Mindfulness Daily Check-In November 14, 2017
Mindfulness and College Life
College students -Toxic stress impairs attention, emotion and mood regulation, sleep, and learning readiness daily in American classrooms. Even more troubling, prolonged exposure to childhood toxic stress has lifelong impacts on mental and physical health.
Educators- Toxic stress starts as decreased productivity and creativity, escalating to more serious symptoms like frequent anxiety, dissociation, frustration, and, eventually, burnout. Roughly half a million U.S. teachers leave the profession each year – a turnover rate of over 20 percent.
Toxic stress is challenging to work with because our stress response taps into some very old survival hardware in our evolutionary biology. As the stress builds school work and focus becomes difficult. Then comes the negative behaviors, symptoms arising, and so forth. So why could mindfulness skills help with college life?
1. Helps focus students more on their homework and class participation
2. Calms students when testing arrives
3. Teaches students/teaches to be more aware how they are feeling and how their body is feeling
4. Reduces behavirol and absenses
So hearing all this, how is college life for you? Do you to deal with stress and the overwhelmness of homework? Do you to feel overwhelmed by not enough hours in the day to finish tasks? Not keeping focused? Please do share your thoughts.
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For me, I feel more stressed with revision. I think I am pretty confident with meeting deadlines and completing work, but one of the things that is very important is to revise! And there is a lot of content and information to remember, and I sometimes to get overwhelmed by the level of detail that I need to memorise for my exams.
I think doing some mindfulness in schools could really help students, as so many people are stressed at the moment due to homework, exams, life at home and other issues. This is a really interesting topic that I have personally been looking into, and I've talked to my teachers about it who agree that mindfulness would benefit many if it were practised in lessons.
Thank you for this check in Rumple :)
@peppermintlove
HI Peppermint good to see you in check in
Im guessing revision is like studying? Im sorry you get stressed during this time. Alot of students do. I know I did when I went to college for 3 years. So much stuff teachers gave you to read and write papers and due the next day too
I agree with you on teaching mindfulness in schools. It has its great benefits to offer many students as well as teachers. Please let me know if I can offer some info on things I or others write about
@RumpleSteeleSkin
Yes revision is basically studying - I have a lot of studying and learning notes to do for my exams 
Perhaps a thread on managing stress with the workload, or a reminder to take mindful breaks and to not overwork yourself? I know a lot of teens that don't get a lot of sleep because they are stressing out or trying to complete lots of work - I often sleep very late because I want to get in more studying
I will try to practise mindfulness when I can, I think it could help a lot with staying relaxed and focused as well :)
@peppermintlove
When I have to memorize a lot of things at once I use silly associations and do drawings of what I need to remember to help it stick longer. I also have recently started doing mindfulness more often (aiming for daily) so that I don't max out with an accumulation of it day to day which helps keep burnout and overwhelmed tendencies at bay in general...then when something testing comes along it seems more natural to remember the grounding/breathing exercises.
I find homework very overwhelming. Thankfully mindfulness helps a lot. I rely on it everyday!
@archerzvy
Hi Archerzy great to see you in check-in eewww homework! blah. Is there something about mindfulness that helps you? Are there things here that the mindfulness team can write more about to help you?
@RumpleSteeleSkin
academic stress has always been a huge concern in my life. Finishing assignments everyday is not easy for me as I often try to be perfectionist and it takes considerable time and effort. Consequently it brings fatigue and compromise with health and social life 
@SunFern
HI Sunnie good to see you in check in aawww Sunnie I can connect with you on the perfectionalist on home work and how it looks and the spaces and handwriting. uuggg Since you see that this is 1 stresser in your life dealing with school. How can you find mindful skills to help you manage this?
@RumpleSteeleSkin I am not currently a student but I kept updates in my assignment books about when papers had to be done and I started them as soon as I could. I hated last minute pressure situations because I did not do my best work. So for me the way to reduce stress is to not postpone but do what I can today.
The other thing I did was do my work first and play last. Some days I had no time to play but I got the work done.
@soulsings
Hiya Souls good to see you in check in I do agree that writing assignments down and the due date to is very helpful. It is good to hear that you were disciplined enough to do home work before play. Can you teach my kids this
@RumpleSteeleSkin
Thanks for the check in!
I'm a first year middle school teacher, and the stress is overwhelming. I never thought I would be someone who would find this job to be too much or lose sight of why I wanted to work with students, but the feeling of being in over my head and being inadequate for my students and administration has me crying on my way home almost daily.
@bookworm555
Hi Book good to see you in check-in today Aaaahhh Im sorry that this job has you so stressed you cry alot. Teaching is a very hard job and to maintain that positive focus daily can be very hard. That is why learning a few mindfulness skills might help this. That way you can focus back on why you became a teacher
1. On your way into work/going home turn on some relaxing music or some that you sing to. This helps to change your mood.
2. Mindfulness exercise- clenching the muscles and releasing the built up stress in the body. Start with your calves tighten them then release. Do this throughout your body saying positive affirmations
3. Talk to some of the other teachers, gain support
@RumpleSteeleSkin
Thank you so much!
@bookworm555 I am so sorry to hear how stressful the work situation is. Our hearts reach out to you. It is a trying age to live through and must be a tough age group to teach. Please feel you are not alone as we are all here pulling for you. ((hugs))
