From noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, April 25, 2022, the sport management major’s capstone course, Sport Management 489, is hosting Mindful Monday in Ruby Park, according to their Instagram page. It is described as a mental health retreat that focuses on helping the community.

“Mindful Monday is a Sport Management 489 event that we’ve created as our capstone class,” said Dakota Pint, senior sport management major and operations manager for the event. “We’re trying to work with ASWSU and some other organizations around the community such as Sanctuary and Pups and Cups … so [we’re] just getting different representation from the community because it’s all about the community.” 

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 used as a therapeutic technique, according to the Mindful Monday Instagram page.

The concept of mindfulness originated around 2,500 years ago and is based on ancient Buddhist philosophy, according to Physiopedia, an online encyclopedia of all things physiotherapy

They describe two main methods of mindfulness: formal and informal mindfulness practices.

Formal practices are more structured and traditional; this includes meditation, a body scan and mindful movement. Think of it as like taking a yoga class: it is structured, and you carve time out of your regular day to achieve a sense of non-judgmental awareness.

Informal mindfulness does not require a set time. It involves incorporating awareness into your day-to-day activities like dishwashing or eating. Physiopedia describes it as “turning off the autopilot mode of living.”

Both observable-based evidence and well-developed concepts for therapeutic mindfulness offer optimism that practicing mindfulness can help patients with mental and physical health ailments alike, according to the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 

“We have yoga sessions that will happen about every 20 minutes. We have a boxing station which is just a boxing bag; people can go up and punch it to get some stress out,” Pint said. “We’re hoping to get the stress relief dogs that WSU holds to come and roam around. There’s a bracelet-making station, a coloring book station, different food trucks and Cougar Health Services will actually have a tent there as well.” 

Pint said that while most students in her capstone class are seniors, their hopes are that somebody will see the positive impact the event will have on the WSU students and faculty and that they will take it and mold it for the future.

“Personally, I hope somebody takes this and just runs with it and continues on Mindful Monday before finals every year for every semester,” Pint said.

Mindful Monday will be held in Ruby Park with free admission the Monday before finals week.