{"id":9819,"date":"2015-11-18T16:29:53","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T21:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-utk-volumes.pantheonsite.io\/?p=9819"},"modified":"2015-11-18T16:29:53","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T21:29:53","slug":"reduce-stress-with-mindfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduce Stress with Mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"man<\/a>What is Stress?<\/h3>\n

Stress is the body’s response to a threat, real or perceived.\u00a0 Stress can be a good thing when it helps us be more alert and focused.\u00a0 If you are running away from a tiger, your heart rate increases and your body directs energy to help you flee or fight.<\/p>\n

Of course, this isn’t so great if the “tiger” is an exam.\u00a0 If our stress stays high over a long period of time, it can lead to many physical and emotional problems.<\/p>\n

So how can you lower your stress?\u00a0 Some strategies include breathing deeply, taking a nap, exercising, starting a hobby, or volunteering.\u00a0 You can also use mindfulness meditation techniques to clear your mind.<\/p>\n

What is Mindfulness?<\/h3>\n

Mindfulness <\/a>is a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and the surrounding environment.\u00a0 It involves acceptance: paying attention to thoughts and feelings without judging them.<\/p>\n

In other words, mindfulness is a way of not attaching to thoughts and feelings, but letting them come and go.\u00a0 If you are anxious or depressed about something, mindfulness can help you be aware of your feelings without prolonging them.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness has benefits for your body, mind, heart, and work.\u00a0 It can help you eat healthier and fight off illness.\u00a0 Learn to reduce stress and negative emotions.\u00a0 Enhance empathy and relationships, and improve memory, learning, and focus.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness Practice<\/h3>\n

Breathing exercise:<\/span> Find a quiet place to sit and concentrate on your natural breathing.\u00a0 Notice when thoughts or feelings come into your mind, but try not to get carried off with them.\u00a0 Picture letting them go like clouds passing away in the sky.<\/p>\n

Body or walking scan:<\/span> Focus attention along your body, from toe to head, being aware and accepting of what you sense.\u00a0 If you are walking, focus on the movement of your body as you take step after step.<\/p>\n

Raisin exercise:<\/span> Slowly use all senses, one after another, to observe a raisin (or other food) in detail, being fully present in the moment.\u00a0 For example, feel the raisin in your hands, taste it on your tongue, observe its texture with your eyes.<\/p>\n

Loving-kindness:<\/span> Extend feelings of compassion broader and broader.\u00a0 Start with yourself, then expand to someone close to you, to an acquaintance, then to someone giving you a hard time, and finally to everyone.<\/p>\n

Guided meditation:<\/span> Listen to an audio MP3 that walks you through a meditation exercise.\u00a0 Exercises are available to help you reduce stress before an exam, sleep better, overcome depression and anxiety, and more.\u00a0 Check out these resources from the University of Maine<\/a>, Loyola University Maryland<\/a>, and the Inner Health Studio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness at UT<\/h3>\n

Want to get more involved with mindfulness at the University of Tennessee?\u00a0 Consider joining the Mindfulness and Meditation Club!\u00a0 Visit the club’s website<\/a>, Facebook page<\/a>, or contact mindful@utk.edu<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

Veterinary medicine students, also check out this mindfulness guide<\/a> to learn how mindfulness can benefit you in healthcare and medical fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is Stress? Stress is the body’s response to a threat, real or perceived.\u00a0 Stress can be a good thing when it helps us be more alert and focused.\u00a0 If you are running away from a tiger, your heart rate increases and your body directs energy to help you flee or fight. Of course, this … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nReduce Stress with Mindfulness - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reduce Stress with Mindfulness - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is Stress? Stress is the body’s response to a threat, real or perceived.\u00a0 Stress can be a good thing when it helps us be more alert and focused.\u00a0 If you are running away from a tiger, your heart rate increases and your body directs energy to help you flee or fight. Of course, this … Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/utklibraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-18T21:29:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/live-utk-volumes.pantheonsite.io\/files\/2015\/11\/3870006964_57d04d9c95_o.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@utklibraries\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@utklibraries\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/live-utk-volumes.pantheonsite.io\/files\/2015\/11\/3870006964_57d04d9c95_o.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/\",\"name\":\"Reduce Stress with Mindfulness - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-18T21:29:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-18T21:29:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3955ec405a96431575560f031850e4d1\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":[\"Person\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3955ec405a96431575560f031850e4d1\",\"name\":\"Pendergrass Library Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/edfe5f238418ee1799df4fc73bdc9d23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pendergrass Library Staff\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}