Mindfulness: Taking Care of Yourself
Hello, my name is Iris Moreno. I am a first semester senior at the University of Texas at El Paso. I am currently majoring in Speech and Language Pathology under Rehabilitation Sciences. I’ve been working at the Miner Learning Center going on 3 years. When I’m not busy with my work or school studies, I enjoy doing different kinds of arts and crafts projects and hanging out with friends and family.
To me, the word mindfulness means to dedicate time to one’s self and the overall wellness of the mind and body; recognizing when we need to de-stress and focus on other things aside from what we’re doing at the moment. Attending school at a higher education can be overwhelming and exhausting, not only physically and emotionally, but also mentally on the mind. It’s important to remember that we must learn to focus on ourselves from time to time and do activities that bring us joy. For myself, sitting all day looking at my computer and reading my textbooks truly can drain my brain. I have to allow myself to step away for a few minutes in-between projects to recollect myself. Whether it’s to watch an episode of my favorite television show, go outside and play with my dog, or just lay in bed and think with myself. Doing these activities put me in a relaxing state and focus my mind on things that won’t stress it out more.
If the mind is already exhausted from working all day, there’s no point in trying to force it to continue. By telling yourself “I’ll read one more chapter” or “complete one more assignment”, it could be hurting you more than helping. When your mind is placed in that setting of trying to push through, it can affect you by making you tired and burned out, and no longer be able retain information properly, affecting your studying. So even taking small breaks between chapters or assignments, allows your mind to review the material you just went over, and gives you time to recollect and prepare for the next step of your work. And doing fulfilling activities in between can bring your mind into a more positive setting, giving you more energy to continue on. Don’t think you must complete everything in one sitting in order to success in your academia. Our mind does so much for us every day, and we need to return the favor by taking care of it.
About Our Tutor
Iris Moreno is an Art Appreciation Tutor for the Miner Learning Center. She is currently a Senior studying Rehabilitation Sciences with a concentration in Speech-Language Pathology |