Study and student-life is inherently stressful. When students go to university or college, they enter a competitive world where their value is judged by each assignment they submit. Deadlines are always looming and often they seem to pile on top of each other meaning that students have to complete multiple assignments within days of each other. And this is just the study element of university life; the social side of student life can at once be exhilarating and overwhelming or an anti-climax. For many students it is their first time away from home so they have the stress of making new friends and forging their identity. Local and mature students need to integrate their existing life perhaps with caring responsibilities and paid employment with a new life of study and deadlines. As a result, they can have many competing expectations of themselves.
This introduction to mindfulness starts with a focus on the breath as an anchor to the body. It uses the main lessons of mindfulness which include, bringing attention, automatic pilot, staying in the present, thoughts are not facts, practicing loving kindness and cultivating curiosity. It provides students with strategies to help them cope with the demands of being a student and how to navigate a path to achieve a sense of balance in their lives enabling them to achieve their potential. It also provides guided meditation scripts and session plans for anyone wanting to lead a mindfulness group.
The book will consist of five chapters plus an introduction and conclusion. This follows the structure of the course that we run. Each chapter begins with a story/vignette about student life which puts the meditation into context. There will be a guided meditation in each chapter and activity/reflection exercises.
Louise Frith is a Student Learning Adviser at the University of Kent, UK. She teaches academic literacy to students across the disciplines with particular focus on supporting students on the social work programmes.
Lorraine Millard a Student Counsellor at Kent and mindfulness practitioner. She is a UKCP accredited Psychotherapist and Supervisor with over 30 years’ experience in varied settings.
Patmarie Coleman is a senior counsellor at the University of Kent and also has a private supervision practice in South East London.