“Stepping into Wellbeing”: Informal Mindful Pedagogy for Student Wellbeing in Higher Education—A Case Study of Applied Learning

Abstract

Mindful pedagogy integrates a mindful approach in the classroom to support learning, creativity, and wellbeing using formal meditative practice or informal subject-related mindful practice or both. Since 2019, Mindful Kitchen Health and Wellbeing for Chefs, a globally unique module, has been delivered within year 1 of an undergraduate culinary arts programme. It uses a mindful pedagogical approach in a teaching kitchen setting promoting student self-care, mindfulness with food and positive kitchen culture. This qualitative single-case study explores its impact on the wellbeing of chefs in a real-world context and the process that creates that impact. The case study database includes interviews with graduates (n = 11), students (n = 7), module artefacts, co-creation workshops, and researcher reflection on class observations. Four themes emerged: stepping into wellbeing using the breath builds self-awareness, a mindful classroom builds creative confidence, calm minds empower the self for the workplace and informal mindful pedagogy creates “spacious applied learning” in Higher Education (HE). These unique insights can inform wellbeing-focused pedagogical practice in HE settings. Students’ experiences are easily transferable into other disciplines; however, further research should investigate nuances in transferability. Recommendations on integrating this approach into educators’ practice to strengthen wellbeing-focused teaching are presented.

1. Introduction

1.1. Wellbeing in Higher Education

For students, the transition into higher education (HE) can be both exciting and arduous. Notably, research into the mental health and wellbeing of students in university has grown since the start of the 21st Century (Hernández-Torrano et al., 2020). The heightened focus on student wellbeing in this sector is due to the increasing number of new challenges students face as they enter HE. Stepping into this new environment and adapting to a different approach to delivery and academic demands, being in a new cohort group in a new institution that may be a distance from home and having to make independent decisions can collectively shape the wellbeing and mental health of the student (Hernández-Torrano et al., 2020). Stress created by these personal challenges and current events can seep into the classroom and may create barriers to learning (Honsky et al., 2025). Though moderate stress can positively enhance learning and increase motivation (Lewis et al., 2008), conversely, it can present as behavioural, cognitive, physical or emotional symptoms impacting working memory and learning (Attia et al., 2022; Almarzouki, 2024). The related poor performance, fatigue, irritability, fear of failure and self-doubt heighten academic stress and can be overwhelming for students, which, if not managed, can lead to burnout and anxiety (Dumitrescu & De Caluwé, 2024). While stress is an adaptive response to what is perceived as a threat or experienced as challenging, anxiety may or may not have a stimulus and presents through physiological changes, i.e., worry, muscle tension and restlessness (Pérez-Jorge et al., 2025). As a growing number of adults within the Generation Z population (born 1997–2012) experience stress, worry and anxiety (Deloitte, 2022), there is a heightened need for measures in HE aimed at preventing anxiety and sustaining wellbeing levels to support learning and student development (Lopes et al., 2020).

Discussions on wellbeing usually centre on two key perspectives, subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984) and psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1989). Subjective wellbeing primarily reflects hedonic experiences such as pleasure, happiness and life satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2008). On the other hand, physiological wellbeing is grounded in eudemonia, where psychological functioning results in life satisfaction and the development of true potential, a key success factor for students transitioning to university life (Morales-Rodríguez et al., 2020). This psychological functioning includes six dimensions: positive relationships, self-acceptance, autonomy, purpose in life, environmental mastery and personal growth (Ryff, 1989). Additionally, a key finding in a systematic review of psychological wellbeing in education is the interdependent relationship between physiological wellbeing and academic success (Sarzhanova & Nurgabdeshov, 2025).

Within psychological wellbeing, self-efficacy and an individuals’ self-belief influence motivation, emotional regulation and behaviour (Bandura, 1997). Both are personal resources, which jointly can enhance the coping strategies of students dealing with academic stress (Freire et al., 2019). To this end, Öztekin et al. (2025) identified the need to improve the psychological flexibility and emotional regulation skills of students. Psychological flexibility involves students’ ability to attune in an open and active way to their thoughts and emotions, and their responses to them, having the capacity to stay in contact with them or modify them to pursue what is important for personal long-term goals (Bond et al., 2008; Hayes et al., 2006). López-Crespo et al. (2025) argue that this is a pivotal variable in understanding the link between academic emotions, engagement and performance and could meaningfully support student academic success including their psychological adjustment in HE. Of further significance in preparing students for the professional workplace is that higher levels of psychological flexibility can also enhance job performance and mental health (Bond & Flaxman, 2006).

Linked to psychological flexibility are emotional regulation skills that react to or modify emotions either through cognitively reinterpreting them and their impact or inhibiting, reducing or hiding them through expressive suppression (Cutuli, 2014; König, 2020). In contrast to expressive suppression that can result in low wellbeing (Chervonsky & Hunt, 2019), the cognitive reappraisal approach positively supports resilience and this together with psychological flexibility are robust personal resources in reducing the risk of mental health issues (Cardi et al., 2021; Öztekin et al., 2025). Sarzhanova and Nurgabdeshov (2025) also argue that emotional intelligence and mindfulness are instrumental in enhancing these physiological assets of students resulting in a positive impact on academic performance. Specifically, emotional intelligence strengthens emotional regulation and resilience; for example, students with high emotional intelligence were found to have greater self-acceptance and coping strategies (Lomberg & Jordaan, 2024). Mindfulness helps foster these abilities, mitigating learning anxiety and related academic stress (Fan & Cui, 2024). For example, in a study by Li (2021), students with high mindfulness levels were motivated to learn and had greater psychological wellbeing.

