1 00:00:01,190 --> 00:00:03,860 Allison Barton: Hi my name is Allison Barton and I'm a health 2 00:00:03,860 --> 00:00:06,290 educator at the Moorpark College Student Health 3 00:00:06,290 --> 00:00:09,020 Center. Before I get started on the mindfulness 4 00:00:09,020 --> 00:00:11,690 presentation I would like to tell you a little bit 5 00:00:11,690 --> 00:00:13,820 about the student health center here at Moorpark 6 00:00:13,820 --> 00:00:16,520 College because a lot of students are unaware of 7 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,550 its existence even when all of us are physically 8 00:00:19,550 --> 00:00:20,630 on campus. 9 00:00:25,020 --> 00:00:27,630 For those of you on campus this semester this is 10 00:00:27,630 --> 00:00:30,480 the view of the admin building from Raider Walk 11 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,450 with our sign in the foreground. You just walk up 12 00:00:33,450 --> 00:00:36,090 the stairs and go in the door. It's the first door 13 00:00:36,090 --> 00:00:38,820 on the left. You can also take a ramp that's 14 00:00:38,820 --> 00:00:41,280 located just to the left, from the perspective of 15 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,450 this picture. Because of Covid-19 the student 16 00:00:45,450 --> 00:00:47,790 health center will have very few in-person 17 00:00:47,790 --> 00:00:50,430 appointments available. Most services will be 18 00:00:50,430 --> 00:00:53,610 delivered via tele-health, by Zoom or by phone. 19 00:00:55,590 --> 00:00:57,960 Making a tele-health appointment is the same as 20 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,510 making an in-person appointment. You just call the 21 00:01:00,510 --> 00:01:03,000 number on your screen to get started. 22 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,590 805.378.1413. As 23 00:01:07,590 --> 00:01:09,900 you can see there are lots of services still 24 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:13,910 available via tele-health. When you've made your 25 00:01:13,910 --> 00:01:16,040 appointment our staff will refer you to the 26 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,530 student health portal to complete some 27 00:01:18,530 --> 00:01:21,440 registration paperwork which you need to complete 28 00:01:21,470 --> 00:01:25,220 prior to your appointment. Also, when you're making 29 00:01:25,220 --> 00:01:27,590 your tele-health appointment be sure to plan for 30 00:01:27,590 --> 00:01:30,860 privacy for the length of the entire appointment. 31 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,730 To find the student health portal, follow these 32 00:01:34,730 --> 00:01:38,960 easy steps. First you want to go to the Moorpark 33 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:41,420 College website and scroll all the way down to 34 00:01:41,420 --> 00:01:44,960 the bottom until you see these buttons. Click on 35 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:48,560 the health center button and voila there you are. 36 00:01:49,310 --> 00:01:51,510 You land on the Student Health Center website. 37 00:01:52,190 --> 00:01:55,340 Scroll down to Making an Appointment in this main 38 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,250 area here. Or you could just come over to the 39 00:01:58,250 --> 00:02:02,780 Student Health Portal menu item and click there to 40 00:02:02,780 --> 00:02:04,010 get to those forms. 41 00:02:06,780 --> 00:02:10,350 While we're here I wanted to show you the Wellness 42 00:02:10,350 --> 00:02:12,570 link where you'll find lots of great resources 43 00:02:12,570 --> 00:02:15,360 including a link to mindfulness training. So 44 00:02:15,510 --> 00:02:18,390 wellness is the last one on the list right there. 45 00:02:22,300 --> 00:02:25,380 And you may see this emblem in office windows if 46 00:02:25,380 --> 00:02:28,560 you're on campus or in syllabi or email signatures. 47 00:02:29,220 --> 00:02:32,100 It denotes that the person displaying it has been 48 00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:36,180 trained as an LGBTQ plus ally and as a safe person 49 00:02:36,180 --> 00:02:38,550 for you to talk to regardless of your gender or 50 00:02:38,550 --> 00:02:42,150 sexual orientation. There's a SAFEZONE website 51 00:02:42,150 --> 00:02:46,650 with lots of on and off campus resources for LGBTQ+ 52 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,700 people and allies. There's a link to it from 53 00:02:50,700 --> 00:02:54,270 our Wellness tab. And also, we have a tab that's 54 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:59,010 the LGBTQ+ Support/SAFEZONE, and that that 55 00:02:59,010 --> 00:03:01,260 takes you right to the SAFEZONE space as well. 56 00:03:03,470 --> 00:03:05,750 This is another of the resources you'll find on 57 00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:08,190 the Wellness page. It'll take you to the Moor- 58 00:03:08,190 --> 00:03:11,360 park edition of Campus Well, an excellent 59 00:03:11,390 --> 00:03:14,660 