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Mindfulness Practices for Students

Mindfulness practices are important for all students, and especially important for graduate students, who often juggle intense academic, professional, and personal responsibilities. Incorporating mindfulness can help reduce stress, improve focus, and promote overall well-being鈥攕upporting both academic success and a healthier, more balanced graduate experience.

Mindfulness Practices Before Exams/Interviews or Presentations

GROUNDING PRACTICES TO DO BEFORE THE INTERVIEW (exam or presentation)

1. Hold an object that is meaningful to you and breathe deeply five times.
2. Look at an image or picture of a loved one and breathe deeply.
3. Here is a  (exam or presentation) 

PRACTICES TO DO AT THE INTERVIEW (exam or presentation)

1. Notice 2 things in the room when you enter.
2. Look each interviewer (audience) in the eye. Remember that they are human beings just like you and take a moment to wish them well.
3. Remember that your intention is to help them understand you and your work better.

TIME AND MINDFULNESS PRACTICES

TIME AS A SOURCE OF STRESS

How often do you feel overwhelmed? How often do you feel like you have too much on your plate? How often do you feel like you don鈥檛 have enough time in the day to do everything you want to do? If your answer to these questions is most of the time then you are not alone. Many people feel this way, especially students. When we feel this way, we can feel anxious, stressed and irritable which further erodes our ability to act wisely and effectively.

MINDFULNESS CAN HELP

None of us have unlimited time. In fact, if we are lucky we have about 4,000 weeks (Burkeman, 2021) or approximately 80 years. We need to start by accepting that we can鈥檛 do everything. We cannot change time but we can prioritize and set intentions and then align our attention to our intentions so we can make the most of the time we do have. We also need to accept that there will be setbacks and challenges along the way and managing our emotions when those happen can allow us to negotiate these challenges with grace and kindness. In other words, time does not have to be a source of stress if we learn to manage our intentions, manage our attention and manage our emotions.

1. Intention Management involves knowing and prioritizing what truly matters to us. Here is a mindfulness practice that invites us to explore our deepest intentions for ourselves, our loved ones and our community.

(about 4 minutes)

2. Attention Management involves examining the many tasks/activities we engage in during a typical week and checking whether they are aligned with our deepest intentions. Thinking about what is truly important to you and then looking at your list and noticing how much time you are devoting to it. Classify the tasks based on urgency and importance.

Learning to say No to those tasks that are neither important nor urgent. Finding a way to add activities that are perhaps missing but are aligned with your deepest intentions. Once your task list is aligned with your intentions, now learning to maintain focused attention on task which involves reducing multi-tasking, minimizing distractions and taking mindful breaks when needed. If you find your mind wandering or getting distracted use the following practice to bring yourself back to the present moment and the task at hand.

(about 2 minutes)

3. Emotion Management involves accepting that hard work can sometimes bring discomfort and learning to manage discomfort. Notice when you are feeling discomfort and pause and practice mindfulness of emotions accompanied by self-compassion.