In-person student mindfulness session on the Canterbury campus.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of bringing mindful awareness to what’s happening in the present moment, without judgement.
We tend to spend a lot of time caught up in thoughts about what has happened in the past, or what might happen in the future. By practicing Mindfulness, we can learn to differentiate between our direct experience of the present moment and our thinking mind.
It is a great way to build resilience for when things get stressful as it involves developing a better understanding of how our minds respond to the situations we face.
There is a huge amount of scientific evidence to show that, with practice, Mindfulness can significantly improve mental wellbeing. Following these findings, Mindfulness has gained popularity over the past decade thanks to apps such as Calm, Headspace and Insight Timer.
Mindfulness at Kent
There are weekly mindfulness sessions available free for Kent students during term time, which are a great way to improve your wellbeing alongside fellow students.
These free meditation and discussion sessions take place on Wednesdays at 1pm (online, all students) and 5pm (Canterbury campus).
The sessions are an hour long and involve an introduction and teaching of mindfulness-based approaches, a guided meditation led by a qualified mindfulness instructor, and opportunities for discussion of what students noticed during the practice.
All students are warmly welcomed, so please come along when you can.
To find out about and book onto forthcoming mindfulness sessions at the University of Kent please check the Student Support and Wellbeing events calendar.
Mindfulness Resources
Besides the weekly meditation sessions, there are a number of other ways for students to find out more about mindfulness.
The student Mindfulness society have a WhatsApp group and organise regular socials. To find out more, email mindfulness@kent.ac.uk.