A purposeful mind refers to purposeful practices and self-care that promote psychological wellness, growth, and fulfillment.  Similar to your body needing exercise so does your mind.  Practices and self-care include self-awareness, mindful reflection, a growth mindset, and learning.

Mindfulness

Has this ever happened to you?

Have you ever completed a task and realized that you don’t remember going through the steps?
Have you ever gotten sidetracked while working on an assignment and felt frustrated or annoyed that an hour is “wasted”?
Have you read a paragraph only to find that you don’t recall what you just read or understand it?

All of these experiences are quite common and can happen to most people. Mindfulness is a term that refers to practices that help with self-awareness, self-regulation, critical thinking, and even healing. Simply put, mindfulness is being aware of attending to something in the present moment.

That “something” can be a myriad of things or stimuli, both external and internal.

• External stimuli include sounds in the environment, visuals we see, scents we smell, and textures we touch.
• Internal stimuli include thoughts, feelings, and urges.

This means that at any given time, there are many different things we can be mindful of or focus our attention on.

One form of self-care is to be aware of our thoughts especially when it gets on the “runaway train.”  This can feel frustrating and annoying especially if you are trying to focus and concentrate on your assignments or task at hand. Practicing mindfulness is a lifelong journey and one worthy to embark on.  One recent meta-analysis found that mindfulness was moderately effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and pain. Mindfulness also yielded some small improvements in reducing stress and improving quality of life.

Mindfulness and Growth Mindset

Mindfulness practice also enhances your capacity to learn and grow. A multitude of studies demonstrates that individuals who practice mindfulness have enhanced attention, including improvements in performance on tasks requiring extensive concentration. Practicing mindfulness can alter how the brain functions by reshaping the neural pathways and connections that affect attention, problem-solving, self-awareness, planning, and introspection. Additionally, neuroplasticity research has found that mindfulness training enhances brain growth, which underpins the concept of a growth mindset. As with mindfulness, cultivating a growth mindset begins with an awareness of your thinking. An awareness of your thinking is central to making choices that align with your academic and life goals.

One analogy is that our mind is similar to a puppy, which tends to run away from anything or stimulus that captures its immediate attention. In the following tips, you will learn what mindfulness is and how to use it in your everyday life.

Mindfulness “What” Skills

1. Observe

   • Just notice the experience in the present moment
   • Observe both inside and outside yourself
   • Watch your thoughts and feelings come and go, as if they are on a conveyer belt
   • Try not to push away or avoid your thoughts and feelings; allow them to happen, even when they might be painful

2. Describe

   • Put words on the experience by labeling
     • e.g., “I feel sad,” “My face feels hot,” “I’m having the thought that…,” “I’m having an urge to…”
   • Describe only what you observe without interpretations – stick to the facts!
     • e.g., Instead of “that person has an attitude,” consider describing that person as “rolling their eyes, speaking with a loud voice.”

3. Participate

   • Be in the present moment fully (i.e., feeling happy, feeling sad, laughing, cleaning, doing homework)
   • Experience the moment for whatever it is, even if it elicits a positive or negative emotion

Mindfulness “How” Skills

1. Be Non-Judgmental

   • Try not to judge or evaluate your experiences as good or bad, or positive or negative.
   • When you catch yourself making judgments or evaluations (positive or negative), simply notice it and replace them with descriptions that are more neutral and per the facts of the situation.
   • When you find yourself judging, don’t judge your judging.

2. Stay focused

   • Pay attention to one thing at a time. Slow yourself down to accomplish this.
   • Minimize distractions and refocus your attention when it drifts, again and again, because it will drift!
   • Remember that our mind is kind of like a puppy?

3. Do what works

   • Choose actions that are effective, meaning do things that help you towards your goals, even if it’s hard or doesn’t feel good.
   • Feelings do not have to equal actions. (e.g., feeling mad does not equal yelling at someone; feeling tired does not equal skipping your class or assignments).