Overview: Maureen is one of the facilitators of the Mindfulness for Academic Success program here at Flinders. In this post she provides details of the program and argues for why the skills learned in the program will be good for your studies. Reading time ~ 4 minutes.
Sharpen your axe….
Develop the habit of mindfulness to support your academic success.
Ever had a lot on your mind and perhaps driven somewhere and arrived and not know how you got there? Or find it difficult to concentrate with lots of thoughts whirling around? Perhaps you get distracted a lot by small interruptions?
If so, congratulations, you’re human! As humans, we often have a lot on our mind. And sometimes this can get in the way.
Thinking and using our brain power is one of our most crucial tools as a student. Mindfulness can be a very useful way to sharpen this tool. Mindfulness can increase our ability to sustain our attention and concentration, it can assist us to manage stress, and assist us with self-regulation skills.
There are many definitions of mindfulness. One of my favourites is ‘paying attention, on purpose with openness and curiosity’. Learning mindfulness skills is a way of giving us a choice about how we pay attention and to what. It can help us define what is important to us and how we best achieve our goals.
I have been facilitating the Mindfulness for Academic Success courses at Flinders Uni for a few years now, and the courses are always a lot of fun and have great student feedback. This course is a 5 week face to face applied mindfulness course. It is structured in a way to assist you to build and develop and enhance your ability to pay attention and study well. It offers a range of practices in session, some of which are formal sitting practices, some of them involve walking, and others are direct ways you can use mindfulness while studying.
Each week there are also plenty of discussions on why mindfulness works for procrastination, stress management and academic focus. It gives you the ability to share with other students your experiences of practicing mindfulness so you can learn from each other how to make the most of this fabulous tool for your studies. The course was initially developed by Monash University and has been refined over the past few years for Flinders University students. It is well supported by weekly readings and audio practices.
The next Mindfulness for Academic Success Course will be offered over 5 weeks on Wednesday July 27, August 3, 10, 17 and 24 from 9am to 10am in person at OASIS.
(This is a face to face program and will not be offered unless it is safe to do so) An online option is offered through futurelearn.
This is a completely free course, offered by the health, counselling and disability service. Places are limited and applications are essential. If you would like further information, or an application form, please email me maureen.germein@flinders.edu.au and happy studying 😊
✍ Maureen Germein