Summary

Mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention. It is the mental faculty of purposefully bringing awareness to one’s experience in the present moment. It can be applied to sensory experience, thoughts, and emotions by using sustained attention and noticing our experience without reacting. Its origins sit firmly in the East but over the last 40 years it has increasingly been taught in a secular form and simplified to suit a Western context. Mindfulness has become a successful mainstream influence in medicine, psychology, corporate environments, and now education.

The application of mindfulness by students and educators has the potential to improve academic achievement, mental health, and inter- and intra-personal relationships. It is increasingly recognized as an essential way to develop the capacity for attention and awareness, creating optimal conditions for teaching and learning and creativity.

This experiential networking event will be facilitated by college staff from a variety of colleges and guest facilitator Dr.Lyndsay Lunan. In addition to practising together there will be the opportunity to carry on the mindfulness conversations we have been having over the last few years in the college sector and look at how this network can support your practice.

We are keen to hear from any of you who are developing or embedding mindfulness based interventions in your educational setting so please get in touch with us in advance of the event and we will make sure you have a platform on the day. There will be opportunities throughout the day to network, share practice and strengthen our mindfulness community of practice. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this event please do not hesitate to get in touch with: sandy.maclean@cdn.ac.uk. 


Who should attend

Any member of college staff who wants to find out more and/or share practice about mindfulness based interventions and its application within a college context.

Aims