edtechdev/chatbotfiles · Datasets at Hugging Face

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in. VUCA stands for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, and as a result of living in this VUCA world,
many of us are in a constant state of overdrive.
You will have stress. Stress is inevitable. It’s how you deal with it that can make all the difference. One of the
most important things you can do is to keep perspective on your stressors. When feeling stressed, ask
yourself, on a scale of 1 to 100, how stressful a situation is this? Will I even remember this three years from
now? When facing potential stressors, the way you view what you're experiencing can intensify your stress or
minimize it.
There are many ways to manage stress. Take a look at some of the ideas in the stress toolkit below. Which
ones have you tried? Which ones do you want to try? It’s helpful to have different tools for different
situations—for example, a calming yoga pose in your dorm room and deep breathing in the classroom.

Mindfulness and Gratitude
Deep breathing, mindfulness, and a practice of gratitude are some of the most effective ways to manage
stress and take care of your emotional health.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness means being present with your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding
environment. Mindfulness is also without judgement—meaning there is no right or wrong way to think or feel
in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present
18
moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.
16 American College Health Association 2018 report https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHAII_Spring_2018_Reference_Group_Executive_Summary.pdf
17 The University of Maryland Medical Center UMMC, https://www.umms.org/ummc

347

348

11 • Engaging in a Healthy Lifestyle

Anything that keeps you present in the moment and gives your prefrontal cortex (the reasoning and thinking
part of your brain) a break is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness can be a slow walk; looking intently at the
grass, trees, flowers, or buildings; and being aware of what you are sensing and feeling. Mindfulness can be
sitting quietly—even sitting still in a quiet place for as little as a few minutes can reduce heart rate and blood
19
pressure.
Developing a practice of mindfulness is easier than you may think:
• Slow down. From brushing your teeth, to washing your face, to shampooing your hair—can you take the
speed out of getting ready in the morning? Focus on the activity, pay attention to what you are doing, stay
present (this means don’t think about what happened last night or what’s in store for the day, just stay
focused on the activity), and take your time.
• Focus on your breath. How fast are you breathing? Is your breath coming from your chest or your belly?
Can you feel the air come through your nose on the inhale? Can you slow down the exhale? Can you feel
your body relax when you slow the exhale?
• Connect to your environment. Walk for a few minutes, focused on the world around you—look at the
leaves on the trees or the light at the corner, listen to the sounds around you, stay with your surroundings,
and observe what you see and hear around you.
“We can’t change the world, at least not quickly, but we can change our brains. By practicing
mindfulness all of us have the capacity to develop a deeper sense of calm.”

— Rick Hanson, author, Resilient

Deep Breathing
When people hear mindfulness they often think meditation. While meditation is one method of mindfulness,
there are many others that may be simpler and easier for you to practice. Deep breathing helps lower stress
and reduce anxiety, and it is simple yet very powerful. A daily mindful breathing practice has been shown to
20
reduce test anxiety in college students. A 2-4-6-8 breathing pattern is a very useful tool that can be used to
help bring a sense of calm and to help mild to moderate anxiety. It takes almost no time, requires no
equipment, and can be done anywhere:
•
•
•
•

Start by quickly exhaling any air in your lungs (to the count of 2).
Breathing in through your nose, inhale to the count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 6.
Slowly exhale through your mouth to the count of 8.

This is one round. Do not repeat the quick exhale again. Instead start round two with an inhale through your
nose to the count of 4, hold for 6, and exhale to 8. Repeat for three more rounds to relax your body and mind.
With practice, 2-4-6-8 breathing will become a useful tool for times when you experience tension or stress.

Meditation
Dan Harris, a news reporter at ABC, fell into drug use and suffered a major panic attack on national television.
Following this embarrassing period in his life, he learned to meditate and found that it made him calmer and
more resilient. He’s now on a mission to make meditation approachable to everyone. Dan used to be a skeptic
about meditation but now says that if he learned to meditate, anyone can learn to meditate! Dan reminds us
that we ARE going to get lost, and our mind IS going to stray, and that’s ok. Simply notice when you’re lost and
start over. Every time your mind strays and your start over, it is like a bicep curl for your brain. Start with 3
minutes and slowly work your way up to 15 or 20. To hear more about Dan’s journey, watch this video
(https://openstax.org/l/danharris), and for a simple meditation to get started, you can try one of the videos on
18 Moran, Joan; University of California at Los Angeles, http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/gratitude-249167
19 The Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/
20 Levitin, Time Special Edition 2018, The New Mindfulness

Access for free at openstax.org

11.3 • Taking Care of Your Emotional Health

the meditation Youtube channel (https://openstax.org/l/meditation).
Some great meditation apps include Insight Timer, CALM, and Headspace.

Gratitude
Too often people think it is the external factors that bring us joy and happiness, when really it’s all related to
internal work. According to UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, “Having an attitude of gratitude
changes the molecular structure of the brain, and makes us healthier and happier. When you feel happiness,
21
the central nervous system is affected. You are more peaceful, less reactive and less resistant.”

in. VUCA stands for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, and as a result of living in this VUCA world,

many of us are in a constant state of overdrive.

