This time of the school year, students both at Woodward and elsewhere may feel an extra dose of pressure: final projects and final exams, not to mention summer plans that need making. And with the extra stress, students may need a little extra help. Here enters mindfulness.
Mindfulness has many benefits. It is a set of useful practices or techniques for mental health concerns such as anxiety, stress and depression. Mindfulness can help you pause and just take in everything, so that, before you’re about to study or if you’re having a very stressful moment, you can take a step back and breathe, and then go back to work feeling more refreshed and relaxed. They can help you stay focused on the present rather than the painful past or scary future
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Mindfulness is about being in the moment, being fully aware, and appreciating everything in the moment without judgement. According to Dr. Chato Hendrix, the Upper School counselor for the Class of 2028, mindfulness can make all the difference.
“When I think of mindfulness, I think it’s an awareness of our emotions, our needs, the things that help us become better, the things that make us uncomfortable and sad,” Dr. Hendrix said. “Just being alert to those things and working through those things.”
So what does this mean for students here in the Upper School? How does mindfulness help, and why is it important?
“Having an awareness of how you feel is–and how others feel is–very important,” Dr. Hendrix said. “Especially in a school setting, when students are growing. This is a time of life when they’re finding out who they are and what they want to become.”
Dr. Hendrix isn’t the only expert to emphasize the importance of mindfulness. According to the mental health website HelpGuide.org, one of the benefits of being mindful is that it overall increases your well being through benefits that feed off each other. Specifically, being mindful helps support other positive attitudes and mindsets that can make your life more pleasant, such as being in the moment and gratitude.
Other benefits include reduced stress since it calms down your nervous system. It can help with long lasting pain since it can affect how your brain processes pain signals. It can boost your awareness and focus which can help with academics and with being in tune with your own thoughts and emotions
Sold on mindfulness? Then that brings us to the how: what does it look like to practice mindfulness?
Harvard Health Publishing at Harvard Medical School offers a number of suggestions for a quick dip into mindfulness: a 15-minute meditation at the end of the day, taking a break and checking in with your breathing, starting your day with yoga, checking in with your body and paying attention to any stress or tension.
Similarly, the Mayo Clinic has suggestions like body scans and mindful walking.
And if you don’t know where to begin with these practices, there are some options for guidance on campus. A quick stop in the counseling office will surely pay off, or you can reach out to Chaplain Chris RayAlexander or Psychologist Daena Robinson.
