Student Mental Health

Mindfulness is often something we overlook as students. It is hard to make time for yourself with vigorous academic studies, getting involved in your community, and ensuring you are maintaining a healthy social life. It is imperative to ensure that we take care of ourselves as we are becoming adults, and quite frankly, no one else will do it for us.

It is very easy to get caught up in the university lifestyle. For me, I know I have needed to take a step back and give myself a break when I find that the things, I generally love to do give me less enjoyment. One way I help myself, is to ensure that I am getting to bed at a reasonable time and getting my 8 hours of sleep. When this isn’t possible because I am a university student, I find that taking time for walks around campus or just getting off campus and wandering downtown brings me comfort. Having time to yourself is the most important thing about staying mindful and in tune with what your body needs.

I found the adjustment to university very challenging as I was not used to being away from my family, so inevitably, I had to find something that would keep me busy. This was when I took up working out, for me working out gets me off campus, allows me to interact with other people, and allows me to be myself and not just a student for a while. It is so hard to remember that you are more than your academic studies when in the middle of studying for an exam and doing an assignment worth 30% of your grade. So taking care of myself and focusing on my workout is one way I let myself enjoy other things around Kingston, as when I am out, I generally wander around and explore the town.

Overall, mindfulness to me is taking care of yourself when it is not convenient to do so. It is easy to take care of yourself when you have all the time in the world to do so. Being mindful is remembering to do that when you are eyeballs deep in assignments because that is when taking care of yourself really matters so that you can do your best work.

​ Thank you for taking the time to read this, and make sure you take care of yourselves over stressful periods!