Written by Aaron Kahlow
After my first week living on campus, I found myself sitting in the quad with a peaceful smile as the sun set and cool October breeze brushed over my face. I was in blissful state, what the mindful movement would call a “Natural State of Joy”.
Yes, I was meditating. But in a very simple normal way… not lotus pose, chanting, ancient Buddhist precepts. I was just sitting, quietly, mindfully. I was observing.
After this moment, I asked myself, “How many students get this feeling?” or how mindful are students here at CC? And so, I took it upon myself to observe and inquire.
Here’s what I found:
The Freshman without Friends
Being brand new here, I don’t know really anyone… and for all intent & purposes, I am the older-looking freshman without any friends. Don’t worry… I may be eating in Rastall alone or walking solo through campus, but I don’t feel alone.
I didn’t feel alone because there are so many resident students, and we’re making great direct eye contact or saying hello. This was super encouraging and just a nice, mindful way to carry oneself. That simple act of acknowledgement is a very big part of being a mindful person, and so my first conclusion was… we’ve got a great group of naturally mindful co-eds.
And yes, as your proverbial freshman, please do continue to say hello. I promise to smile and say hello back. And guess what, it all feels really nice. Warm fuzzies all the way around.
Reducing Daily Stress – Just Breath
Another big element of life on campus is stress. Most are feeling it at one point or another, if not constantly. Stress to get the “A”; stress for the next exam, stress to just gets all the work done. And for a lot of folks, stress because you signed up for too clubs or extra-curricular activities. As we all know, being stressed is no way to live. But there is hope in mindfulness. To breathe deep, monitor your emotions; gaining perspective and peace of mind will help in very big and sustainable ways. In short, finding a path to being more mindful state of being will reduce stress and this is now proven by science.
One simple deep breath in, and deep breath out can give you the space you need. And of course meditation using the focus on breath will take you to whole other world of bliss.
Improving Grades – Strong Minded Focus
Less stress means better grades. Your information recall will expand exponentially in a non-stressed mindful state. You will have great clarity of thought when analyzing a question or performing say, an oral exam. It will simply allow you to have the energy and focus to crush your next project.
Better Relationships – Being Present
Whether it be with classmates on a project, your best friend on the weekends or your significant other, being mindful in the way you communicate, how well you listen, and overall ability to just “be” with that person will do wonders. In mindfulness world, we call it ‘being present’ or just concerning yourself with only what is happening here and now at present moment.
So, no texting while hanging out!
Finding Career Path & Passion – Clarity
Finally, the ever looming question, especially for juniors and seniors… what I am going to do when I graduate? For all of us, it is a truly scary thought. There can be many WTF moments when we start focusing this moment, right?
But there’s hope. Finding your passion is not easy and takes time. But if you can find a good natural peaceful state of mind, you can get true clarity on what you like, what makes you happy and that will lead to better career path choices. Getting very clear with “things as they are” is what we say in the mindfulness world.
Sorry to say, this does mean turning off Instagram, Facebook, and especially mindless banter on Kik Yak. Give yourself good time to just sit, be, and think with clarity.
Overall, the great news is I believe CC is already in a natural state of mindfulness. The mountains, the beautiful campus and the students are very happy folks. So the next steps for every day “natural state of joy” sometimes called happiness is well within reach. We just need to start taking small steps to hang out with our new companion… Mindfulness.
Aaron Kahlow
Innovator in Residence (aka old guy walking around campus)
Lifelong Student & Teacher of Mindful Living
Side Note: Aaron is giving a talk on using mindfulness to find your passion and career path for students at the Career Center on Oct. 21 at 4 p.m.
You can email Aaron at AaronPKahlow3@gmail.com to get more information about the talk, share ideas about Mindfulness on the Quad movement or just share your mindfulness stories.