Mindfulness Week 2019

This week, our students and staff have been taking part in the School’s second Mindfulness Week. The aim of the week is to encourage all students and staff to develop mindful ways of self-care and to explore the link between positive well-being and resilience.

Students at White Lodge and Upper School enjoyed mindful exercises during registration each day, attended a talk with Kelly Thistlethwaite, an experienced well-being practitioner, about the power of the mind and were gifted mindfulness goody bags. Staff were also treated to some ‘Mindful Muffins’ and free Pilates sessions.

We spoke to School Counsellor, Ellen Hage, about the importance of the week:

‘The purpose of Mindfulness Week is to give students a taste of how mindfulness can be used as a tool to increase their well-being and help manage and decrease their stress. Being mindful is about engaging with the concepts of acceptance, non-judgement, observation and focused attention in the present moment. This can be done by being more attentive in their daily activities or through mindful practises like breathing and body scans.

‘By becoming more mindful we become more aware of ourselves and our environment. This means we can begin to spot early signs of stress or situations and relationships that make us feel uncomfortable. Early awareness means that we can have early interventions and so be much more capable of supportive of ourselves. The same applies when being mindful in moments of calm, serenity and happiness. Instead of taking this for granted we become aware of why this is and can tap into it more often.’

The students’ mental health and well-being is an integral part of the School’s Healthy Dancer Programme and included in their Degree Programme studies.