Stress happens. It’s the tax we pay for being alive, busy, and surrounded by people who chew too loudly. Since we can’t avoid it entirely, the next best thing is to pay attention to what actually sets it off and how we react. This assignment is basically a data collection mission: you’ll track your own stress like a researcher studying a very unpredictable lab rat (spoiler: the rat is you). By gathering and reflecting on this information, you’ll start to see the patterns, what triggers your stress, how you typically respond, and a few simple strategies you can test to manage it without moving to a cave in the woods.
Step 1: Choose a 24 hour period and fill out a Stress Diary
*This diary should have 6 entries at a minimum (or 5 exceptionally detailed entries)
*The period should include a day during which you have classes or work.*
Step 2. Watch the following TEDx lecture on mindfulness by Diana Winston of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMlaSCxZPN4
Step 3. Watch ONE of the following two videos (you may, of course, watch both but are only required to watch one): 4. Select a second 24 hour period and fill out a second stress diary. This period should also include a day during which you have classes or work. This diary should have 6 entries at a minimum (or 5 exceptionally detailed entries) as well.
Step 5. Write a 2-3 page essay evaluating the use of mindfulness and mindful meditation to reduce stress. What were your impressions of the material presented in the videos? Did the mindfulness videos affect your experience of stress or how you responded to stressful situations? Do you think this approach could would be a useful component of an intervention strategy to help students deal with stress? Why or why not?
Please turn in your stress diaries and essay incorporated into a single Word document.
