Staff Support & Employee Assistance Programme
Mindfulness activities will recommence in UCD in Autumn 2022 - this page will be updated in September with details.
Mindfulness
By David Delaney
Upcoming Events
There will be a weekly "Wellness Wednesday Mindfulness Meetup" every Wednesday in the Student Village.
Dates: Wednesday, September 27th to Wednesday December 13th 2023
Time: 1pm to 1:45pm
Location: Student Village, Studio 1
Mental Health
Good mental health is a key factor in our ability to feel a positive sense of connection with ourselves and others. But at times we can struggle, feeling under pressure and isolated. Healthy UCD along with other groups across the campus are promoting better physical, emotional and mental health for staff and students by providing dietary advice, exercise programs, Yoga, Tai Chi classes and mindfulness sessions.
Positive Mental Health
As the space we live in becomes more complex and seems to move at an ever increasing speed, it is placing a greater demand on our cognitive abilities. As a society we are seeing a massive increase in depression, anxiety and stress related problems. As pressures of life continue to build it is important that we counter balance these stresses with positive activities. There are many factors that can underpin our perception of ourselves and the world around us such as better sleep, diet, exercise and social connections and all of these can be improved with greater levels of self-awareness or our capacity to be mindful.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the cultivation of awareness, on purpose, in the present moment, in a non-judgemental way. It is the practice of bringing one’s attention in an accepting and open manner to internal experience. This activity provides us the opportunity to recognise thoughts and emotions. To choose whether or not we engage with them or redirect theme to something more positive.
Benefits of Mindfulness
The diagram below outlines the verifiable effect of Mindfulness practice
Mindfulness at UCD
Twenty years ago there was only a handful of like-minded people who met during lunchtimes in UCD to practice being mindful. In the intervening time as these practices have become accepted as a key component of the mind-body toolkit its popularity has grown. Today UCD has multiple groups across the campus promoting mindful activities and in 2013 the school of Psychology began to offer a Masters in mindfulness intervention.
Please check this page in Autumn 2022 for details of mindfulness activities for students taking place in UCD
Koru Mindfulness is an evidence-based curriculum specifically designed for teaching mindfulness, meditation, and stress management to college students and other young adults.
If you are interested in participating, please click here to find more information about upcoming Koru classes.
To learn more about the complete Koru Basic curriculum, you can access the book, The Mindful Twenty-something – available on e-book.
Please email (opens in a new window)themindfulstudent@ucd.ie for further information with regard to the Koru Mindfulness programmes.
Research into Mindfulness
In the year 2000 there was a small number of papers written on the subject of meditation and mindfulness and now there are over 7,500 papers in this area. This explosion in scientific interest was primarily driven by the discovery of Neuroplasticity that our brains are constantly changing and are directly impacted by our thought processes, behaviours and experiences. As we learn to modify these activities we can positively alter our mental health and well-being.
With the advancement in technology and research methods our physiology and brains can be mapped in real-time and the effects of mindfulness practices can be monitored and measured. This research has placed mindfulness as a medically accepted remedy for the stress and anxiety caused by living in our modern always-on, technology addicted society.
Mindfulness has moved from a purely spiritual practice to a process that has been scientifically verified to promote better health and resilience. It is being embraced by many areas of society including schools, colleges, hospitals and businesses to allow people to live a more contented meaningful life.
Mindfulness practices were adapted by Jon Kabat-Zinn from the University of Massachusetts as a basis for his cognitive therapy called MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction).The success of this and other programs such as MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) from Oxford university placed these systems as a universally accepted component of a healthy mind body tool kit and are supported with a comprehensive body of scientific research.