online student health magazine. It has great tips 60 00:03:14,660 --> 00:03:17,780 for getting and staying healthy but also has a lot 61 00:03:17,780 --> 00:03:20,810 of articles on health related topics like travel 62 00:03:20,810 --> 00:03:24,500 safety, getting and acing a job interview, along 63 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:28,010 with fun quizzes, polls, and so on. So check that 64 00:03:28,010 --> 00:03:28,220 out. 65 00:03:30,530 --> 00:03:33,130 This is a reminder that Moorpark College is 100% 66 00:03:33,140 --> 00:03:36,530 tobacco-free. If you need help to quit 67 00:03:36,530 --> 00:03:39,830 smoking, vaping, or chewing, just contact the student 68 00:03:39,830 --> 00:03:41,930 health center for an appointment or visit our web- 69 00:03:41,930 --> 00:03:45,170 site to find other assistance under the Wellness 70 00:03:45,170 --> 00:03:45,590 tab. 71 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,530 And now onto Mindfulness Training. To get us in the 72 00:03:51,530 --> 00:03:54,500 right frame of mind, let's try a quick exercise to 73 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:57,660 help clear your mind, developed by Dr. Margaret 74 00:03:57,750 --> 00:04:01,880 Wehrenberg. Find yourself in a comfortable seated 75 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,660 position. And if you feel comfortable doing it go 76 00:04:05,660 --> 00:04:09,680 ahead and close your eyes. Now imagine a box with 77 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,850 a lid any style any color and in your mind's eye, 78 00:04:13,900 --> 00:04:18,050 take the lid off the box and set it aside. And now 79 00:04:18,260 --> 00:04:20,510 each time you have a thought that doesn't have 80 00:04:20,510 --> 00:04:22,730 anything to do with what we're doing right now, 81 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:25,910 put that thought in the box. Could be that you're 82 00:04:25,910 --> 00:04:29,180 thinking about another class, a relationship, 83 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:33,260 wondering where your car keys are, or wondering if 84 00:04:33,260 --> 00:04:35,570 you turned your lights off. Whatever pops into 85 00:04:35,570 --> 00:04:39,350 your mind, put that into your box without judgment; 86 00:04:39,410 --> 00:04:43,340 without judging yourself. We'll take a few moments 87 00:04:43,340 --> 00:04:46,040 just to capture your thoughts. 88 00:05:01,980 --> 00:05:03,420 Well one more moment. 89 00:05:06,830 --> 00:05:10,170 And now put the lid back on your box and fasten it 90 00:05:10,170 --> 00:05:13,830 to the box with tape or ribbon or lock and key you 91 00:05:13,830 --> 00:05:17,680 decide. When you've finished, put that box on the 92 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,070 floor beside you. Those thoughts will be safe and 93 00:05:21,070 --> 00:05:23,020 they will come right back to you when you invite 94 00:05:23,020 --> 00:05:27,580 them in. But for now your mind will be clear. And 95 00:05:27,580 --> 00:05:31,640 now open your eyes. So this visualization practice 96 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,690 is excellent to do when you're experiencing a busy 97 00:05:34,690 --> 00:05:38,260 mind or monkey mind as we say. Your thoughts are 98 00:05:38,260 --> 00:05:40,270 all over the place and it's difficult to 99 00:05:40,270 --> 00:05:44,830 concentrate. If you practice the box visualization 100 00:05:44,830 --> 00:05:47,740 daily or almost daily, the clearing of the mind 101 00:05:47,740 --> 00:05:51,400 happens even more rapidly. So I suggest that you 102 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,000 give that a try to doesn't need to get rid of 103 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,650 monkey mind, right? The objectives for our 104 00:05:59,650 --> 00:06:03,670 presentation today are that you'll learn what 105 00:06:03,670 --> 00:06:06,430 mindfulness training is and that it that you'll be 106 00:06:06,430 --> 00:06:09,580 able to describe it to a friend. You'll be able to 107 00:06:09,580 --> 00:06:12,310 come up with some benefits of practicing mindfulness 108 00:06:12,550 --> 00:06:14,980 and you'll be able to do at least one practice on 109 00:06:14,980 --> 00:06:17,360 your own. We'll do a couple practices today though. 