Mindful Society

Do you want to be happier? Concentrate more? Stress less? Find your purpose? Live a more joyful and fulfilled life?    No doubt you’ve probably heard of mindfulness advertised as a cure for all the stresses of modern life, backed by numerous studies and expert recommendations, but learning mindfulness meditation or starting to meditate regularly can be an overwhelming task when you go at it alone. So that’s why we’re here. We’re a friendly bunch of students who happen to feel passionate about learning and teaching mindfulness as a skill for life. We meditate, chat and have fun together in a secular, non-intimidating, down-to-earth way.   We lead weekly mindfulness sessions on Tuesday at 6.15- 7.15pm in the Student Centre Meditation Room (and on Zoom), but we also have a host of other mindful activities and planned throughout the year, including a creative mindful retreat in term 2. Each week we have a particular theme for our meditation (like mindfulness for concentration, anxiety, or creativity), and we post content to do with the meditation on this website. We like to think we are one of the more self-aware societies at UCL ?, so we make sure every one of our sessions has an inclusive and genuinely relaxed atmosphere, and nurturing a community hoping to not burden our members with more technology! Although mindfulness has its roots in Buddhism, we teach secular mindfulness and you don’t need to be of any faith or denomination, or have any experience to take part. At the same time if you’re an experienced meditator, come and share your experiences!   For those of you new to the whole meditation thing: If you feel a bit funny about the idea of sitting still for 20 minutes in a room of strangers, you are not alone. Many of us felt like that at the beginning, but if you come and try, you might find that it’s not nearly as weird or awkward as you’re expecting, and might actually leave you feeling relaxed. In light of Covid arrangements, in a zoom call you can leave your camera off so you are in a safe and personal space. The longest relationship we have in our lives is with ourselves, and one of our biggest lessons in life is learning to understand ourselves. Practicing mindfulness regularly cultivates the skill of communicating with yourself. What to expect? IN PERSON Weekly socially-distanced mediation sessions on Tuesday evenings from 6.15pm - 7.15pm. These usually take the form of a 20 minute guided group meditation followed by an informal chat and discussion. *Mindful Walking. Every 2 to 3 weeks at the weekend we will lead a mindful walking session through some of London’s ample green space. Discover new parts of London and take the opportunity to relax and unwind in some much needed nature, whilst meeting new people and learning a new skill. These walks will consist of some relaxed hiking, followed by a short 10 minute guided group meditation in a quiet spot, followed by 15 minutes of quiet walking in nature. Then once we’ve all got our zen on we can have a natter and probably go to a café / pub (if we’re allowed to!) Mindful Drawing. There is a lot of parity between the sustained focus and stillness involved in the practice of mediation and drawing. In these activities, we will try to cultivate a clarified awareness to actively engage with the present moment in a creative way (any opportunity to get messy!)Also look out for socials and a mindful retreat in term 2!  *Traditionally, these have taken place in the basement of the Student Centre. We are currently talking with the SU about the logistics for hosting these sessions.  ONLINE You’ll be able to join in our weekly meditation sessions via Microsoft teams. We will record these so you can listen afterwards on soundcloud / our website in the 'meditations' section each week. Alongside with the recorded meditations, we will share some extra material and reading if you want to learn more.