Mindful Tools for Stress Management (self -study)
Topic outline
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Feeling stressed or anxious? The material will help you to learn how to
- be here and now
- observe our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations more clearly
- be more self-compassionate
- reduce stress
When facing difficulties we many times try not to notice them. Handling stress becomes easier when we approach difficulties rather avoiding them and learn to recognize when we start to feel stressed or worried. With practice it is possible to become less reactive and more free with our responses to the stressful situation.
Mindfulness is a state of open attention on the present. It’s living here and now. Mindfulness involves nonjudgmental conscious awareness of one’s feelings, thoughts and surroundings. Our mind often wanders to the past or to the future. Mindfulness skills will help you to focus on the present moment.
How to proceed?
The material consists of four sessions, one session per week. You will get more out of the materials if you don't hurry from one session to the next. It's recommended to repeat the practices of one session daily for a week.The aim is that the participants make mindfulness practices daily routines for themselves. You need to reserve about 25-30 min for the practices daily during four weeks. However you can split it up, for example:
- a mindful routine in the morning, e.g. brushing your teeth mindfully (5 min)
- a short mindfulness practice during your lunch break, e.g. a breathing practice (5 min)
- a longer practice in the evening, e.g. body scan practice (15 min)
The materials are done by psychologist Minna Nevala and Merita Petäjä.
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What is stress?
Mindfulness and stress
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On this page you'll find your weekly practices. Allow about 30 minutes daily for the practices if your goal is to get the benefits of mindfulness during our four week course. If your goal is to get an introduction to mindfulness you can choose to do less practices.
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During the last four weeks we have covered following topics:
- how to be mindful
- how to make clear observations
- how to apply mindfulness in stressful situations
- how to handle difficult feelings
Please take a moment and reflect on:- Did you find a good routine for doing mindfulness practices?
- How do you feel about doing mindfulness practices?
- Do you relate to stress in a different way than before?
- Are you going to do mindfulness practices in the future?
The study psychologists are continuously developing the online courses and therefore would appreciate your feedback on this course !