Renew & Refuel - San Diego State University's 1st Annual Mental Wellness Conference

In today's day and age, we, as humans, are constantly moving from one task to the next without much of a break. We tend to get so overwhelmed with caring for our responsibilities that we rarely take the time to take a moment and care for ourselves. As important as it is to juggle various responsibilities, it is equally imperative that we, as humans, take the time to refuel and recharge.

Funded by the SDSU Student Success Fee, the Renew and Refuel Mental Wellness Conference focuses on promoting mindfulness practices, as well as educate students on various types of exercises. In order to provide key practices in physical and mental care, the conference provides various health and wellness exercises that can be easily applied to everyday life.

      The day started off with a keynote speaker, Megan Leuchars.
Ms. Leuchars is a multifaceted entrepreneur is not only a founding member of Mindful Labs, she is also an Instructor and Director of Outreach at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Ms. Leuchar’s presentation introduced the concept of mindfulness and self-compassion. She helped provided a better understanding and clarification as to what the concept of mindfulness and self-compassion it. In addition to the explanation, Ms. Leuchar was able to provide some examples and strategies to practice mindfulness.

      After the keynote speaker, the conference provided a resource fair and some activities one could do to practice mindfulness. During this time, I got to meet and learn more of the resources San Diego has to provide for those that are interested in mindfulness and wellness. I also got to hang out with some therapy puppies and doodle on some mandala colorings.

      After lunch, my classmate and I attended Dr. Erik Conklin’s Mindfulness and Reflection workshop. This was a wonderful presentation that helped reinforce the keynote speaker's presentation of mindfulness! He also provided a lot of resources and practical examples of how to practice mindfulness in one's everyday life.

      For my second workshop, I attended Dr. Lorri Hilbert’s Movement Meditation workshop. The concept of movement meditation peaked my interest initially. The three types of movement meditations she taught us were unique and something that I did not initially know of. However, I do not think it is something that I could practically apply in my daily life.

      Overall, I am truly appreciative of and happy that I attended the Mental Wellness Conference. It was great to connect with the local resources in San Diego, and learn some techniques and skills that could be used to help me develop myself as a professional.