Not long ago, multitasking was considered a virtue among productive members of this connected society. If you could simultaneously juggle incoming texts, emails, social media posts, home life, work life and university life, you were a success. Now, evidence shows that a lifestyle characterized by such a frenetic pace of fragmented attention leads to mounting stress, anxiety, forgetfulness, distraction, and lackluster productivity.
Enter Mindfulness, a meditation-based approach to life and education, defined by Ludmila Leontieva, Ph.D., KSU-Geauga assistant professor in economics, as “paying attention to what’s happening in the present moment with an attitude of curiosity and compassion.” The results promise better focus, reduced anxiety and less stress… all which lead to better memory retention and improved academic/work performance.
Teaching for KSU at the Kent campus since 2007, this is Dr. Leontieva’s first semester teaching at Kent-Geauga. “I greatly value the supportive and creative environment that KSU-Geauga provides for both the students and faculty,” she shares. She points to the smaller class sizes, which better accommodate interactive learning such as group work, discussions and games. Together with Dr. Cathy DuBois, Associate Dean for Graduate and Online Programs and Melissa Celco, Kent State of Wellness Director, she helped to launch the Meditation Across Campus program this fall, facilitating meditation sessions at the College of Business Administration.
Mindfulness in the classroom helps to sustain attention and reduce distraction, resulting in students learning on a deeper level. Recent research shows that implementing mindfulness tools also reduced students’ test anxiety. Dr. Leontieva has been working with the Department of Psychological Sciences to implement the Mindfulness Test Anxiety Study in her Principles of Macroeconomics courses, analyzing the effects of mindfulness in the classroom. “These results can inform future research and classroom practices to optimize student performance,” she explains. “For example, if mindfulness practice improves students’ academic achievements, we can integrate the mindfulness practice into future courses to optimize student performance.”
Beyond that, “I believe in showing that students have the power to be successful in any course by embracing their responsibility and desire to learn,” Dr. Leontieva says. “I remind my students that as the instructor, I will provide everything for them to be successful in learning economics, but it’s up to them to be engaged, to practice, to ask questions and be able to apply their knowledge in our course and also in their lives.”
Since 2014 — the year of the Mindful Revolution, according to Time magazine, Dr. Leontieva has been incorporating mindfulness in her graduate and undergraduate classes. Essentially, mindfulness introduces the holistic question Why to the basic economic questions of What, How and For Whom? For instance, “Why do we (individual, community, business, society) do what we do?” “Why doesn’t economic growth through increasing consumption guarantee well-being and happiness?”
Meanwhile, Dr. Leontieva works with students to achieve common goals by awakening curiosity about economics, developing critical thinking skills and bringing a deeper understanding of economic concepts. She says, “One of the most exciting parts of my job is observing how my students develop different perceptions about the world around them.”
During her Study Abroad program in Ireland, students meet with the leaders of socially responsible businesses and government organizations, integrating the real-life principles they learned in class. “I am helping my students realize that their goal should not be just a good test grade (that’s only a result),” says Dr. Leontieva. “Instead, the goal is to be able to make the transition from theory to practice by applying knowledge gained during their college years to future economic decision-making, as well as understanding economics in a broader global realm.”
For Dr. Leontieva, “It is impossible to separate the fundamental concepts of economics and mindfulness. Economists love to use math and graphs in their economic models, but intuition is also a very important tool if you want to apply fundamental economics concepts in your everyday life. Bringing mindfulness to the decision-making process helps to see things more clearly and, as a result, you gain a very powerful knowledge of self-awareness and better understanding of why people do what they do.”
Essentially, the benefits of mindfulness in economics, at work, and in life can be nurtured in the classroom first. As Dr. Leontieva says, “For any educator, it is a dream come true when the students are present in class (physically and mentally). It’s so amazing to observe when students are fully engaged in class discussion, curious about applying the knowledge that they’ve gained in university in their everyday life. Mindfulness is helping to unlock students’ full potential.”