Practicing Mindfulness Through Creativity 

Updated: November 4th, 2025
Authors: Hailey Godfroid, Julia Snidanko, Alexis Moore

Our team consists of Hailey Godfroid, Julia Snidanko, and Alexis Moore. We chose this topic as it connects to each of our fields of study, with Julia and Alexis studying psychology and Hailey studying visual arts. As university students, our goals are to help other students successfully manage their stress levels and develop the cognitive skill of mindfulness. 

FINAL DESIGN COMING SOON 

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THE PROCESS

Understand (Discover, Interpret, Specify)

DESCRIBE THE CHALLENGE:

University students need to learn healthy coping mechanisms during peak times of stress, such as exam season. 

CONTEXT AND AUDIENCE:

Audience

Our audience consists of university students who are aware of healthy coping mechanisms but are unsure how to apply them in their daily lives. They may understand the concept of mindfulness or stress management in theory, but lack the knowledge of what techniques can be used. An extreme case within this group would include students who have little to no familiarity with mindfulness as a coping strategy for stress. Demographically, this audience is typically between the ages of 17 and 30 and enrolled in post-secondary education. They are open-minded individuals who are motivated to adopt new strategies to manage stress during the peak academic periods. Psychographically, they may enjoy creative activities and show an interest in mindfulness-based practices. These students generally have positive attitudes toward maintaining their well-being and look for a balance between academic success and mental health. Behaviourally, they demonstrate openness to seeking support when needed and are receptive to learning and implementing new coping methods. 

Needs

University students who feel overwhelmed with coursework need to learn how to navigate their stress successfully. The audience targeted needs to learn how to balance stress levels as it helps maintain an objective awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings. They will need to develop the cognitive skill of mindfulness to better manage their stress levels. This can be done through engaging in creative hobbies such as journalism and art. Students engaging in creative mindfulness activities will need simple writing and drawing utensils, as well as a safe environment and time to go uninterrupted.

Goals

The goals of our audience are to confidently navigate stressful situations when stressors arise in their day-to-day university life. They will be able to navigate these stressful periods by equipping them with coping strategies to express themselves. We want the students to feel empowered to intentionally choose healthy techniques when faced with emotional or academic strain, rather than reacting impulsively or avoiding stress. By the end of this activity, our students should hopefully be able to recognize their stress responses, apply at least one mindfulness-based technique, and reflect on how these practices help them regulate their emotions. 

Motivations:

The target audience’s motivations come from the desire to obtain overall good marks. Without knowing healthy coping mechanisms, well-being can be negatively impacted, therefore not allowing students to reach their highest academic potential. The audience’s motivation levels will range from person to person, which is why the activities provided will be easily accessible and at a low cost. To keep activities engaging, it will be up to the individual to decide how much or how little effort to put into the activities.

POV STATEMENT: 

A stressed-out university student needs to learn and apply healthy coping skills so that they can successfully self-regulate at times of need 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 

Primary objectives:

• Students will understand the importance and benefits of practicing mindfulness, as well as identify when to apply it to situations.
• The audience will be able to better self-regulate their stress levels throughout the semester.

Secret Objectives:

• Encourage students to engage in creative hobbies, or possibly spark an interest in trying new things.
• Help students broaden their cognitive capacity in order to achieve their academic goals.

Plan (Ideate, Sketch, Elaborate)

IDEATION:

The brainstorming process:

From brainstorming, we decided that we wanted to focus our prototype specifically on two topics of coping strategies. From that, we felt our most promising prototype was both art and journaling. 

SCRIPT:

The journal prompts, which is a downloadable PDF document, were created to fill out at the end of the day. It should be easy to follow and showcase the emotions that you are feeling that day. By doing this daily, we hope that you feel better as the week progresses with step-by-step planning and the hopes of reframing negative challenges that occur into positive learning lessons. 

Prototype Example: 

PRINCIPLES APPLIED:

Dual coding theory is the principle in which learners engage in both visual and verbal channels, allowing for additional capacity when processing new information. As creative hobbies are inherently a very visual process, the dual coding principle will be utilized throughout the drawing document to help guide learners through the process. Learners will be engaged with imagery to help them break down the drawing process.

The signalling principle is the principle where visual cues highlight key information, and will be applied through the use of headers and markers, allowing the learner to note areas of significance. This principle will be used throughout both documents, signifying the various steps and prompts throughout their processes.

Self-Pacing Principle (branch of segmenting): Students can complete the prompts at their own pace and revisit them as needed. This aligns with mindfulness practices that involve intentional reflection.