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Mindfuln
Your University at your side
Mental Health and Wellbeing at the
University of Wolverhampton:
Mindfulness
Wake up to whats’ going on in your life.
• provide free and confidential individual
counselling
• offer non-judgemental support and
understanding
• are professionally trained
• are experienced in dealing with a wide
range of problems
Counselling can:
• help you to develop your strengths
• offer you the chance to focus on and
understand your difficulties
• enable you to make positive decisions and changes
• help you to develop the skills and resources to cope
• help prevent small problems from becoming bigge.r
Get in touch
You can make an appointment to see a counsellor by
filling out the Contact Us form at www.wlv.ac.uk/SSW,
alternatively, you can come along to one of our drop-in
services. For more information go to the web address
above and click on the Mental Health and Wellbeing
option. From here you will find a wealth of useful
information and self-help tools as well as our Drop-ins
and Group activities.

University Mental Health & Wellbeing

What is mindfulness?
Why attend a course?
“Mindfulness means paying attention in a Who is mindfulness for?
particular way; on purpose, in the present Instead of chasing your tail, getting busier and busie,r
moment, and nonjudgmentally.” (Kabat- • Everyone who wants to enhance their wellbeing! spending more and more time getting nowhere fast,
Zinn, 1994) • It is for people whose creativity seems and falling out with friends or colleagues, try
to have disappeared. mindfulness meditation and see whether it can make
Mindfulness is about being aware • Those who are feeling frazzled. a difference for you. Research, cited in Williams and
• Those who have lost the enjoyment in life that is Penmans’ book: Mindfulness a Practical Guide to
It is not a religion but a way of being which Finding Peace in a Frantic World. (2011) suggests it
normally there.
once embraced helps you in the way that you does.
live. It is practised by people of different faith • Those who normally work hard and are
traditions and none. Mindfulness is a simple conscientious, who seem to be working harder and As can often be the case when learning anything new,
form of meditation that has its roots in the harder, and finding less time for friends and family. it is easier to be guided and do it with others, as you
ancient Buddhist practise of Vipassana or would say for learning a sport, musical instrument or
Insight Meditation. So, if you are struggling with some of those feelings other skill.
which can spiral downwards, struggling with not being
Mindfulness can make the everyday more able to concentrate properly or feeling that life has lost There are mindfulness courses around. Speak to your
pleasurable and the difficult easier. You can its zest, why not try practising some mindfulness local surgery to see if they know of any local course
start to ‘wonder’ at life, appreciate the little exercises? or check on the website. The University Counselling
things and take less for granted. Service values the benefits of mindfulness and runs
Examples of simple mindfulness exercises, varying in courses throughout the year for staff, and separately
How can mindfulness help? length from 3 to 30 minutes, can be found by visiting for students.
http:// franticworld.com/free-meditations-from-
Mindfulness can help you feel calmer; less
mindfulness/ " This course has been of great benefit to
stressed; more empathic; less critical (of
me on both personal and professional
yourself and others) and generally help you to “Remember the advice of ‘take a deep breath’? It levels. It has enabled me to manage the
participate in your life more. remains one of the most instant mood changers and balance between life and work”
In addition you can: calming exercises.
References
• become more vibrant, more fulfilled and It’s free, it’s instantly available and it gets
get more out of life. oxygen to your brain.” Rowan T (2013) Kabat-Zinn J. Wherever you go, there you are:
• find yourself worrying less and more able mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New
to cope wthiethchallenges ‘life’ throws at So how does it work? York: Hyperion, 1994.
you. Rowan T. (Ed). the little book of Mind-ful-ness.
Mindfulness meditation typically consists of
• It is also about having the option to respond London: Quadrille Publishing, 2013.
becoming fully aware of the breath as it flows in and
more skilfully to negative emotions so you
out of the body.
don’t become exhausted and depressed. Wiilliams M. and Penman D. Mindfulness a
Focusing on the breath in this way provides an
• for some it is about living rather than simply practical guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World.
‘anchor’ to return to whenever the mind wanders. It
existing, about being really involved in what London: Piatkus, 2011.
involves becoming aware
is going on at the time.
of thoughts, feelings, body sensations and impulses to
act. Understanding the transient nature of such
thoughts, feelings, sensations and impulses leads to
the recognition that we have a choice as to whether to
act on them or not.
Mindfulness is not an alternative to dealing with your
problems, nor is it going to remove those painful,
difficult and sad times in your life. But it can help you
gain some more control over your life and help you
cope with difficult feelings and situations.