By Taylor Rapalyea
Staff Writer
The average modern day college experience entails classwork, extracurricular activities, sports, personal relationships, a job or two, and a collective hour each week in which students lament the thousands of dollars they’ve spent on college, and the years it will take to pay it back. It is a rich experience that is trying, beautiful, and terrible all at once.
Amid the trials and tribulations, there are some students that manage to find peace of mind. It can be seen in their faces as they take notes, or when they’re eating, or when you spot them jogging down Brookline. You can feel it in their silence and sense it in their contentedness, and whether you put a name to it or not, you know that it’s there.
This state of being means different things to different people, but to most it is known as mindfulness.
The name conjures an image of sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed, but there are many other ways to incorporate it into your life without even having to sit down. Recent studies from the Association for Psychological Science and Mass General Hospital have linked the benefits of mindfulness to aspects of life that are student-specific, such as grades and test taking.
The former found that college students who were taught physical and mental strategies to help them focus on the present moment, despite interrupting thoughts and perceptions, scored higher on the GREs and were shown to have a higher capacity for working memory. Past studies have revealed that incorporating mindfulness can decrease overall stress in a general population.
Mindfulness already has a strong presence at Simmons College. Dr. Becky Thompson, professor of Sociology, has always taught it in her courses. She feels that mindfulness helps her to be more connected with her academic work, in addition to enriching her life.
“Students say that, ‘in this society we don’t have time for mindfulness’ and I tell them that Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most prolific scholars in the world,” said Thompson. “Meditation creates time.”
Thompson also noted that when she makes time for yoga and being mindful and practices conscious eating, she doesn’t need as much sleep, something that should be of interest to students juggling multiple responsibilities.
So what does being mindful entail? It follows the Buddhist teaching of being present and in the moment. Spending all your time thinking ahead and coping with distracting thoughts is detrimental to your well being, and the practice of mindfulness pulls your mind away from that path. It does not require you to go deep into the woods and meditate in silence for days on end – it merely allows you to be more aware of yourself and that which surrounds you.
Staying aware during your everyday routine is one means of reaping the stress-relieving benefits of mindfulness. Many scholars suggest practicing it in the shower by being attentive of the sensations that surround you – what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel, and taking note of the emotions you’re experiencing.
Thompson recommends making the effort to address distracting thoughts by acknowledging them and bowing to them inwardly before sending them on their way.
Another routine you can incorporate mindfulness into is brushing your teeth, and being aware of the same sensations as mentioned above. Don’t let this time be overwhelmed by using it to create an agenda for the day, but rather focus on the task at hand and be present in the moment. Soon, practicing mindfulness during one of these basic routines will become part of your regimen, and you’ll have the daily dose of awareness you needed to de-stress your day.
Another way to incorporate this level of awareness into your life is by being mindful as you eat. Thompson practices conscious eating, which means she does not eat any animal byproduct. For her, this is also a means of treating her body as a temple, and keeping it healthy so that she may do all that she does. But she also takes the time to savor her food.
Choose one meal a day during which you commit to being mindful. You don’t have to be a vegan, but when you sit down to breakfast try putting your phone away and examining your food. Don’t snap a photo for Instagram or Facebook, but just appreciate how your food appears. As you eat, chew slowly and note how it tastes. What texture is it? Are you enjoying it? Can you hear yourself chew? Chewing more thoroughly is not only part of mindful eating; it’s also beneficial to your digestive track.
You can incorporate this routine into cooking as well. Cooking with purpose and appreciating every action you put into the food can help you be mindful. If you stay mindful as you eat as well, you’ll have dedicated about an hour to being mindful without spending any time on it at all. It should be noted that these actions work when you’re with other people as well – you don’t have to be alone to be mindful.
Exercising without an iPod is another way to be mindful, and improve your exercise regimen. If you’re running, zero in on how your muscles feel when your feet hit the ground. What can you hear and see? Be aware of what thoughts present themselves to you and address them before moving on.
Dr. Thompson specifically noted that mindfulness has always been a community effort, and not something you need to do on your own. To learn more about the history and studies behind mindfulness, read Thich Nhat Hanh’s “The Art of Mindfulness” and share it with a friend.