110 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,730 So what is mindfulness anyway? Well synonyms 111 00:06:24,090 --> 00:06:27,990 or definitions for mindfulness are focus, 112 00:06:27,990 --> 00:06:34,500 attention, being aware of the here and now, calm, or 113 00:06:34,590 --> 00:06:37,950 acceptance. It's pretty easy to see how focus and 114 00:06:37,950 --> 00:06:40,320 awareness of the here and now can help with 115 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,320 academics. But how might acceptance and calm? 116 00:06:44,810 --> 00:06:48,530 Taken a moment to just consider what carries your 117 00:06:48,530 --> 00:06:52,730 attention away in class or while studying. Often 118 00:06:52,730 --> 00:06:56,810 it's the stress of academic, social, family, work-- 119 00:06:57,050 --> 00:07:01,040 life--demands on your attention. So developing a 120 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,470 way to reduce those worries or at least put them 121 00:07:03,470 --> 00:07:06,650 in a box for a time in order to be present is very 122 00:07:06,650 --> 00:07:09,830 helpful to students. Another way to think about 123 00:07:09,830 --> 00:07:12,070 mindfulness training is it's just practicing 124 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,320 paying attention to one thing so that you could 125 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,300 pay attention to anything. 126 00:07:21,830 --> 00:07:25,550 And mindfulness isn't a sleep or relaxation 127 00:07:25,550 --> 00:07:28,790 technique. Its purpose is to train the brain to be 128 00:07:28,790 --> 00:07:32,210 calmly alert. That said some mindfulness 129 00:07:32,210 --> 00:07:35,780 techniques can be used with insomnia and a regular 130 00:07:35,780 --> 00:07:38,450 mindfulness training practice often reduces 131 00:07:38,450 --> 00:07:41,000 insomnia, anxiety, and stress. 132 00:07:44,830 --> 00:07:47,350 Though mindfulness training is not a particular 133 00:07:47,350 --> 00:07:50,860 religion or philosophy, mindfulness and meditation 134 00:07:50,860 --> 00:07:55,600 are common components in many belief systems. 135 00:07:56,050 --> 00:07:59,380 Prayer is a form of mindfulness or meditation, for 136 00:07:59,380 --> 00:07:59,980 example. 137 00:08:02,590 --> 00:08:05,230 So how does mindfulness training work? Well in 138 00:08:05,230 --> 00:08:07,600 part it works through a process called 139 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,510 neuroplasticity which just means that your brain 140 00:08:10,510 --> 00:08:13,300 changes every time you learn something new. A new 141 00:08:13,300 --> 00:08:16,600 neural pathway is built. And when you practice 142 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,750 that thing over and over that pathway gets wider 143 00:08:19,750 --> 00:08:23,800 and wider. This can apply to learning new 144 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,170 information in class but it can also be a new 145 00:08:26,170 --> 00:08:30,190 skill or a new reaction. For example if you decide 146 00:08:30,190 --> 00:08:33,070 that you want to react to frustration or anxiety 147 00:08:33,100 --> 00:08:35,740 by breathing instead of getting upset and 148 00:08:36,100 --> 00:08:39,610 frustrated, you practice that daily or 149 00:08:39,610 --> 00:08:41,530 almost daily and then when you're stressed or 150 00:08:41,530 --> 00:08:44,530 frustrated you decide to practice breathing. That 151 00:08:44,530 --> 00:08:47,920 becomes the way that you manage those kinds of 152 00:08:47,980 --> 00:08:53,410 emotional responses or reactions. So think about 153 00:08:53,410 --> 00:08:55,720 it this way. Say you wanted to work on your upper 154 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,000 body strength. So you decide to go to the gym and 155 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,540 lift weights. So first of all if you just go to 156 00:09:01,540 --> 00:09:04,570 the gym once and lift weights that's not really 157 00:09:04,570 --> 00:09:07,000 going to do much for you, right? But you decide 158 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,010 that you're going to go daily or almost daily to 159 00:09:09,010 --> 00:09:11,140 workout with the weights and pretty soon you get 160 00:09:11,140 --> 00:09:14,320 physically stronger. But you're not just stronger 161 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,540 at the gym when you lift weights. You're also 162 00:09:16,540 --> 00:09:19,300 stronger when you want to move furniture pick up a 163 00:09:19,300 --> 00:09:23,680 box. And also picking up heavy stuff makes you 164 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:27,700 stronger too. So it creates a nice feedback loop. 165 00:09:27,940 --> 00:09:30,610 I get stronger so I can pick up heavy stuff. And 166 00:09:30,610 --> 00:09:32,830 when I pick up heavy stuff I get stronger, right? 167 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:36,880 In just this way there are many techniques for 168 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,580 practicing mindfulness to fit your circumstances 169 00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:41,530 and preferences. And when you practice these 170 00:09:41,530 --> 00:09:43,870 techniques you'll be more able to use them as your 171 00:09:43,870 --> 00:09:47,290 default response in stressful situations which in 172 00:09:47,290 --> 00:09:48,970 itself is practice. 