Kirsten Smith is an occupational therapist and PhD candidate in health and rehabilitation sciences at Western University. Her research interests include: professional education and practice, and the role of mindfulness in rehabilitation and higher education. She has been practicing mindfulness for over 11 years and is a certified children’s yoga instructor.
Reflective Journal Writing to Support the Integration of Mindfulness Practices
Saturday, May 2, 2020 — 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM
This session will focus on the use of reflective journals as an approach to support the integration of mindfulness practices into daily life. Relevant literature will be discussed, and examples from a recent educational practice, and phenomenological study, within a higher education context will be discussed.
Qualitative examples drawn from a study that invited students in a health and social care professional education program to employ reflective writing while learning about and developing mindfulness practices will be shared with the group. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to experience reflective writing as an approach to exploring their own mindful practices.
The session will also provide opportunities for small and large group discussion regarding the experience of reflective writing, and the potential affordances of reflective writing as a means for supporting the integration of mindfulness practices in everyday life.
Three Takeaways:
- Participants will learn about the affordances of journaling to support daily mindfulness
- Participants will have an opportunity to engage in a reflective writing exercise focused on the practice of mindfulness
- Participants will hear exemplars of reflective writing about mindfulness, from a phenomenological research study related to journaling and mindfulness practice, and have the opportunity to discuss these in relation to their own experiences