Homerton has been holding weekly mindfulness sessions for students and staff during term time for two years. Practising mindfulness offers a range of benefits including managing stress, improving concentration and fostering emotional resilience. By cultivating awareness and calm, individuals can be better equipped to navigate challenges and thrive both personally and professionally.
Our resident Facilitator, Janine Tandy, has over 19 years of in-depth experience teaching mindfulness, self-inquiry and Yoga movement practices. She is an experienced mindfulness and yoga teacher, certified Insight Yoga Teacher and IFS Practitioner. Janine combines meditation, depth psychology and yoga for a therapeutic approach, supported by her background as a Corporate Mindfulness Facilitator, Health Coach and MPH graduate from NYU. Her teaching emphasises holistic wellbeing and individual needs.
She says, “I have been teaching weekly classes at Homerton for over a year now and I participated in the Wellbeing Fair in April. I am passionate about helping people cultivate important emotional/psychological skills that allow them to meet the complexities of life, not just in the academic environment but in the world at large. I teach emotional agility, stress management and other targeted mindfulness techniques such as compassion practices, breath work and inner stability. I deeply enjoy helping the communities of students and staff and creating a weekly pause in their busy week for self-care.”
Student Minnat Allah Mohammed (History and Politics, 2023) enjoys painting, walks, time for prayer, and spending time with friends, regularly attends Janine’s mindfulness sessions and feels the benefit: “I have been attending Janine's mindfulness classes since they were introduced at the start of this academic year. At the time my understanding of mindfulness was limited and I had only tried some meditation as part of yoga. Part of my motivation in attending was wanting to find more balance and manage the intensity of a Cambridge degree, but mostly it was just curiosity! Thanks to Janine's skilled and compassionate guidance, I have gained a deeper understanding of mindfulness and how to integrate it into my daily life. I've become more attuned to my inner world and intentional in how I respond to stress and navigate difficult moments. I'm really grateful that mindfulness classes are part of Homerton's wellbeing programme and I'm very much looking forward to continuing in Michaelmas!”
The sessions have also helped staff members. Lisa Bernhardt from our Tutorial Office says,
“Janine’s classes have been a valuable addition to my own mindfulness and meditation practice since joining the college in early 2025. As the word ‘practice’ implies, meditating is something that becomes more effective and impactful when repeated regularly and consistently, so having a dedicated slot every week to focus on turning inwards, especially when life gets a little hectic and I don’t get around to meditating in the evenings, makes it so much easier to enjoy the benefits of a consistent mindfulness practice. I also appreciate the fact that Janine is open to suggestions for themes to guide our sessions; for example, developing a greater capacity for conscious detachment has been a central motivation for my meditation practice for a while now, and Janine skillfully incorporated my request in one of our classes which was incredibly helpful.”
Regular mindfulness sessions can enhance overall well-being, promote a greater sense of community, and support a balanced approach to academic and work pressures.