173 00:09:52,020 --> 00:09:54,510 Well it's as simple as breathing. But it can be 174 00:09:54,510 --> 00:09:57,060 kind of hard to do sometimes so you really do have 175 00:09:57,060 --> 00:09:58,020 to practice it. 176 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,620 The first thing is that we need to find a 177 00:10:04,620 --> 00:10:07,770 comfortable seated position and by comfortable 178 00:10:07,830 --> 00:10:10,920 I don't mean that the position on the left. I 179 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,050 mean a nice tall what we call a tall dignified 180 00:10:14,190 --> 00:10:17,880 seated position. So you want to get your 181 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,300 feet flat on the floor. You want to sit up on your 182 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,450 sit bones, those bones at the bottom of your bottom. 183 00:10:25,250 --> 00:10:28,950 You want to feel those, and shoulder blades 184 00:10:28,950 --> 00:10:32,160 back and down. And then if your knees are a little 185 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,680 lower than your hips then that helps your spine 186 00:10:34,710 --> 00:10:39,180 grow long. And then if you put your hands 187 00:10:39,270 --> 00:10:42,150 on your lap or let them rest on your desk or your 188 00:10:42,150 --> 00:10:46,990 table, that also can be helpful in maintaining 189 00:10:46,990 --> 00:10:53,740 this calm position. Again, you can do mindfulness 190 00:10:53,740 --> 00:10:56,500 training standing, walking, all different kinds of 191 00:10:56,500 --> 00:10:59,320 positions--lying down even if you want to. It's 192 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,300 important for students to learn how to do 193 00:11:01,300 --> 00:11:04,270 mindfulness training in the classroom setting or 194 00:11:04,270 --> 00:11:07,030 while you're sitting at a desk reading or taking a 195 00:11:07,030 --> 00:11:10,840 test or things like that. So it might be a good 196 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,960 idea to practice this in the setting where you're 197 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:15,550 studying and learning now. 198 00:11:18,340 --> 00:11:21,700 Next the eyes. For some people it's helpful to 199 00:11:21,700 --> 00:11:24,070 close your eyes completely when you're practicing 200 00:11:24,070 --> 00:11:27,100 mindfulness especially in a seated 201 00:11:27,100 --> 00:11:30,820 practice. I know that it's easier for me to do it 202 00:11:30,820 --> 00:11:33,880 with my eyes closed because I'm very distracted by 203 00:11:33,910 --> 00:11:37,090 visual cues. But others wish to keep their eyes 204 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,410 open or half open. If you keep them half open so 205 00:11:41,410 --> 00:11:43,240 you're kind-of looking at the world through your 206 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,290 eyelashes, it's nice to gaze at something: a spot 207 00:11:47,290 --> 00:11:50,860 on your desk, a pattern of the fabric of a long 208 00:11:50,860 --> 00:11:55,390 sleeve, or a curtain. If you have wallpaper or the 209 00:11:55,390 --> 00:11:58,840 pattern of the plaster on your wall that's kind-of 210 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,150 interesting but not too interesting. Just not 211 00:12:01,150 --> 00:12:03,400 something that's moving. Like you don't want to 212 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,940 have a TV show or a video game playing or look at 213 00:12:06,940 --> 00:12:09,460 your cat jumping around or whatever. Although I 214 00:12:09,460 --> 00:12:12,760 have to say sleeping cat is probably a good choice 215 00:12:12,940 --> 00:12:15,790 of something to stare at while you're practicing. 216 00:12:16,510 --> 00:12:21,290 Now, the breath. We're going to just 217 00:12:21,290 --> 00:12:25,760 practice breathing before we do the breathing 218 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,390 practice if that makes sense. So if possible with 219 00:12:29,390 --> 00:12:32,330 your mouth closed take a long breath in through 220 00:12:32,330 --> 00:12:36,560 the nose and then even more slowly out through 221 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,860 your nose. Notice if you have a stuffy nose by the 222 00:12:40,860 --> 00:12:43,320 way, obviously you're going to read it out through 223 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,810 your mouth. Breathing is more important than 224 00:12:47,810 --> 00:12:51,210 know forcing breath through your nose. So we're 225 00:12:51,210 --> 00:12:53,400 gonna do it again. And this time I want you to pay 226 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,160 attention to how the air feels as it enters the 227 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,970 nose. How does it feel as it leaves the nose? 228 00:13:00,750 --> 00:13:03,450 Where do you feel the airflow? Is it in the same 229 00:13:03,450 --> 00:13:06,690 place with both the in and out breath? Now we're 230 00:13:06,690 --> 00:13:09,390 not used to thinking about breathing. Fortunately, 231 00:13:09,390 --> 00:13:11,850 we don't have to think about breathing. It's a 232 00:13:11,940 --> 00:13:15,030 it's an automatic process in our bodies. So we 233 