Tips For Better School Environment And Academic Results

22nd February 2015

‘I can't concentrate, everything distracts me, my mind wanders and I struggle to find the motivation to keep studying. Sleeping and stress pills, narcolepsy drugs, anti depressants, caffeine are my best friends before revising for the final exams.’

Common words you can hear from school pupils suffering from lack of concentration, who need a quick solution to their pre exam jitters. Without contemplating the possible side effects of narcolepsy drugs, they simply swallow them as the pressure of society expecting you pass, get a degree then a good job are far greater than their common sense. Amongst the most serious side effects student may experience are: seizures, coma and death...and death is usually irreversible!

Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge University, said there had been an ‘explosion’ in the number of students taking narcolepsy drugs in recent years. She added that some students feel pressure to take the drug in order to keep up with their fellow students.

John Levine, creator of the world acclaimed Alphamusic system, has incorporated his studies as an electronic engineer, a classically trained composer with his fascination for psychology and the physiology of hearing as well as his extensive study and research into meditation techniques. He claims that such effects as with drugs can be achieved naturally, without any risks of side effects. He has created Alphamusic which is now being used among students and teachers around the world as a non invasive, natural concentration tool.

John Levine has long been interested in how Alphamusic can help students absorb information with greater ease and less stress. There is little "magic" in this theory, only practical logic: a calm mind focuses more easily, becomes more receptive and retains information longer. Through its purposeful design, Alphamusic helps the mind settle and makes it easier to absorb and remember material. Children at St John's Primary School in Cambridge, England, have used John Levine's Alphamusic during Maths lessons. The children have asked for the music to be played because they have noticed marked improvements in their capacity to focus. John has run workshops with Cambridge University Students, showing them how to use Alphamusic to reach an alpha state and improve their studying techniques. Students have been delighted with the results.

Eric Wharton, a former pupil of The Leys School Cambridge, was one of those students who found it difficult to concentrate on his studies. It would take him up to three days to write a 2000 word essay! He was distracted and prone to procrastination. Wandering around his home, watching television, calling his friends, glued to the internet and snacking diverted him from his books…you might say he was a little distracted…. If he eventually managed to focus on his assignments, it wasn’t for long periods of time…...probably only minutes. One day he decided to try something new. He came across ‘Silence of Peace’, composed by John Levine. The results exceeded his expectations. "Before using ‘Silence of Peace’ I could only work for a maximum of two hours," said Eric, “But the first time I used it with my work, I worked from 11am in the morning till 2am the next morning”. During this time he studied History, Physics and English coursework, and was able to do all that he had to without falling behind. A substantial improvement was shown in his grades. Eric’s B grades turned into As. His marks went up an entire grade! He claims it is because of John Levine’s ‘Silence of Peace’. His academic achievements have guaranteed him entrance into the top state college in the country, Hills Road Sixth Form College.

Amy Turner-Monk was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was only 9 years old. Among the challenges she experienced were mixing up words, spelling problems, having a good understanding but not being able to write it and not progressing as quickly as other children.

‘The main thing I experienced was a constant feeling that I was stupid, as I struggled with the basic tasks but the complicated ones came easily to me. I felt I had to hide my condition as I had no support in school. My attention span was very short and I became very tired very quickly when studying’ says Amy. Amy was determined that her dyslexia was not going to stop her realizing her dreams, so she applied to the Open University and asked for assistance with her learning difficulties. The dyslexia assessor recommended she use John Levine’s Alphamusic album Silence of Peace whilst studying. The CD helped Amy with concentration. Until her discovery Amy could only read for 10 minutes before being tired and distracted and needing to take 30 minutes to rest before continuing, ‘it all was quite draining’. ‘Using this brain wave transforming album ‘Silence of Peace’ I found I could study for more than an hour at a time without any exhaustion. This increased my productivity immensely,’ admits Amy.

Alphamusic has also proved to be a great tool for teachers and schools. Anne Turbidy, a special needs teacher who works in various locations with different groups of adults suffering from learning difficulties, physical and mental disabilities and mental health problems, claims that she uses John’s cds all the time during her classes. ‘I wasn’t enthusiastic about this music when I first received it. Before I started using the ‘Silence of Peace’ CD, I played classical music and although my students showed signs of listening to the music, they were not calmed down by it, and if anything, they were very talkative and didn’t pay attention particularly well. I wasn’t convinced if Alphamusic would work, as classical music wasn’t helpful. However I decided to try it anyway.’

John Levine’s suggestion to Anne, was to play ‘Silence of Peace’ as background music, but she decided to do more than that. She turned off the lights in the room and asked students to listen to the Alphamusic while they were sitting in their desks and turned the music on loudly, so it made it look and sound rather like a concert. In fact they were following the music as if it was a classical concert! After this, she turned on the lights again and started her teaching session, but to Anne’s surprise, with a markedly different response, because all the students were quiet and listening to her intently. “Before that it was sometimes very hard for me to teach these students, requiring me to give a lot of myself to each of the learners so that it became very draining emotionally, and I often ended each day feeling unwell or with a headache. But since the day I started using John’s Alphamusic all my difficulties have disappeared. After each repeated session of this kind, I felt rejuvenated and relaxed, whereas it had been very hard to achieve that kind of state previously” says Anne.

For more information please see - www.silenceofmusic.com