You will have stress. Stress is inevitable. It’s how you deal with it that can make all the difference. One of the

most important things you can do is to keep perspective on your stressors. When feeling stressed, ask

yourself, on a scale of 1 to 100, how stressful a situation is this? Will I even remember this three years from

now? When facing potential stressors, the way you view what you're experiencing can intensify your stress or

minimize it.

There are many ways to manage stress. Take a look at some of the ideas in the stress toolkit below. Which

ones have you tried? Which ones do you want to try? It’s helpful to have different tools for different

situations—for example, a calming yoga pose in your dorm room and deep breathing in the classroom.

Mindfulness and Gratitude

Deep breathing, mindfulness, and a practice of gratitude are some of the most effective ways to manage

stress and take care of your emotional health.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness means being present with your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding

environment. Mindfulness is also without judgement—meaning there is no right or wrong way to think or feel

in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present

18

moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

16 American College Health Association 2018 report https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHAII_Spring_2018_Reference_Group_Executive_Summary.pdf

17 The University of Maryland Medical Center UMMC, https://www.umms.org/ummc

347

348

11 • Engaging in a Healthy Lifestyle

Anything that keeps you present in the moment and gives your prefrontal cortex (the reasoning and thinking

part of your brain) a break is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness can be a slow walk; looking intently at the

grass, trees, flowers, or buildings; and being aware of what you are sensing and feeling. Mindfulness can be

sitting quietly—even sitting still in a quiet place for as little as a few minutes can reduce heart rate and blood

19

pressure.

Developing a practice of mindfulness is easier than you may think:

• Slow down. From brushing your teeth, to washing your face, to shampooing your hair—can you take the

speed out of getting ready in the morning? Focus on the activity, pay attention to what you are doing, stay

present (this means don’t think about what happened last night or what’s in store for the day, just stay

focused on the activity), and take your time.

• Focus on your breath. How fast are you breathing? Is your breath coming from your chest or your belly?

Can you feel the air come through your nose on the inhale? Can you slow down the exhale? Can you feel

your body relax when you slow the exhale?

• Connect to your environment. Walk for a few minutes, focused on the world around you—look at the

leaves on the trees or the light at the corner, listen to the sounds around you, stay with your surroundings,

and observe what you see and hear around you.

“We can’t change the world, at least not quickly, but we can change our brains. By practicing

mindfulness all of us have the capacity to develop a deeper sense of calm.”

— Rick Hanson, author, Resilient

Deep Breathing

When people hear mindfulness they often think meditation. While meditation is one method of mindfulness,

there are many others that may be simpler and easier for you to practice. Deep breathing helps lower stress

and reduce anxiety, and it is simple yet very powerful. A daily mindful breathing practice has been shown to

20

reduce test anxiety in college students. A 2-4-6-8 breathing pattern is a very useful tool that can be used to

help bring a sense of calm and to help mild to moderate anxiety. It takes almost no time, requires no

equipment, and can be done anywhere:

•

Start by quickly exhaling any air in your lungs (to the count of 2).

Breathing in through your nose, inhale to the count of 4.

Hold your breath for a count of 6.

Slowly exhale through your mouth to the count of 8.

This is one round. Do not repeat the quick exhale again. Instead start round two with an inhale through your

nose to the count of 4, hold for 6, and exhale to 8. Repeat for three more rounds to relax your body and mind.

With practice, 2-4-6-8 breathing will become a useful tool for times when you experience tension or stress.

Meditation

Dan Harris, a news reporter at ABC, fell into drug use and suffered a major panic attack on national television.

Following this embarrassing period in his life, he learned to meditate and found that it made him calmer and

more resilient. He’s now on a mission to make meditation approachable to everyone. Dan used to be a skeptic

about meditation but now says that if he learned to meditate, anyone can learn to meditate! Dan reminds us

that we ARE going to get lost, and our mind IS going to stray, and that’s ok. Simply notice when you’re lost and

start over. Every time your mind strays and your start over, it is like a bicep curl for your brain. Start with 3

minutes and slowly work your way up to 15 or 20. To hear more about Dan’s journey, watch this video

(https://openstax.org/l/danharris), and for a simple meditation to get started, you can try one of the videos on

18 Moran, Joan; University of California at Los Angeles, http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/gratitude-249167

19 The Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/

20 Levitin, Time Special Edition 2018, The New Mindfulness

Access for free at openstax.org

11.3 • Taking Care of Your Emotional Health

the meditation Youtube channel (https://openstax.org/l/meditation).

Some great meditation apps include Insight Timer, CALM, and Headspace.

Gratitude

Too often people think it is the external factors that bring us joy and happiness, when really it’s all related to

internal work. According to UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, “Having an attitude of gratitude

changes the molecular structure of the brain, and makes us healthier and happier. When you feel happiness,

21

the central nervous system is affected. You are more peaceful, less reactive and less resistant.”