Tanya Boucicaut always dedicates a few minutes of class to integrate mindfulness (both online and in-person). From positioning herself from a side view during deep breathing exercises so students can see her, to implementing body scans and mindfulness prompts that put students in different sceneries, her classes have always wedded mindfulness.

"Students are moving so fast. They have so much to do, and mindfulness gives students a chance to be present in the moment, to breathe in the moment, to take care of themselves in the moment," says Boucicaut . "Mindfulness helps give students grace to say, 'I can't do it all right now.'"

Additionally, Boucicaut recently  implemented an empathy experiment in her class, where she asked students to think about the impact of the pandemic on someone outside of themselves (professor, family member, food service worker, hospital worker, etc.).

"When we're thinking about wellness it is so important to think about ourselves and to be embodied in our experiences, but also to realize we don't live in this world by ourselves," says Boucicaut. "There are other people going through things themselves, and that same grace you extend for yourself, you also want to extend it to others.

Additionally in this episode, she covers a post-it project, a pilot program that helped initiate mindfulness on her campus and pushed wellness to the forefront, and her new YouTube channel dedicated to helping students navigate this time as a learner.

Recommended resources:

• Mindfulness is a superpower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6T02g5hnT4 
• Booce Teaches - YouTube
• Magna Course: The Wellbeing Elixir