Control What You Can: Practicing Mindfulness

Humans value control and some of us thrive on it. Think about it—when you feel out of control you often do something completely unrelated to gain control in your life. Have you ever cleaned your house just to feel better whenever you’re worried about something? Exactly—I hate cleaning but in college my dorm was spotless around midterms and finals. Cleaning gave me a sense of control in my life even though studying would have given me actual control of my grades.

COVID-19 is highly contagious and passes easily. The novel coronavirus is not the only thing spreading though—our anxiety is and it’s just as contagious as the virus. 

Each week Student Development plans to offer a tip/tips to help you during this panic-provoking time. It is our hope that this information can help ground you in the control you desire by focusing your mental and physical energy on things that you can actually impact rather than worrying about becoming ill.

This week let’s talk about beginning a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness can be anything that you choose to do where you embrace the present moment. You can eat mindfully, take a walk mindfully, do a formal meditation, etc. Why is it important to do mindfulness right now? Because your brain is constantly trying to figure this new situation out. It’s constantly trying to ensure your survival causing you to possibly not sleep as well, over or under eat, and keep yourself in a high stress level daily. This is not good for you as it weakens your immune system.

This website discusses formal sitting meditations as well as everyday practices. I would encourage you to pick one item and do it each day. Keep a journal about it. This may not feel natural at first but remember neither does exercising, but we know that movement is good for us. This is good for you too, and in a couple of weeks you’ll be glad you started this journey.

If you have any questions about mindfulness practices please feel free to reach out to us at Student Development. Your mental health is directly connected to your physical health. Take care of one and you take care of the other.

C. Davis, LPC, Director of Student Development