Skip to 0 minutes and 13 seconds Hello, and a warm welcome here to the University of Aberdeen. And our future learned course, mindful well being, to support teachers with stress and anxiety. So the big question we want to look at on this course is, can mindfulness support teachers in dealing with their stress and anxiety of the everyday things that we deal with in the classroom? We will look at what mindfulness is, how would you define it, and one of the benefits that it can bring to you. But many people still regard mindfulness as a tool for calm and relaxation. And this really doesn’t do justice to the huge potential impact and positive effect that mindfulness can have on our well being.
Skip to 1 minute and 3 seconds For instance, if we develop self awareness, we are able to see the habits that we have, the thinking habits. Even if those are full of stress and worry, we can at least be aware of them, and have the choice to do something about it. So, to treat mindfulness as a tool for relaxation and calm, it’s a bit like having a top of the range computer, and only using it to do calculations. The amount of evidence is growing, particularly the neurobiological evidence that substantiate the positive impact that mindfulness can have not only on our well being, but also on the structure of our brain. Imagine that we can actually develop practices to re-sculpt our own brain.
Skip to 1 minute and 49 seconds And with mindfulness, we have lots of practices that we could use at the mental gym to develop our mindfulness in our everyday life. On this course, we will look at mindfulness practices such as paying attention, using the body, the breath, being aware of our emotions, developing our heart fullness in terms of compassion, and loving kindness. And all of these will become a set of tools that you can call on at any point, particularly in a busy classroom, or at the end of a difficult day at school. So as a teacher, we know you have so many demands on your time. So where do you find time to look after your own mental well being?
Skip to 2 minutes and 34 seconds At the end of this course, we hope that you will be able to understand how you can use the tools and techniques of mindfulness, understand the neurobiology which underpins those, and be able to apply these techniques not just in the classroom, but to any area of your everyday life. So, let’s take that first step forward and see if we can answer that big question. How can mindfulness support you as a teacher to manage your anxiety and stress?