00:13:15,030 --> 00:13:17,190 have to spend a little bit of time just paying 234 00:13:17,190 --> 00:13:20,070 attention. Do your shoulders rise and fall? Is 235 00:13:20,070 --> 00:13:23,040 your chest rising and falling? Maybe feel your 236 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,800 belly rise and fall? So we're going to take another 237 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,530 slow breath in and out. And I really want you to 238 00:13:28,530 --> 00:13:33,000 pay attention to where you feel it. So let's try 239 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:34,410 that. Big breath in. 240 00:13:37,030 --> 00:13:39,120 Slow steady breath out. 241 00:13:46,490 --> 00:13:49,700 So now we're going to do a two-minute practice, and 242 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:55,430 that two minute practice is just going to 243 00:13:55,550 --> 00:13:59,870 be really paying attention to the breath. It's 244 00:13:59,870 --> 00:14:03,500 going to be a guided practice, 245 00:14:03,530 --> 00:14:05,510 which means that you're going to hear my voice 246 00:14:05,540 --> 00:14:09,500 periodically. And I just want to prepare you for 247 00:14:09,500 --> 00:14:13,010 the fact that your mind is going to wander, 248 00:14:13,610 --> 00:14:17,060 and when your mind wanders to other thoughts, I 249 00:14:17,060 --> 00:14:19,220 want you to label those thoughts as soon as you 250 00:14:19,220 --> 00:14:21,980 notice them as wandering. And I went to then pull 251 00:14:21,980 --> 00:14:26,540 your thoughts right back to the breath. Try not to 252 00:14:26,540 --> 00:14:29,450 judge yourself. There's not you know like a prize 253 00:14:29,450 --> 00:14:32,630 for not having your mind wander. In fact 254 00:14:32,690 --> 00:14:35,090 the whole point of it is to realize that your mind 255 00:14:35,090 --> 00:14:39,350 will wander and to notice it as soon as possible, 256 00:14:39,350 --> 00:14:42,200 and pull your thoughts back to the breath symptoms. My 257 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,600 voice will be the thing that makes you realize 258 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:46,850 that your mind has wandered. And that's the whole 259 00:14:46,850 --> 00:14:51,140 point of doing a guided practice. You also might 260 00:14:51,140 --> 00:14:54,050 notice an itch, or feeling antsy. If that 261 00:14:54,050 --> 00:14:56,750 happens, you can choose to scratch the itch, or 262 00:14:56,750 --> 00:14:59,300 change your position. Or you could just notice 263 00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:02,390 that sensation and then bring your thoughts right 264 00:15:02,390 --> 00:15:05,090 back to the breath again without judging yourself. 265 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:09,310 All right. So 266 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,340 finding your tall dignified seated position. 267 00:15:17,670 --> 00:15:21,220 Eat flat on the floor shoulder blades back and 268 00:15:21,220 --> 00:15:27,710 down. Let's begin. So let's take a slow breath in 269 00:15:27,710 --> 00:15:33,140 through the nose and out through the nose. Notice 270 00:15:33,140 --> 00:15:37,100 how it feels. Maybe the rise and fall of the 271 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:41,450 shoulders or the chest or the belly. Notice how 272 00:15:41,450 --> 00:15:44,480 the air feels as it leaves your nose. Maybe you 273 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,040 feel it on your upper lip or inside your nose. 274 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,480 And notice if your mind has wandered, and if it did, 275 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,870 just label that thought as wandering and pull 276 00:16:15,870 --> 00:16:17,970 your thoughts right back to the breath. 277 00:16:40,210 --> 00:16:44,350 If your mind has wandered once again notice where 278 00:16:44,860 --> 00:16:47,140 your thoughts went and pull them right back to the 279 00:16:47,140 --> 00:16:47,520 breath. 280 00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:12,900 And if your mind has wandered. Feel a little 281 00:17:12,900 --> 00:17:15,840 squirmy. Just noticed that and pull your thoughts 282 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,500 right back to the breath. 283 00:17:26,170 --> 00:17:30,820 And now take a big breath in and sigh. 284 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,680 And how was that for you. Some students new to the 285 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,650 practice report feeling kind of antsy or itchy. 