An Introduction to Mindfulness
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is bringing our full attention to our present moment experience, and meeting what we find there with kindness and curiosity. As we do this, we begin to understand our bodies and minds better and not be so reactive in our daily life to thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Mindfulness creates a space where we can choose to respond rather than react, and like any skill it can be strengthened with practice. With mindfulness, we develop a quality of attention that can be present no matter what is happening. This will help us to have more peace, ease, and balance in our lives.
Explore the topics below to begin your journey.
Workshops
Intro to mindfulness
A free workshop held every quarter as part of our Well-Being Wednesday series open to all OC students and staff!
Mindfulness is a practice that helps us orient our attention to the present moment. Much of what we experience as stress is our fretting about the past or worrying about the future. When we can reorient to the present moment, even for a few minutes a day, it reduces our experience of negative stress, improves our sleep, and decreases overwhelm - all of which positively impact our capacity to concentrate, complete tasks, and stay engaged with our academic and personal lives.
This workshop will introduce the concept of mindfulness and will offer the opportunity to experience a few practices that will help us calm our minds and bodies, and hopefully leave us feeling more energized for the rest of our day. We will also talk about mindfulness and meditation resources and provide information about options for students for further mindfulness study and practice at Olympic College.
If you are interested in attending our first workshop for the Fall quarter, see more below!
Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness in Everyday Experience
STOP
Mindfulness in Formal Meditation
Resources
Guided Meditations to Support Personal Practice
Books on Developing a Personal Mindfulness Practice
Take the Mindfulness Challenge
Take the Mindfulness Challenge
Like any skill mindfulness requires practice. Being mindful is simple, but it is not easy, and practicing it on a daily basis can help us make mindfulness part of our everyday lives. Commit to doing the following practice for three weeks. At the end of the three weeks reflect on the impact mindfulness practice has had on your life. If it works for you then I encourage you to keep practicing.
- Find a way to engage in informal mindfulness practice at least once a day by using STOP or belly breathing.
- Practice formal meditation for five minutes a day.
To get started try using the five-minute Breath Awareness Meditation listed above. Once you are comfortable with breathing meditation you might want to try doing it on your own without the recording.