During Spring semester, the School of Extended and International Education (SEIE) along with the Sonoma State University Alumni Association (SSUAA) will be hosting 12 virtual  “Pop-up” Self Care events every Friday from Feb. 12 to May 7 at 12 p.m. These virtual sessions will take place on Zoom and are presented by Dr. Andy Wallace, professor, chair of the philosophy department and a program coordinator/instructor for the SEIE. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sonoma State community has shown awareness towards students’ mental health. Prioritizing mental health improves the wellbeing and overall health of the school’s community and one of the ways that fellow Seawolves can take advantage of prioritizing their mental health is by attending these upcoming virtual events throughout the Spring semester. 

Each session is 30 minutes, completely free of charge and does not require any experience with mindfulness, making it accessible for everyone. The classes are also inclusive and open to all Seawolves, their friends and loved ones. Practicing self care is universal and can be done by anyone who wants to strengthen themselves internally and externally. According to Dr. Wallace, “Mindfulness is one of many kinds of skillful and wholesome tools that persons can use to improve the quality of their lives.”

Dr. Wallace facilitates these classes to help the SSU community cope with the obstacles that individuals may be facing due to the pandemic such as, loss of work, virtual learning, getting sick, deaths and so many more hardships that place a toll on the lives of individuals within the school’s community. He suggests that mindfulness can help people to manage and handle negative stress better, improve emotional regulation and promote qualities of peace and stability. 

During these classes, participants will be able to gain insight about how mindfulness can benefit a person’s life and how to exercise it on a day-to-day basis. Mindfulness meditation is also exercised for a portion of the class. During the first session of the semester on Feb. 12, Dr. Wallace said, “Mindfulness meditation is the ability of the mind to pay attention to whatever is arising from it. As it is arising without judgement, commentary or interpretation.”

The wellness benefits from mindfulness derive from the cultivation of kindness and how kindness informs mindfulness. Dr. Wallace briefly explains the process of mindfulness at the beginning of each session. He shares the idea of cultivating mindfulness and how a person’s mind can cultivate the capacity of awareness in which their experiences with a radical acceptance of kindness is arising in. These exercises are practiced during each session to enhance, deepen and produce the wellness benefits that derive from practicing mindfulness. According to Dr. Wallace, “If we want to expand the awareness of our own experiences, it is extremely useful to ground it in kindness. Kindness and acceptance are the emotional underpinning that enables us to become more mindful about what is arising in our experiences and stabilizes our focus and increases our concentration.” 

Many people overlook the benefits of mindfulness meditation and self care, but it fosters positive results towards an individual’s lifestyle. “Numerous empirical studies show that strengthening mindfulness can reduce stress and negative thinking, increase resilience and optimism, and awaken qualities of peace, tranquility and kindness,” according to the SEIE’’s webpage.

To learn more about mindfulness and self care, or to register into these upcoming classes, visit the School of Extended and International Education’s (SEIE) webpage for more information  (https://seie.sonoma.edu/mindfulness-and-self-care).