What is Mindful Campus?
The Project
The Mindful Campus Initiative is a partnership with the Centre for Mindfulness Studies (@mindfulnessstudies), Canada’s leading organization for mindfulness programs for depression, anxiety and stress. The program is fully funded by a Public Health Agency of Canada grant and led by OCAD University. Student tuition is not paying for this program and all parts of Mindful Campus is free for all students.
This year at NSCAD you can expect:
- On Campus wellness pop-up events + activities
- Access to online ‘Mindfulness for Resilience’ training + practice sessions with the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto
- Self-paced videos to support your mindfulness practice at home
What is mindfulness anyway?
It’s a shorthand term for a set of practices that help you manage stress and anxiety and build resilience.
When we’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we can spend a lot of time worrying about what might happen in the future, regretting things in the past, or judging ourselves for what we’re doing or how we’re feeling. This takes time and energy away from attending to what is most important to us – our family and friends, our creativity and our fun.
Mindfulness helps us pay attention to what is happening in the present moment. While mindfulness is not a substitute for therapy, when we pause and connect with the present, it’s easier to become aware of our thoughts, feeling, emotions, surroundings, situations, and behaviour patterns– recognizing these things helps us respond in a more intentional way.
A daily mindfulness practice can give you the space, energy and skills needed to manage in times of stress. Whether it be at school, at home or in your relationships, mindfulness can provide the tools to reduce everyday stresses so you can be your most authentic, creative, and thriving self!
Explore the Program
Free Mindfulness Workshops
Learn how to implement mindfulness into your artistic practice and everyday life through online courses offered by the Centre for Mindfulness Studies. Each 3-4 session workshop will be offered online throughout Winter semester with options for closed spaces for BIPOC students and facilitators.
- Mindfulness Building Blocks: An introduction to mindfulness, its benefits for health and well-being, and simple practices to develop awareness of the present moment.
- Personal Mindfulness: A overview of mindfulness strategies for enhancing psychological flexibility, self-efficacy, and reducing reactivity.
- Interpersonal Mindfulness: A look at how mindfulness can teach us to communicate more effectively, reduce judgment toward ourselves and others, and help cultivate empathy and compassion.
- Building Your Mindful Toolkit: Build your personal toolkit of skills, practices, and exercises that can be used in everyday life to maintain and enhance well-being.
Weekly Mindful Gatherings
Held twice weekly on Fountain Campus, these gatherings provide students with the opportunity to further explore and develop a mindfulness practice alongside their fellow students.
The first 30 minutes includes a mindfulness practice led by our facilitator from the Centre for Mindfulness Studies and a student co-facilitator. The second 30 minutes invites in-person attendees to enjoy a free lunch/dinner with pals, provided by Mindful Campus. We order enough for a take-home for everyone too! Each participant (up to 20 at each gathering) will also go home with a FREE grocery pack including fresh produce, eggs, and bread EVERY WEEK through our partnership with the Mobile Food Market.
Tuesdays 1:30-2:30pm in the FAB (1873 Granville St)
Wednesdays 4-5pm in the FAB (1873 Granville St)
Hybrid delivery option available (Contact Courtney, cconnor@nscad.ca on our team for online access)
Doors open 15 minutes prior and close 10 minutes into practice to allow for focus.
Learn at Your Own Pace
Group classes not for you? Watch videos to learn about mindfulness and how to practice it on your own time and at your own pace.
Mindful Campus Student Profile
Get Involved
Questions? Want to learn more? Contact our Mindful Campus Lead:
Courtney Connor
(they/she)
cconnor@nscad.ca
@nscadstudentexperience