286 00:17:43,670 --> 00:17:46,070 Sometimes they feel pretty sleepy and a lot of 287 00:17:46,070 --> 00:17:49,130 times that has to do with how much sleep you're 288 00:17:49,130 --> 00:17:51,380 actually getting which is another topic for 289 00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:55,400 another time. Some people feel relaxed. Some 290 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,400 experience a busy mind and have really a lot of 291 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,590 difficulty bringing their thoughts back to the 292 00:18:00,590 --> 00:18:04,130 breath. And sometimes environmental noises get in 293 00:18:04,130 --> 00:18:06,800 the way of concentration. These are all normal 294 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,040 reactions and can vary in your environment from 295 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,140 day to day and they can vary for you from day to 296 00:18:13,140 --> 00:18:16,490 day. But if you practice daily or almost daily 297 00:18:16,490 --> 00:18:19,400 you'll feel more at home with it and you'll notice 298 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,570 that two minutes goes by really quickly. And when 299 00:18:23,570 --> 00:18:26,570 you get to the point where two minutes is easy to 300 00:18:26,570 --> 00:18:31,460 do you could do at a minute you know and and see 301 00:18:31,460 --> 00:18:32,300 how that goes. 302 00:18:35,410 --> 00:18:38,340 Now for many of us or for some of us at least, 303 00:18:38,340 --> 00:18:41,190 sitting and breathing is not your favorite pastime. 304 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,250 This is just way too slow and way too sedentary 305 00:18:45,250 --> 00:18:49,180 for you. So there are lots of ways to practice 306 00:18:49,180 --> 00:18:51,670 mindfulness training. There's mindful eating, 307 00:18:51,670 --> 00:18:55,270 walking. We just did the visualization 308 00:18:55,300 --> 00:18:59,230 technique with the box, mindful movement--things 309 00:18:59,230 --> 00:19:02,830 like yoga or Tai Chi. There's a wonderful 310 00:19:02,830 --> 00:19:06,310 lovingkindness practice that's on our website. 311 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,400 Mindful coloring, which when we're all on campus is 312 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,520 available to you at any time that the Admin 313 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,340 Building is open. And we also have the STOP 314 00:19:15,340 --> 00:19:18,670 technique and we're going to do that one next. 315 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,780 That's a good one for students to learn. So the 316 00:19:22,780 --> 00:19:25,720 STOP technique is very helpful in stressful 317 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,780 situations. Many of our students find it helpful 318 00:19:28,780 --> 00:19:32,590 to do before exams or speeches or at any other 319 00:19:32,590 --> 00:19:36,070 anxiety-producing times. As you can see it's an 320 00:19:36,070 --> 00:19:39,420 acronym. So the S stands for Stop what you are 321 00:19:39,420 --> 00:19:44,350 doing. T, for Take a slow breath and breathe in and 322 00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:49,690 out. O stands for 323 00:19:49,690 --> 00:19:53,890 Observe how you feel, and P means Proceed with what 324 00:19:53,890 --> 00:19:56,530 you were doing. So observing how you feel can 325 00:19:56,530 --> 00:20:00,190 refer to mental or emotional reactions like fear 326 00:20:00,340 --> 00:20:03,970 anger or frustration. But they can also refer 327 00:20:03,970 --> 00:20:08,200 to physical signs like shaking, sweaty palms, racing 328 00:20:08,370 --> 00:20:11,890 heartbeat, and so on. The beauty of trying the STOP 329 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,170 technique when you aren't anxious is that you 330 00:20:14,170 --> 00:20:17,380 can get really adept at noticing what feeling good 331 00:20:17,380 --> 00:20:20,590 feels like in order to notice what feeling anxious 332 00:20:20,590 --> 00:20:24,160 feels like. You know as a culture we've been 333 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,950 conditioned to ignore our bodies and minds to the 334 00:20:26,950 --> 00:20:29,590 point where we ignore hints that could lead to 335 00:20:29,650 --> 00:20:32,020 earlier relief of medical or mental health 336 00:20:32,020 --> 00:20:38,280 problems. So let's give this a try. Find 337 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,240 your tall seated dignified position. Stop what 338 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,810 you're doing. Take a slow breath in and out. 339 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:57,450 Now observe how you feel. Feel your belly. Feel 340 00:20:57,450 --> 00:21:01,840 your maybe the back of your neck. Feel if your 341 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:07,810 hands and feet or cold or warm, or they're comfortable. Notice 342 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,710 if you have a racing heart or sweaty palms or 343 00:21:11,710 --> 00:21:14,050 things like that. Just notice how you feel kind of 344 00:21:14,050 --> 00:21:18,340 a little quick head to toe. And then proceed with 345 00:21:18,340 --> 00:21:19,150 what you were doing. 