In the midst of the whirlwind that is university life, I’ve grown to understand the depth and importance of quietness and stillness. I’ve known the loudness that can dominate one’s mind, I know its implications, and I’m familiar with its consequences.
You lose sight of what’s important.
So I want to write about mindfulness. Mindfulness can be defined as: “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.” (Oxford Dictionaries)
Mindfulness, according to Melli O’Brien, blogger and author of MrsMindfulness.com, can be practiced formally—that is, the formal practice of meditation, as well as informally—simply practicing awareness and being in the moment in every aspect of your life. I will be focusing on the informal form of mindfulness.
Mindfulness: A State of Mind and A Place to Go
While formal mindfulness is a practice, this series will treat it as a place to go. Over the next few weeks, I will try my best to provide a loose roadmap to that place, and we can practice going there together.
Every other week, I will be discussing a new way to practice mindfulness, new ways to push aside the clutter in your head, to be with yourself, to visit that place where there is no one to please, nothing to be sorry for, nobody to compare to, no place you have to be.
This series will be divided up into four main ‘chapters’: Stillness, Escape, Food, and People.
In Stillness, I will be exploring those first-to-mind associations that often come with the word ‘mindfulness’—meditation, breathing exercises, practicing gratefulness, and the like.
In Escape, we will tackle those moments when perhaps you are at the brink of panic or anxiety. We will explore ways in which you can remove yourself, in your mind, in the moment, from the situation, and see things with a clear head and in the context of the bigger picture. We will also discuss how we can train ourselves to do this instinctively and disallow that cloud of anxiety to creep into our words or decisions, or moods.
I personally have a complex relationship with food, so the Food chapter will be mostly about my journey with food, and its psychological impact it used to have, and at times, still has on me.
In People, I will be exploring one of the most crucial aspects of university life—the people you surround yourself with. We’ll skip around questions like “how can I be a source of comfort and peace to those around me” and we will tackle the painful subject of friendship breakups—but also why they might be the kindest thing you can do for yourself.
My hope for this mini-series is that we will, by finals season, be poised to take on the challenge of exams and (maybe) job applications, having established our head spaces and knowing we can go there any time.