Game of Thrones star Jerome Flynn recently visited students studying mindfulness in the United Kingdom. A longtime practitioner of mindfulness, Flynn dropped by the GCSE students at Ygsol Dewi Sant. The students are currently undergoing an eight week course to help mitigate the stress that exams can bring. The school is located in the UK, as mindfulness has been recognized as an effective treatment for depression for more than a decade. Mindfulness, as with elsewhere in the world, is currently gaining traction as good practice to maintain a healthy mind.

Students taking the course have reported that mindfulness has allowed students to concentrate and focus better on their exams and the prerequisite studying, therefore reducing stress levels. What’s more, preliminary evaluations of exam results indicate that this year’s students that are taking the course are scoring better on exams than last year’s students, who did not practice mindfulness.

Jerome Flynn spoke to the students to reinforce the positive results they have already been seeing. “I remember leaving school as a young person and I had a sense of walking into the world unprepared. Mindfulness changed my life,” said Flynn.

Mindfulness is related to traditional meditation, but it differs in a number of ways. Mindfulness is the clinical term adopted in the medical community and psychology field. It focuses on living consciously and being in control of our thoughts and actions. The practice of mindfulness is gaining traction in the business world as well as all aspects of our modern society as it becomes more stressful and people constantly look for ways to keep focus on daily tasks. By practicing mindfulness, participants are able to refocus and gain a more relaxed perspective on daily stressors of life.

Do you use mindfulness in daily life? Has it helped you to focus and concentrate on the tasks at hand?