T.M.

Meditate your way to better grades: Research suggests that meditating for 24 minutes a day can boost academic achievement. Meditating for 12 minutes twice a day can teach you more than how to say “om.” It may also help improve grades in school. Middle school students who practiced Transcendental Meditation for 12 minutes at the start and end of the school day boosted their reading and math scores after three months, compared to students who were given non-meditating quiet time. According to the study, teachers also reported students were calmer, happier and better able to focus on their schoolwork. Transcendental Meditation doesn’t focus on breathing or chanting, like some other forms of meditation. Instead, it encourages a restful state of mind beyond thinking. Past research has shown that it can help in other ways too. A 2009 study found Transcendental Meditation helped alleviate stress in college students, while another found it helped reduce blood pressure, anxiety, depression and anger.