Development of Workshops aimed at Reducing Stress and Anxiety using Mindfulness

项目总结

Project Summary The CSUSM URISE (5T34GM136481) and B2PhD (R25GM066341) programs support the NIH/NIGMS goal of increasing the diversity of the biomedical workforce. This Supplement Proposal aims to develop and deliver a series of workshops on mindfulness to reduce stress and anxiety and improve the overall wellbeing of our students. The goal of this activity is to offer students mindfulness tools that can help: (i) Quiet the habitual chatter of the mind; (ii) Cultivate a capacity for deep awareness; (iii) Reduce emotional reactivity; (iv) Increase feelings of connectedness, compassion and belonging; and (v) Help students thrive and develop resilience in an uncertain and rapidly changing world. This two-semester series of workshops will be an introduction to mindfulness and how participants can make mindfulness part of their everyday lives. These practices are intended to increase student capacity for pausing, reflecting, and then responding from a place of wisdom and compassion. It will introduce students to mindfulness practices such as mindfulness of breath, mindfulness of body, mindfulness of thought, mindful eating, mindful movement, mindfulness of emotions, joy, and compassion practices. We will offer practices that help students deal with everyday challenges with equanimity. We will help students develop capacity for dealing with difficult emotions with kindness. We will help students learn that making mistakes is not a sign of failure. Instead, we will help them develop confidence that they can learn from their mistakes and be stronger and more resilient in the process. We will also discuss how and why mindfulness practices are relevant to our everyday lives and can help us heal from the trauma of othering and isolation. We will also include specific evidence- based practices to reduce procrastination. According to psychologists, we procrastinate to avoid the negative emotions associated with doing the task. When we procrastinate, we prioritize short term mood repair over long term pursuit of intended goals. In that sense, procrastination is not a time management issue but rather an emotion management one. Procrastination is also about making a temporal trade-off. When we procrastinate, we sacrifice the future for the present for the sake of mood repair. Some of the strategies that we will offer students include self-compassion, mindfulness of emotions, finding meaning in tasks that we typically procrastinate on and connecting with our future selves. The B2PhD and URISE Programs, in concert with a highly supportive campus environment, will prepare students from UR groups to be thoughtful scientists who have the knowledge, skills, research experience and character that prepare them for doctoral studies in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and that allow them to become future leaders in science and academia.