Many individuals struggle with stress and anxiety that arises from a variety of sources. Developing mindfulness, which is “the awareness that arises from paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 2018, p. xxxiv), has been shown to help people become more resilient to stress.
To help our students, faculty, and staff start the new school year more mindfully, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) purchased Holly Rogers’ book The Mindful Twenty-Something for all department members, incoming graduate students, and new CSD freshman and transfer students. Jim Almeda from ISU Wellness spoke to CSD department members before classes started about the importance of mindfulness and led us through a mindfulness practice.
Almeda also facilitated CSD’s shared reading experience by engaging approximately 65 freshman and transfer students and our incoming Doctor of Audiology students in interesting discussions about the positive effects of mindfulness and in several different mindfulness practices. In response to the question asking who had read The Mindful Twenty-Something, almost everyone indicated they had. Based on the comments shared and answers given it was clear this was true.
Examples of student comments are:
- “I actually started meditating once I read the book.”
- “I was anxious about getting ready to go to college this book helped with the anxiety.”
- “Great tips in the book. I would have never thought about taking a break to meditate if I was struggling to write a paper.”
It is CSD’s hope that all our department members and students will enjoy a productive school year and that they will progress through it mindfully.
