Stella Cottrell - Mindfulness for students

Mindfulness for Students

www.palgravestudyskills.com the leading study skills website

Palgrave Study Skills

Titles in this series by Stella Cottrell

Critical Thinking Skills (3rd edn)

Dissertations and Project Reports

The Exam Skills Handbook (2nd edn)

The Palgrave Student Planner

Skills for Success: Personal Development and

Employability (3rd edn)

Study Skills Connected

The Study Skills Handbook (4th edn)

Teaching Study Skills and Supporting Learning

You2Uni: Decide. Prepare. Apply

Business Degree Success

Career Skills

Cite Them Right (10th edn)

e-Learning Skills (2nd edn)

Get Sorted

Great Ways to Learn Anatomy and Physiology (2nd edn)

How to Begin Studying English Literature (4th edn)

How to Study Foreign Languages

How to Study Linguistics (2nd edn)

How to Use Your Reading in Your Essays (2nd edn)

How to Write Better Essays (4th edn)

How to Write Your Undergraduate Dissertation (2nd edn)

Improve Your Grammar (2nd edn)

Information Skills

The International Student Handbook

The Mature Students Guide to Writing (3rd edn)

The Mature Students Handbook

The Palgrave Student Planner

The Personal Tutors Handbook

Practical Criticism

Presentation Skills for Students (3rd edn)

The Principles of Writing in Psychology

Professional Writing (3rd edn)

Researching Online

The Student Phrase Book

The Students Guide to Writing (3rd edn)

Study Skills for International Postgraduates

Study Skills for Speakers of English as a Second Language

Studying History (4th edn)

Studying Law (4th edn)

Studying Modern Drama (2nd edn)

Studying Psychology (2nd edn)

Studying Physics

Success in Academic Writing (2nd edn)

Smart Thinking

The Undergraduate Research Handbook

The Work-Based Learning Student Handbook (2nd edn)

Work Placements A Survival Guide for Students

Write it Right (2nd edn)

Writing for Engineers (3rd edn)

Writing for Law

Writing for Nursing and Midwifery Students (2nd edn)

Writing History Essays (2nd edn)

Pocket Study Skills

14 Days to Exam Success

Analyzing a Case Study

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More

Brilliant Writing Tips for Students

Completing Your PhD

Doing Research (2nd edn)

Getting Critical (2nd edn)

Planning Your Dissertation

Planning Your Essay (2nd edn)

Planning Your PhD

Posters and Presentations

Reading and Making Notes (2nd edn)

Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism (2nd edn)

Reflective Writing

Report Writing

Science Study Skills

Studying with Dyslexia (2nd edn)

Success in Groupwork

Time Management

Wheres Your Argument?

Writing for University (2nd edn)

Palgrave Research Skills

Authoring a PhD

The Foundations of Research (2nd edn)

Getting to Grips with Doctoral Research

Getting Published

The Good Supervisor (2nd edn)

PhD by Published Work

The PhD Viva

Planning Your Postgraduate Research

The PhD Writing Handbook

The Postgraduate Research Handbook (2nd edn)

The Professional Doctorate

Structuring Your Research Thesis

Palgrave Career Skills

Excel at Graduate Interviews

Graduate Entrepreneurship

How to Succeed at Assessment Centres

Social Media for Your Student and Graduate Job Search

The Graduate Career Guidebook

Work Experience, Placements and Internships

For a complete listing of all our titles in this area please visit macmillanihe.com/study-skills

Mindfulness for Students

Stella Cottrell

Stella Cottrell, under exclusive licence to Macmillan Publishers Ltd, part of Springer Nature 2018

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published 2018 by
PALGRAVE

Palgrave in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9781352002355 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Contents

List of Guided Exercises

Foreword

Student life can already be so pressurized that it might seem as if learning about mindfulness, and dedicating time to it every day, is just too much. My own experience of being a student was that the opposite was true: mindfulness practice really helped.

In the 1990s, I became a student again. Although I already had a PhD, I decided to enroll for a BSc (Honours) degree in Psychology with the Open University and to complete this in just two years. I was also working full time, writing a book, and

I was on a national working party improving support arrangements for students with dyslexia. With so much to do, I was racing from pillar to post, buzzing

with ideas, talking at high speed. I had to get everything done fast. Friends

and colleagues asked me politely to slow down a little, or maybe just finish my sentences offoccasionally when talking. (They still do, sometimes.)

It might not appear to have been a good time for me to start yet another course, but I noticed an advert for meditation classes in Royal Oak in West London. I was curious although deeply suspicious, not really knowing what meditation was and wondering what I might be letting myself in for. However, I acknowledged that maybe I could do with a little more calm in my life, so offI went, to find out more and give it a go.

Once a week, I travelled for over an hour each way across London to get to class.

It was friendly and clear. There was no pressure. The world didnt turn upside down. I wasnt suddenly a different person. But, I knew from early on that if I kept practising, this would do me good. I wished I had learnt about mindfulness, Metta and skilful and unskilful thinking whilst at school! When the course ended, I found other classes and groups, attending these twice a week or more. It was worth it, and I still found time to do everything else.

I achieved a first class for my degree and a Bruner prize that the Open University awarded to the highest achievers on the Psychology degree. I mention this not to boast, but to indicate what can be achieved even when it seems there is no time. Mindfulness practice made a big difference to me when studying, enriched my life, and made me a better person than I would have been otherwise. I hope this now helps others.