Every Monday during Spring Semester 2021, employees at Counseling & Disability Services host a mindfulness workshop called the Mindfulness Monday Meeting for all students to join in a meditation designed to help students cope with the challenges of everyday life.
“If it’s in a safe environment, mindfulness helps you face what makes you anxious ... [and] facing, sensing or being more aware of our anxieties makes you feel better,” said Nomuna Enkhtuvshin, an alumna from Mongolia. She is currently doing her academic training through Counseling & Disability Services.
During the online workshop, she said she facilitates mindfulness meditations to help students cope with their emotions. She explained this is a casual drop-in group where students can comfortably do meditations together over Zoom.
Three principles to mindfulness
Enkhtuvshin said there are three principles to mindfulness meditation: Practice with purpose, be present and practice with kind intention. She said it can be hard to be in the moment because of daily stressors, but added it’s important people don’t judge themselves if their minds wander. She said mindfulness meditation is done purposefully, or on purpose, to help reduce stress and depression.
She explained there are different meditations that focus on different aspects of the body and pinpoint certain emotions. She said even though it isn’t a cure to anxiety and depression, each meditation helps people face what they are feeling and in turn makes them more willing to address those feelings or anxieties.
Elizabeth Rago, a clinical counselor at Counseling & Disability Services and BYU–Hawaii alumna, said mindfulness is a core skill she tries to teach students because it helps them address their emotions and work through them. “If we are acutely aware of what we are feeling or what’s going on with our bodies as we are in distress or a student is in distress, the one thing we can do anywhere is practice mindfulness.”
She explained there are two parts of the autonomic nervous system, the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. She said the parasympathetic nervous system is what helps people be calm and mindful, which helps them experience things like joy. “Mindfulness activates our parasympathetic nervous system to where we are able to quiet our minds and thoughtfully work through problems and recognize … our emotions.”
Rago said she teaches students mindfulness in the form of breathing exercises to help them work through feelings in the moment instead of making things worse. Through practicing mindfulness, she said people can lessen their anxieties and do better in their school work or responsibilities throughout the day.
Practicing mindfulness
Rago said she feels as she personally practices mindfulness, she is better equipped to focus on clients and her family. She said being more mindful helps her be more attuned to her feelings and what is happening around her. She continued, “It benefits that person because they can be in the moment and be aware of what they might do or say on impulse. If they are in the moment, they will be mindful, so they will not say or do those things that would hurt other people.”
Rago stated because people tend to act on impulse, through mindfulness they are able to be more calm and clear-minded so they can do more meaningful, rather than reactionary, things. She said through mindfulness people are better able to resolve conflict in a healthier manner and can better assist others if needed.
Mindfulness can also help people more easily accept others, Rago remarked. “When we accept that someone has a different mindset or that someone has a different perspective and we accept that we live in a world with differences, we will be able to understand ourselves and others.” Acceptance is different from approval, she clarified, saying through mindfulness people can learn to accept and tolerate differences.
Within intercultural relationships, mindfulness helps people find harmony, Rago explained. “When we are mindful of our own emotional reaction and are mindful of how we may come across or how the other person is processing information, conversations can be elevated … into something more productive, instead of riddled with hostility.”
Students can create friendships across cultures, while in turn humbling themselves and learning from their mistakes, she added. “When we are mindful of feedback, even though it might be hard, and humble enough to learn from those mistakes, … there is an incredible opportunity for growth when we practice mindfulness.” Through mindfulness, she said people can take steps towards fostering meaningful intercultural relationships on campus.
Amanda Ford, an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Culture, Language & Performing Arts, said mindfulness meditation can help students listen to their bodies and tune into what their bodies need. She explained she has been practicing mindfulness for years and is still working at it.
“We are in charge of our own bodies, and they are precious and sacred. In meditation, we can slow down and increase the serotonin and help you be happy.” Ford added when she practices mindfulness, she feels more patient and more connected to herself and the people around her.
As students practice mindfulness during times of stress or when a lot of things are demanded of them, Ford said taking part in these community-based mindfulness meditations will help students motivate each other.