Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s North Region family and community health agents are initiating a five-week Mindful Mondays online series beginning April 9.
The program is free, but those planning to attend must register online by April 8 to receive further instructions.
“We will be utilizing the Mindful Wellness program in our series,” said Joan Gray-Soria, AgriLife Extension family and community health agent in Gray County. “Mindful Wellness is designed to equip healthy adults with skills to strengthen the mind and body connection and promote holistic health and wellness across the lifespan.”
Mindful Wellness is a program created by The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology/Family and Consumer Sciences.
The Mindful Mondays series is being coordinated by AgriLife Extension family and community health agents Kelli Lehman, Randall County; Carolyn Prill-Bennett, Moore County; Molly Forman, Briscoe and Hall counties; Jennifer Nickell, Potter County; and Kay Rogers, Dallam and Hartley counties.
“In a time when uncertainty and stress seem consuming, mindfulness can help you access your ability to not be overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us,” Nickell said.
Gray-Soria said mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. It is a therapeutic technique.
“COVID-19 has added a new level of adversity for many of us,” Lehman said. “The goal of the online mindful wellness series is to provide participants with skills and practices that can be easily adopted and applied as we endure this pandemic and beyond. Mindful wellness is an important lifelong practice.”
Gray-Soria said the mindfulness program is not a substitute for medical care, counseling or treatments.
All sessions will be for one hour, beginning at 1:30 p.m. There also will be an option to participate by listening to recorded sessions. The first session is a pre-recorded introduction, and the others will be conducted by the agents.
The complete series includes:
•- April 9: Introduction to Mindfulness
-• April 13: Mindful Foundations
-• April 20: Mindful Breathing
-• April 27: Mindful Eating
-• May 4: Mindful Living
For more information, contact Gray-Soria at 806-669-8033 or j-gray@tamu.edu.
