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The Capital Times 11/08/2007: Kid Contemplatives [Excerpts]--If gym class helps children tone the body, what helps them exercise the mind? [R]esearchers suggest the ability to be still and contemplate is what can make a positive difference.

In 2008, local middle school students will be 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).

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

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 [Catholic priest and practicing mystic Thomas] 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, "...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.

Like Buddhist meditation, centering prayer for Christians is an age-old religious practice that has experienced a revival....Keating says both practices "transcend the rational mind."

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.