The aim of the student’s project was to develop a series of audio and visual resources to support students in developing awareness and understanding of mindfulness, including how it can improve mental health, wellbeing and academic performance. Four students worked on the project: Matus Buffa, BA (Hons) Audio and Music Production, Eimear Mattison, BA (Hons) Audio and Music Production, Shona Kelly, BA (Hons) Film and Television Production and Elsa Dias BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies. They were supported on the project by Dr Adèle Commins, Head of Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music and Dr Emma Carroll, Head of Student Counselling.

As a key part of this project, the students were supported in developing their own practice of mindfulness. The creation of these new resources now provides information and tips on bringing mindfulness into everyday life and are all available to all DkIT students on Moodle for them to utilise in their own time. The resources aim to enhance student experience by introducing basic skills to help reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus and concentration, improve cognitive performance, manage unhelpful habits, improve emotional and social intelligence and improve wellbeing and quality of life.

Following her participation in the project and meeting with Bressie, Elsa Dias, who is a student on the BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies. noted

‘Watching Bressie in his recent mindfulness show, it was very interesting as it put in perspective how mindfulness is one of the tools that helped Bressie navigate his mental health, and like me, mindfulness changes the way he lives and understand his life. As he mentioned his journey with mindfulness and his wish to provide mental health accessible for everyone, I felt empowered to continue to use mindfulness in my work with children, because as he mentioned in our talk backstage, children tend to be far more immersed in the moment than adults are. Children experience so many things for the first time that they take each experience in deeply without being distracted and worry by the past or future.’

 Another participant in the Mindfulness project Matus Buffa noted: ‘

The resources are a step towards a larger conversation around mindfulness on the campus. These fantastic resources have been created for students, by students. In the age of distraction, mindfulness is a great remedy. And it’s free. So why wouldn’t you utilise mindfulness as a tool to be happier?’