Does Meditation Improve Learning?

To someone that comes to meditation without expectations, meditation can do far more than what they thought was possible at first. 

After all, meditation always works best when you enter the practice with no expectations and are open to it, and let everything happen. 

Understanding that a lot is outside of your control. We could all do with more focus that often comes from meditation, but what can it do for our learning? The practice can be beneficial for our ability to not only memorize things but understand them on a deeper level.

 With meditation, we subconsciously seek a bigger picture of things, it opens up a whole new world, and it’s one of the paths many take toward improving themselves. 

One of the byproducts of the practice, aside from the practice generally being calm, soothing, and relaxing is that it helps us in becoming better at what we do. We learn to let go of the same attachment that often makes or breaks our successes in different areas. 

Many are solely focused on the result, without focusing on what they have in front of them. But if you dread the path toward getting somewhere, the likelihood of achieving said thing will diminish. 

On the other hand, when you enjoy the present, and the process of achieving said thing, you’re less dependent on how the outcome will look, since you’re not relying on factors outside your control to determine whether or not you’ll move forward.  When it comes to learning, it’s no exception. 

It’s very common to rely on the end result, but since the end result is so out of your control, if you learn to rely on the present and your input, you’ll be more or less indifferent to the end result, even if the desire for a good end result is there. 

Meditation conditions your mind in that way, which proves useful when it comes to our ability to learn. There are other ways in which it helps us learn that I’ll also get into. 

Meditation Can Help You Retain Information

Learning is not about memorizing a bunch of things. It’s often about seeking a deeper understanding, but if you’re concerned about memory, mediation can be useful when it comes to retaining that memory. In fact, it can make you less forgetful and increase your short and long-term memory, which in turn, will usually translate into a less obstructed ability to learn. 

Meditation can be practiced at the same time you are trying to learn something, which will often amplify your capacity to internalize said information. Many use meditation and yoga in combination with studying, which, when done right, more often than not will result in a better outcome. 

If you’re stuck in a problem when learning, you might be recommended to go for a walk so you can give yourself a break and resupply your brain. But meditation takes it a step further, since, by its nature, it’s used to disconnect from the world and sometimes, even disconnect from your senses. 

Of course, you’ll still be focused on your breath, but as you come back from your meditation, you’ll often have an expanded mind since you gave yourself the rest you needed to come back stronger, in the mental side of things and your ability to retain and better understand what you’re in the process of learning might improve. 

Almost as if the more you let go of a problem you’re obsessing over, the easier it will be to learn.

Less Multitasking

It’s no secret that the less you multitask, the easier it will be to learn. It’s much harder to learn in a distracting environment, and you might not be able to learn at all if you are distracted.

But sometimes, it can’t be helped, since there will be things outside your control that make you distracted. 

The good news is that with meditation, you learn to cultivate focus within, so nothing will be able to shake your peace unless you let it. 

Of course, it’s always recommended to meditate in silence, but you can also meditate by doing one thing at a time instead of trying to do several things at the same time. 

Multitasking has been so normalized these days, some jobs even require you to multitask, but the quality of your work and anything you do will often take a hit as a result. 

If you’re used to multitasking, try seeing learning as a separate activity, set a time for meditation and a time for learning, or alternatively, combine the two. 

One focused hour of learning where you are completely immersed is better than 3 hours of shallow learning where you’re constantly multitasking. Even the smallest distraction can affect your learning, and much like you are treating meditation, you’ll want to treat learning. 

When you are meditating, nothing but focusing on your breath exists, with learning, you’ll want to apply the same principle. Make learning all that exists for that time period. You might not be able to set aside one hour. 

In this day and age, multitasking and short-dopamine fixes are so common that I don’t blame you if you’re used to multitasking. Feel free to start small and increase from there, and the same can be said about meditation. 

Organizing Your Mind and Thoughts

It’s no secret that meditation helps you organize your mind and thoughts. It’s like putting all your thoughts in one place and this will often clear the path for learning. This will often result in the learning being more enjoyable, and the more you enjoy the learning, the less likely you are to be worn out. 

Since, for me at least, the more distracted and disorganized I was when learning something, the less interested I was in learning said things, and the more I would feel my energy depleting. Meditation is a way to keep you energized throughout the day, especially if you meditate in the morning. 

The more you can organize your thoughts, the better you can structure your learning and find a pace that suits you, that is, assuming you are an organized person, but even if you aren’t you could still benefit from it and be selectively organized when it comes to learning. 

Active Mind

Now, learning in itself is a way to keep your mind active. But so is meditation. Without it, it’s common for the mind to be carried away by any distraction that comes up. 

You might get so good at meditation you might not need it at some point to stay mindful throughout the day. 

Of course, I never recommend abandoning the practice. But when it comes to staying active, it’s like mental exercise which will only amplify your capacity to learn things. 

You’re less likely to give up on the process since there’s a discipline aspect to meditation which trains the more you do the practice. Learning in itself is already a powerful habit so you’re now tracking two powerful habits together until it becomes your new normal. 

Additionally, the practice teaches you to not be hard or judgmental of yourself, but more than anything, to seek understanding of yourself, which can many times be useful in finding the way you learn things best. So ultimately, meditating consistently can help you when it comes to learning, both directly and indirectly.