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!