 14 tasks you should tackle first. It’s hard enough just being a teen–add the pressures of the current trends and haves and have nots, and we have the potential for someone seeking an “out” in one way or another.
More and more academicians and psychiatrists are stating that mindfulness is a healthier means of meeting the world. Introducing teens in recovery to mindfulness and meditation provides and invaluable tool in their recovery process. Because it puts one in a space of quiet, one soon finds there’s nowhere to go but the present, and though sometimes that can be challenging, there’s really no other place to be.
