Cultivating Emotional Wellness and Self-Care through Mindful Mentorship

The practice of mindfulness is growing both in higher education (Wenger) and in writing centers (Johnson; Kervin and Barrett). Because mindfulness involves being attuned to what’s happening in a given moment and maintaining a purposeful awareness of what one feels, thinks, and does, we argue that writing center administrators can utilize principles of mindfulness for mentoring writing center tutors. We adopt Jennifer Clary-Lemon and Duane Roen’s definition of mentoring as an “activity that is both reciprocal and transformational” (181), whereby “the mentor is learning by monitoring and evaluating his or her mentoring activities and their effects on the mentee” (179). Their definition incorporates elements of mindfulness: self-awareness, reflection, and presence.