School, university, ongoing professional education and life in general regularly present us with the opportunity and challenge of study. This can be stressful and produce anxiety and irritability. Even those who do not have these feelings will often reflect that they are not concentrating as well as they might. There is also the issue of remembering and being able to integrate and use all the new information.

Just as we employ our muscles for moving we utilise our brain for learning. If one wishes to do well in a physical activity then one should exercise regularly and exercise correctly. In sport nothing is more valuable to the sincere athlete than a coach with good methods. This is true at any level of activity, whether it is playing tennis once a week at the local club, having a weekend swim or something as rigorous and demanding as professional football.

So what can be done to make the brain a better tool for learning? First, let us consider some of the typical obstacles. Fatigue, worry and distraction are examples we are all familiar with. The brain is full of chemicals called neurotransmitters that carry messages from one nerve cell to another. They are depleted by activity and renewed by rest. Activity in this case means thoughts and emotions. If a person can preserve his or her mental energy for the task at hand then the job – in this case study – can be done more efficiently.

Meditation is an extremely powerful method for harnessing the brain to get the necessary work done. This is because it quietens and diminishes the rate of thoughts and emotions. When the body needs rest we seek sleep, and during sleep physical activity is slight; if this were not the case we would not wake up refreshed. But even during sleep the mind can remain very active, and so we dream. During meditation the mind has a true respite from its usual activity.

This is achieved by learning how to let go of thoughts. Most of us are aware that thoughts follow each other in rapid, indeed remorseless, succession. Between thoughts there is a tiny gap which is normally imperceptible. In Sahaja Yoga meditation one learns how to open up this gap. This is a space we all have but many of us are unaware of. By becoming attentive to it we find a technique for deeply relaxing the brain.

In this space the obstacles mentioned above simply do not exist. However, awareness is fully present. So, meditation is quite different to trance or hypnosis. It allows the brain to become peaceful and reinvigorated. This is one of the reasons it is so useful for study. Imagine the brain as a knife which is rusty and dull. Meditation both cleans and sharpens the blade. You are then able to cut through problems and enjoy doing so.

Peter