346 00:21:21,220 --> 00:21:23,760 As you practiced this and you saw how fast it is-- 347 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,800 it only takes like a minute to do it-- 348 00:21:27,070 --> 00:21:30,100 you might need to tweak it to make it work for you. 349 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,650 For example one of our students added another 350 00:21:32,650 --> 00:21:35,410 breath after observing how he feels because what 351 00:21:35,410 --> 00:21:38,290 he found out was when he observed how he felt it 352 00:21:38,290 --> 00:21:41,950 made him feel anxious more. So he added that 353 00:21:41,950 --> 00:21:45,490 slow breath in and out, and that made him feel 354 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,340 calm again, and he was able to proceed especially 355 00:21:48,340 --> 00:21:52,090 in things like taking tests or just 356 00:21:52,090 --> 00:21:55,300 uncomfortable interpersonal situation. So it's 357 00:21:55,300 --> 00:21:57,400 just good to know it can be used for lots of 358 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,060 different uncomfortable situations. And if you 359 00:22:01,060 --> 00:22:03,850 like this method, if it felt good, to you then you 360 00:22:03,850 --> 00:22:06,790 might like to try the body scan practice which is 361 00:22:06,790 --> 00:22:11,140 lesson three of our mindfulness 362 00:22:11,140 --> 00:22:12,860 training series. 363 00:22:16,420 --> 00:22:19,430 Mindful coloring is another great way to 364 00:22:19,430 --> 00:22:22,430 practice mindfulness. And as I said before when 365 00:22:22,430 --> 00:22:26,330 we're all on campus we have mindful coloring 366 00:22:27,170 --> 00:22:30,830 stations in the Admin Building open space. But for 367 00:22:30,830 --> 00:22:34,460 now while you're at home you can easily find this 368 00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:36,950 kind of design. It's called a mandala. You can 369 00:22:36,950 --> 00:22:39,830 find it online and just print them out to color. 370 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,110 Some of them are quite elaborate. Ours are all 371 00:22:42,110 --> 00:22:45,740 pretty simple. So several studies show that 372 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,830 mindful coloring helps with anxiety, depression, and 373 00:22:48,830 --> 00:22:52,490 stress management. The research seemed to show 374 00:22:52,490 --> 00:22:56,420 that coloring an existing design is more effective 375 00:22:56,420 --> 00:22:59,300 than drawing a new design, and that coloring a 376 00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:02,960 mandala, which is like a repetitive pattern design, 377 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:06,740 is more effective than a picture of a specific 378 00:23:06,770 --> 00:23:10,040 object. And also that the longer you do it the 379 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,370 more effective it is. So I've seen 20 to 30 380 00:23:13,370 --> 00:23:16,070 minutes is the most common suggested length of 381 00:23:16,070 --> 00:23:20,360 time. When we're back on campus, as I said you can 382 00:23:20,420 --> 00:23:26,690 you can come to the Admin Building and use 383 00:23:28,130 --> 00:23:32,900 colored pencils and our designs there, but 384 00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:36,070 try it at home using nice sharpened colored pencils 385 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,540 if you have those available to you or use a big 386 00:23:38,540 --> 00:23:41,030 design that you don't need to have such sharp 387 00:23:41,030 --> 00:23:45,500 pencils too. All righty. So what are some benefits 388 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,810 that students could gain from practicing 389 00:23:47,810 --> 00:23:51,020 mindfulness? Well the regular practice benefits 390 00:23:51,020 --> 00:23:54,590 students by improving focus in the classroom and 391 00:23:54,590 --> 00:23:58,130 while working on assignments, reduces anxiety 392 00:23:58,130 --> 00:24:02,810 around test taking it. It's great for stress 393 00:24:02,810 --> 00:24:06,110 reduction and much more. Maybe you can think of 394 00:24:06,110 --> 00:24:09,890 other benefits. How do you think you as a college 395 00:24:09,890 --> 00:24:10,970 student could benefit? 396 00:24:14,750 --> 00:24:17,810 And how does mindfulness training benefit anybody, 397 00:24:18,020 --> 00:24:21,470 even non-students in general? A regular mindfulness 398 00:24:21,470 --> 00:24:24,950 practice offers improved health. Even if you have 399 00:24:24,950 --> 00:24:29,360 a chronic illness like diabetes or lung disease or 400 00:24:29,570 --> 00:24:33,560 even people with cancer have had really excellent 401 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,090 benefits, have just improved state of being an 402 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:38,900 improved health. 