MSU Extension Mindfulness for Better Living

Mindfulness for Better Living Series (Online and In-Person)

Research shows that practicing mindfulness can reduce stress-related symptoms such as worry, depression and physical tension, and may help manage chronic conditions such as cardiac disease and diabetes. MSU Extension offers a variety of mental health and stress reduction programs that encourage the use of mindfulness and other self-care skills to help you feel better and enjoy life more. To learn more about any of these programs, contact MSU Extension educator Holly Tiret or check out our calendar of events.

Stress Less with Mindfulness 4-week Series:  Mindfulness can be defined as paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally. Research has shown that practicing mindfulness is effective in reducing stress-related symptoms such as worry, depression and physical tension, and may be helpful in managing chronic conditions. Stress Less with Mindfulness is a program authored by West Virginia Extension. For more information, please contact Holly Tiret, tiret@msu.edu.

Mindfulness for Wellbeing 8-week Series:  Mindfulness for Wellbeing is designed to walk you through everything you need to fully understand mindfulness and experience the profound effects it can have on your life. In this series you will benefit from a deeper dive into a specific element of mindfulness each session. In addition, you will learn about the research, evidence, and psychological processes mindfulness rests upon. This program is perfect for you if you are curious about mindfulness and want to commit to developing a practice. For more information, please contact Georgina Guzman, gguzman@msu.edu.

Mindfulness for Better Living One-Time Workshops (Online and In-Person)

Mindfulness for Better Living includes a suite of one-time workshops to help people learn ways to use mindfulness to manage everyday stress. For more information, please contact Nicole Wethington, wethingn@msu.edu.

Brief Practices in Mindfulness: The goal of this workshop is to give participants a workshop with a variety of mindfulness practices to use every day. To establish an understanding of mindfulness. Experience several mindful practices – including mindful breathing, grounding, ways to quiet your mind, brief body scan, mindful walking and forest guided meditation and a seated meditation. We will finish the workshop helping you develop a plan for your own personal practice.

Building Resilience to Avoid Burnout: Build your resiliency to avoid burnout by boosting your protective factors such as having caring and supportive people in your life. The goal of this workshop is to learn to recognize the symptoms of burnout. To discuss occupational burnout. Learn ways to build resilience to avoid burnout. Participate in activities to practice skills to deal with burnout.

Changing Negative Self-Talk: We all have automatic thoughts, both positive and negative. Having more positive thoughts can influence how you manage stress. During this workshop participants will learn about the brain’s negativity bias and how it affects our response to stress. In addition, we will talk about the benefits of positive self-talk and explore other tools for dealing with negative self-talk.

Mindfulness in the Workplace: Why is it relevant? Helps with work life balance. If you are fulfilled at work, you are less likely to bring work problems home, which in turn leads to a more pleasant home life – and thus going back to work the next day isn’t such a chore. During this workshop we will explore ways to initiate and build a mindful practice in your work environment. 

Begin with a Breath: Begin with a Breath introduces participants to the experience and practice of mindfulness, with a goal of reducing stress. During this lesson you will learn the practices of mindful breathing and mindful movement. It is part of the Stress Less with Mindfulness series authored by West Virginia Extension.

Mindful Eating: Mindful Eating explores ways mindfulness can improve your relationship with food. During this lesson you will practice how to take one mindful bite. It is part of the Stress Less with Mindfulness series authored by West Virginia Extension.

Mindful Walking: Mindful Walking introduces the benefits of slowing down with moment-to-moment awareness walking to connect body and mind and explores ways to ride out waves of strong emotions through thought surfing. It is part of the Stress Less with Mindfulness series authored by West Virginia Extension.

Be Kind to Your Mind: Be Kind to Your Mind explores techniques to learn to be a detached observer of your thoughts using the power of acceptance and gratitude. It is part of the Stress Less with Mindfulness series authored by West Virginia Extension.

Laughter is the Best Medicine: Laughter is the Best Medicine explores the social, emotional, mental, and physical benefits of laughter. During this workshop you will learn how to incorporate more laughter into your daily life for overall better health. It is part of the Stress Less with Mindfulness series authored by West Virginia Extension.

Maintaining Health During Challenging Times:  Maintaining health during challenging times includes recognizing all the ways our health is being affected mentally, socially, and physically and finding ways to take action to assure optimal health. During this workshop you will learn about skills to better maintain your health and those you care for.

Caring for the Caregiver:  During this workshop we explore the many ways informal caregiving affects a caregivers mental and physical health. Learn the importance of self-care for caregivers. Practice some strategies for self-care. Find resources for learning more about self-care for caregivers.

The Importance of Adult Sibling Relationships and Your Caregiving Journey:  Sibling relationships change as the years go by, usually close in early years, less so in teens/early adult years, then growing closer as the years go by. One of the things that tends to bring siblings back together in later life is the need to care for aging parents. The objectives of this workshop are to explore different types of sibling relationships, birth order related to personality, and discuss adult siblings and how it relates to your caregiving journey.

Mindfulness for Better Living One-Time Workshops for Parents and Caregivers (Online and In-Person)

RELAX: Alternatives to Anger for Parents and Caregivers
RELAX: Alternatives to Anger for Parents and Caregivers is a workshop to help adults support young children’s development of self-control and dealing with strong emotions. Participants will learn about anger triggers for adults and children and explore ways to calm down.

Mindfulness for Children: Teaching Kids Mindfulness
This workshop is designed to introduce basic mindfulness concepts, activities and publications to parents and caregivers of young children. Participants will learn the benefits of mindfulness for both children and adults as well as explore ways to teach children mindfulness.

Teaching Kids Mindful Eating 
Learn benefits of eating with mindful awareness, increase awareness in portion sizes for children and learn about competent eating. Participants will learn the benefits of eating with mindful awareness, increase awareness in portion sizes for children, learn about competent eating, and experience mindful eating.

Mindful Educators   
Mindful Educators is a workshop for teachers in elementary through high school. Participants will get an introduction to mindfulness and learn ways to build their own mindful practice. Participants will also learn about research-based benefits of mindfulness for teachers and students. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss benefits and barriers to implementing mindfulness in the classroom and explore various programs and supportive literature.

Mindfully Feeding Infants and Toddlers
Food is so much more than just fuel. Mealtime routines not only build strong relationships with people, but also a healthy relationship with food. During this workshop, participants will explore research on parenting styles, mindfulness and temperament and learn how those factors can lead to responsive feeding of infants and toddlers.