An anxious mind has a life of its; often, a person with an anxious mind finds it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to stop worrying. A person with an anxious mind tries to stop experiencing apprehension with little success. As a result, anxiety submerges them in constant irrational fears, unfounded expectations, and erroneous generalizations; this is the state of mind that has not learned to practice mindfulness. A mindless following of routine and other automated behaviors is the origin of a life lived in pain and a predetermined course of life. Most people agree that teaching mindfulness is essential to children in eliminatory school and follow the routine until they are in middle school. However, thoughts are divided on the need for these lessons in colleges and Universities. Nobody is ever too old to learn to practice mindfulness, let alone college or university students; for this reason, that teaching mindfulness is as essential in colleges as in eliminatory schools.
Anxiety and stress are part of the life of a college student because of the many uncertainties that decorate this period in people’s lives; at this stage, the students are concerned about many things, from their part-time job to and are already thinking of the Job market. One of the main reasons why college students are anxious and practice mindlessness is the belief that resources are limited; the student doesn’t take the world as dynamic and continuous because the people around them have made them believe that resources are limited. All the students at the university believe that they will have to compete for the available job positions. “As long as people cling to a narrow belief in limited resources, those who are fortunate enough to win by the arbitrary rules that are set up, such as the SAT score have a stake in maintaining the status quo. Those who are not getting what they want, however might pause to consider that they might be part of someone else’s costly construction of reality” (Langer, Pg. 28). This excerpt from the book Mindfulness (1947) demonstrates how easy a student can be submerged in the state of anxiety. Teaching mindfulness in colleges and universities and giving the students opportunity to party’s mindfulness will significantly aid the efforts of taking anxiety off this young mind by looking at life as dynamic and continuous. There is no denying that when taught to be mindful of their surroundings and the present, the students will rid themselves of anxiety, their confidence will rise, and the graduation rate will increase substantively.
Even after the student overcome all the anxiety and worries that decorated the college years, there are still active possibilities that mindlessness would lead to compassion fatigue and burnout when they finally are in the career of their choice. Mindfulness is strongly associated with wellness as self-aware people are more likely to engage in self-care activities (Mapel, Para. 2). Teaching students in colleges and universities mindfulness will equip them with the self-awareness needed to help them avoid burnout. This is true of any student, specifically those looking to enter the medical care provision industry. Mindfulness will enable the medical practitioner to be more self-aware, and being more self-aware will lead to better self-acre activities, which will make the doctors well; a healthy doctor is better equipped to foster wellness in their patients. Additionally, when anybody, not just doctors, practice mindfulness, their chances of handling stress better is exponentially increased.
Another prevalent type of anxiety in colleges and universities is exam anxiety, which is stress and worry associated with an upcoming test or exam. Teaching mindfulness can come in handy in reducing test anxiety. While moderate pressure is expected when an exam is approaching, test anxiety is severe and can impair learning or hurt the student’s chances of graduation. Test anxiety is not just a part of being a student; it is a serious problem that threatens a student’s learning and, if left unchecked, can affect a student’s mental health. The widespread assumption is that test anxiety is mainly expressed in lower levels of education. However, it is not unfamiliar to hear phrases like ‘I don’t test well’ among students in tertiary education. This is where teaching mindfulness comes in handy; it helps the student overcome their test anxiety and thus increasing their confidence and, ultimately, their chances of graduating. Therefore, colleges around the world must adopt mindfulness programs to help aid the student’s chances of graduating.
Teaching mindfulness in colleges and universities stems from the idea that mindfulness can treat anxiety and other complications associated with the mind when practiced through activities like meditation. The propagators of this assumption argue that mindfulness can reduce stress, depression, anger management, curb addiction, and emotional well-being. However, there is no clear evidence of these mental health issues associated with or credited to practicing mindfulness. There is no substantive research to back up the claims that mindfulness creates wellness. Additionally, there are a lot of mindfulness programs in workplaces, but there are no signs of increased wellnesses for people in the workforce.
Moreover, mindfulness programs are expensive and will prompt additional charges on the tuition fee when the benefits are and have no studies to underpin them. These are some counterarguments that argue against the idea of teaching mindfulness in schools. However, these arguments have no basis; instead, they seek to place the burden of proof on the statements that argue for introducing mindfulness programs in colleges and universities. The concept of mindfulness is simple and self-explanatory. The term “mindfulness practice” refers to a collection of exercises and activities that help people focus on the present moment rather than the usual barrage of competing thoughts. Most mindfulness exercises incorporate some meditation, whether or not it has a spiritual focus. Its objective is to establish and preserve a state of awareness that is uncritical and unreactive. From the definition and the practices, it is clear that mindfulness can reduce anxiety as it takes the mind of the person of the things causing worry.
Conclusion
The application of mindfulness in education, particularly in education, allows learners to fight the anxiety that decorates the learning process. Anxiety and stress are part of the life of a college student because of the many uncertainties that illustrate this period in people’s lives; at this stage, the students are concerned about many things, from their part-time job to there and are already thinking of the Job market. Even after the student overcome all the anxiety and worries that decorated the college years, there are still active possibilities that mindlessness would lead to compassion fatigue and burnout when they finally are in the career of their choice. Based on these points, colleges and universities must introduce mindfulness programs in institutions worldwide.
Work Cited
Mapel, Tim. “Mindfulness and education: Students’ experience of learning mindfulness in a tertiary classroom.” New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies 47.1 (2012): 19-32. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.671242398810407
Langer, Ellen J. Mindfulness. Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2014 https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Mindfulness+by+Langer%2C+Ellen+J.%2 C+1947
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