Overcrowded classrooms and the pressure of exams are just two of the stressors that keep teachers and students alike patience-challenged. To help them maintain physical and mental [1] resiliency, the Education Initiative (EI) of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School is pioneering a highly successful curriculum that teaches stress [2] management skills.

The EI is a two-phase program based on teaching relaxation and response-based life management skills. Students and teachers focus on the so-called “relaxation response;” a set of coordinated physiological changes that happen when a person engages in a repetitive mental [1] or physical action and passively ignores distracting thoughts. Techniques include diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery and yoga practices.

The second phase uses in-class modeling and demonstration of the interventions by Mind/Body Medical Institute staff to prepare educators to train their students themselves. Educators report significant personal benefits as a result of implementing EI. In addition, a study published in the Journal of Research and Development in Education reports that -- over the course of a two-year period-- middle school students exposed to this curriculum had higher grade point averages, better attendance, improved work [3] habits, better cooperation and increased self-control.