Importance of Mindfulness to A student

Importance of Mindfulness to A student

“Mindfulness isn’t difficult, and we just have to remember to do it”. The words of Sharon Saltzberg are a true reflection of the importance of mindfulness in the lives of human beings. In simple terms, mindfulness is the state at which a person is fully aware of what is happening at a particular time, the place where he or she is and above all, be in a position to accommodate the events since it is something that he or she is aware of. The present state of mind is an essential aspect of understanding a person. As much as many people find the concept of mindfulness as a common occurrence in their life, it is something that most people fail to realize the magnitude that it comes with. In most modern schools, the concept of mindfulness is taught, and the students also learn the art of applying the idea in their daily lives. Despite the confusion concerning the need of mindfulness by different groups, mindfulness in students is essential because it helps in restoring the inner peace as well as initiating calmness by enhancing meditation, breathing and relaxation as the three techniques are useful in managing stress.

Students have to learn to incorporate the aspect of meditation if they want to achieve mindfulness. The practise of mindful meditation is recommended for students since they get the chance to train their minds to learn to accommodate certain situations. In simpler terms, meditation is more like a person’s effort to organize his or her thoughts so that he or she can become a better person. Boyce supports by saying, “Like many meditation teachers, we share the understanding that as our mindfulness is enhanced, it also arouses our connection to others”. Through meditation, a student gets the chance to develop cognitively, including the development and evaluation of new ideas that might be useful in the life of the student. Research has it that meditation gives a student a clear mind such that the student gets the chance to make informed decisions that will contribute to a better future for the student. With a stable mind, the student is in a better position to manage any amount of stress that might come his or her way.

Another aspect that has been noted as a cause to enhance mindfulness is incorporating the breathing rationale. A student might be exposed to different stressors, and some of these situations might impact negatively. Schneiderman explains that “Exposure to nonresponsive environments has also been described as a stressor leading to learned helplessness” (2). However, research has it that most students have managed to control traumatic events and experience through exercising their breathing. In the training Centre, there are various type of breathing that is encouraged. For example, there is the Diaphragmatic, which is commonly associated with children. As odd as it seems, children are also sometimes exposed to traumatic experiences that might impact on their mindfulness.  This kind of breathing is, however, encouraged since it gives the people a relaxing feeling. Breathing from the diaphragm provides the person with the opportunity to catch a breath and at the same time, keep calm and control the emotions (Demers). In efforts to counter the stressors that students are likely to be exposed to, they must learn to practice diaphragmatic breathing. They cannot only achieve calmness but also learn how to establish a favourable reaction..

Additionally, the incorporation of the rationale relaxing can be useful in contributing to mindfulness among students. Through nurturing the concept of relaxing in mind and the body, students get the perfect way of dealing with stressful situations. There is a strong relationship between relaxing and the acquisition of knowledge. Ideally, there is no way that a disturbed mind can receive information and at the same time, retain the information.Boyce clarifies that “Any honest neuroscientist will tell you that we simply do not know this much about how the brain is affected by mindfulness”.The minds have a significant influence on the responses of the body and this explains why the aspect of trying to relax effectively enhances mindfulness. When the mind is relaxed, issues such as overreaction and dangerous stimulus developed by a person dealing with a stressor, with a relaxed state of mind, a person can handle a situation regardless of the way that it is presented.

I’m afraid I have to disagree with the ideas of Purser concerning mindfulness. There is no way that the concept of capitalism and the Christian religion can be reconciled. This is because once ideology firmly stands against the other. For instance, capitalism is the state where the economy is ruled strictly by the private sector. These people do not cater to the externalities such as pollution that might impact on the society, and that is when Christianity comes in. Christianity encourages that people should treat others the way they would love to be treated. As such, it is unreasonable to argue that mindfulness can be analyzed on the angle of reconciling religion with capitalism. Purser explains that “Corporate mindfulness has become the new brand of capitalist spirituality, a disciplined but myopic self-help doctrine, that transfers the risk and responsibility for well-being onto the individual” (106). By this statement, Purser points to the fact that the art of being mindful is gradually changing the people into a new version of themselves. In other words, the constant attempt of the people to be aware, they are progressively evolving into docile individuals.

Taking an analysis of the other side of the coin, one can argue that mindfulness is not only crucial to the students. Some people might say that it is more applicable to the people who are working as opposed to the students. Ideally, the challenges that a person is exposed to depends on the receptor capacity of a person. The people in the corporate sectors are believed to be exposed to several problems as a result of capitalistic employers. Research has it that most of these people have been noticed to take a lot of refuge in therapy sessions where they get to talk to their doctors about the stress they have to face at work. Demers illustrates that“When I point out that the symptom is stress-related, the patient seemsresigned stress is such a constant in most people’s lives that all the doors seem to have tigerslurking behind them”. It is quite biased to focus on the concept of mindfulness on the angle of the students without creating room for some other people who find themselves entangled into stressful situations that require them to practice the elements of improving a person’s mindfulness.

Conclusively, the ability of a student to understand what is happening is essential since it means that the person is mindful. Ideally, the concept of mindfulness has been analyzed by several authors, each of them trying to express his or her understanding of the concept. Even so, there are three significant premises in which the concept of mindfulness is improved. The first one is meditation, which is encouraged because it contributes to the development of a stable state of mind for the student because by doing this, they can settle and learn. Also, there is the concept of relaxing which aids in controlling the body as well as the mind. Lastly, a person has to exercise controlled breathing since it helps in calming the mind and the body.

Works Cited

Demers, Carrie. Chaos or Calm: Rewiring The Stress Response. 1st ed., 2020, Accessed 5 Mar 2020.

Ronald E. Purser (2018) Critical perspectives on corporate mindfulness, Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 15:2, 105-108, DOI: 10.1080/14766086.2018.1438038

Schneiderman, Neil et al. STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, And Biological Determinants. 1st ed., 2020, Accessed 5 Mar 2020.

Boyce, Barry. “Defining Mindfulness.” Mindful, 12 June 2018, www.mindful.org/defining-mindfulness/.

Boyce, Barry. “The Magnificent, Mysterious, Wild, Connected and Interconnected Brain.” Mindful, 12 June 2018, www.mindful.org/the-magnificent-mysterious-wild-connected-and-interconnected-brain/.

Demers, Carrie. “Chaos or Calm: Rewiring the Stress Response.”

Personal reflection

Taking a look at the way I handle issues; I can conclude that my reception of different messages can be varied from most people. I am a very emotional person who loves to see happiness. Being sad is the worst feeling for me, and as such, I tend to avoid sadness at all costs. I am not sure how I can handle frustrations such as abuse or traumatic experience since I dislike being sad. I believe that my reception to these instances might be shaky since it is something that I hate from my core. I am also a mindful person, as I can tell when something is bothering me. I am usually restless, and this is the first indication I usually get followed by a sharp headache that, at times, seems to be very hard to read or even stare at the screen of my phone. From the arguments that have been presented by the different authors, I have come to learn that mindfulness is not a concept that many people know about. This is

because some people might be describing the impacts of acute stress, and yet they do not see that it is stress. I, however, can distinguish anxiety from stress.