403 00:24:41,270 --> 00:24:44,030 It helps with the emotional balance. It helps with 404 00:24:44,030 --> 00:24:47,240 clarity, a greater sense of appreciation of 405 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,030 yourself and others, and a greater balance between 406 00:24:50,030 --> 00:24:54,380 work ,school, home, social, and societal lives, which 407 00:24:54,380 --> 00:24:58,670 is a really big concept that young adults are 408 00:24:58,670 --> 00:25:03,950 working on, in addition to academic progress. So 409 00:25:03,950 --> 00:25:07,880 it's really helpful to anyone. So how do I get 410 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:13,190 started? Well, when when we're on campus we have 411 00:25:13,190 --> 00:25:16,760 mindfulness training twice a week, in person. And 412 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:19,760 you don't have to sign up. You don't have to have 413 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,310 any experience. But if you have a lot of 414 00:25:22,310 --> 00:25:25,790 experience we love to have you come anyway. Now, 415 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:28,850 however, we're not holding in-person mindfulness 416 00:25:28,850 --> 00:25:32,030 training but as luck would have it we do have it 417 00:25:32,150 --> 00:25:35,870 available online. So once again you just go to the 418 00:25:35,870 --> 00:25:40,330 Student Health Center button, and press it. And that 419 00:25:40,330 --> 00:25:45,160 will take you to our webpage. And you can either 420 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,400 click on Wellness or you can click on Mindfulness 421 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:53,030 Training Online and voila--that will take you to our 422 00:25:53,110 --> 00:25:55,510 mindfulness training webpage. 423 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,450 So you have essentially already completed the 424 00:26:01,450 --> 00:26:04,750 "Start Here" activities. Unless you want to share 425 00:26:04,750 --> 00:26:08,130 it with somebody else you could go right to 426 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:13,830 "Session One." And that's a breathing practice 427 00:26:13,950 --> 00:26:16,590 similar to the one that we just did. But they are of 428 00:26:16,590 --> 00:26:19,290 varying lengths. So if you find that you like the 429 00:26:19,290 --> 00:26:22,450 guided practice, the voice kind of telling you you 430 00:26:22,470 --> 00:26:25,290 know kind of guiding you through it. There are a 431 00:26:25,290 --> 00:26:28,260 couple of different ones that are shorter on there 432 00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:32,520 but a little bit longer than two minutes. And then 433 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,010 if that's not your cup of tea remember that you 434 00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:37,650 could do the body scan practice that I talked 435 00:26:37,650 --> 00:26:40,920 about in "Session Two. The lovingkindness one I was 436 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,490 telling you, about self appreciation and the 437 00:26:43,500 --> 00:26:49,290 appreciation of others. Or the the mindful eating 438 00:26:49,290 --> 00:26:51,540 is Session Four. And there are a couple of 439 00:26:51,540 --> 00:26:54,360 different really great practices in there. There's 440 00:26:54,390 --> 00:26:59,130 a visualization there is mindful walking and then 441 00:26:59,130 --> 00:27:03,630 there's a long breathing practice too. So when you 442 00:27:03,630 --> 00:27:06,720 ramp up to the point where you can do a 15 or 20 443 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,280 minute practice that's that's the one for you. And 444 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,160 then the last one is a mindful movement class in 445 00:27:15,210 --> 00:27:21,150 it's 10 mindful movements that are that are great 446 00:27:21,150 --> 00:27:24,330 practices for you especially sitting and breathing 447 00:27:24,330 --> 00:27:25,980 is not quite your cup of tea. 448 00:27:28,810 --> 00:27:31,120 Well I want to thank you very much for your time 449 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,820 and your attention and I hope that this has made 450 00:27:33,820 --> 00:27:38,000 you interested in trying mindfulness. If you have 451 00:27:38,020 --> 00:27:40,420 any questions for me at all about the student 452 00:27:40,420 --> 00:27:43,660 health center or about mindfulness training please 453 00:27:43,660 --> 00:27:48,190 don't hesitate to email me at abarton@vcccd.edu. 454 00:27:48,340 --> 00:27:53,080 And remember that the phone number 455 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,480 for the student health center is 805 456 00:27:55,660 --> 00:27:58,930 378-1413. We are there 457 00:27:58,930 --> 00:28:01,900 to help you even when we're not on campus. And 458 00:28:01,900 --> 00:28:05,680 we'd be delighted to have you come visit us at 459 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,670 least virtually. And I hope you have a great rest 460 00:28:09,670 --> 00:28:11,740 of your day. Thanks so much.