1.2. Pedagogies of Wellbeing

Integrating physiological wellbeing and mindfulness into the curriculum therefore presents opportunities for student wellbeing and success in HE. This is in stark contrast to the traditional classroom-based learning in HE. To achieve efficacy, the curriculum should embed wellbeing in both its design and delivery, while being grounded in student interdependence (Bannigan et al., 2025). Additionally, it must also be acknowledged that student experiences vary, and wellbeing literacy, though not pedagogy, gives students the knowledge, vocabulary and skills to build their wellbeing capabilities. Oades et al. (2021) therefore suggest that educators should focus on building wellbeing literacy through wellbeing language rather than wellbeing. N. S. Lemon and McDonough (2020), however, challenge this approach as it does not capture students’ relational learning and context of their wellbeing experience. Castillo (2025) argues for a pedagogy of “mindful embodiment” as an emerging pedagogy that is flexible to the space and classroom environment. Increasingly the integration of mindfulness as a pedagogical approach into the HE curriculum is progressively being acknowledged as having cross-disciplinary relevance in supporting student learning, resilience and wellbeing (Crowther et al., 2020; Serrão et al., 2022; Bywater & Keane, 2026; Dunuwila et al., 2025; Hassed, 2026; Honsky et al., 2025). This incorporation of mindfulness can be either through a formal mindfulness training programme or as formal and informal mindful practices designed to be flexibly integrated into the class delivery of a given module. While mindfulness in education has been posited for wellbeing education, Qvick et al.’s (2026) study, as the first large-scale randomised control trial, investigated the impact of a mindful intervention on student wellbeing and life satisfaction. Of significance is the interdependence between practice after the intervention and wellbeing impact, with reduced impact when the practice is not applied in daily life. Aligning the mindful approach with student aspirations and skills required for real-world career opportunities has also been proposed by Loucks et al. (2021). Therefore, the relevance of mindfulness to the student’s curriculum and real-world context and its role in assessment is key to its impact as a pedagogy (Hassed, 2026).

Mindfulness is defined as “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally” (Kabat-Zinn, 2015, p. 52). Such non-judgemental awareness is part of psychological flexibility (Birtwell et al., 2019) and the quality of the awareness can also impact the mind and learning (Davidson & Kaszniak, 2015). For the student, the resulting wellbeing of mindful embodiment is directly linked to being present to what emerges and how it is experienced in the body, thus generating more engaged learning (Castillo, 2025). This is congruent with the recent recognition of the role of the body in enhancing learning. Such embodied cognition for effective learning requires pedagogical change where physical and sensory activities linked to the discipline can be embedded to reflect real-world learning (Re & Bruno, 2026). The contextual application of mindfulness relevant to the needs of students should be considered as part of the WB approach in HE (Fadil et al., 2026). Ergas and Hadar (2023) argue that mindfulness goes beyond a contribution to wellbeing and achieving educational aims and turns attention inwardly to allow students to explore what is happening in their own mind, thus enabling these emotions and thoughts to become part of the curriculum. This inner-world view results in students having a different lens of awareness of themselves. Furthermore, it is significant that mindfulness in the classroom has the potential to support student wellbeing through self-awareness, self-regulation, and identity development (Dunuwila et al., 2025; Fadil et al., 2026), thus pointing to its possible application as a future-orientated pedagogical approach for HE.

In HE, the dominant approach to using mindfulness in the learning environment is based on the delivery of structured mindfulness programmes; however, a growing debate questions if this application of mindfulness is the most effective for student wellbeing (Honsky et al., 2025; Malboeuf-Hurtubise et al., 2024). This discussion is concerned with the type and length of practice, the educator approach and their delivery. In using this pedagogical approach, consideration should also be given to the learning environment and the educator’s role. The classroom environment should be a comfortable, calm, quiet, safe physical space and facilitate student movement while the educator should be enthusiastic and embody mindfulness (Crowther et al., 2020; Nardi et al., 2022).

Mindful pedagogy uses mindfulness in the classroom as a student-focused teaching strategy. The mindful awareness in the practice can be created using formal or informal practices (Birtwell et al., 2019) or a mix of both. The former uses formal meditative practices over a given length of time while informal practice is less structured, has less time commitment and is generally applied to the needs of the students. (Hassed & Chambers, 2015; Henriksen et al., 2020; Hindman et al., 2015). However, in one study by Ergas and Hadar (2023) focused on formal mindfulness practices, the practice was not sustained after the training period. This contrasts with a study that used informal mindfulness practices which continued to be used post the course. This was attributed to its association with wellbeing and psychological flexibility (Birtwell et al., 2019). Birtwell et al. (2019) argued that the frequency of informal practices is of greater importance for psychological flexibility and wellbeing than the frequency and length of formal practices. Additionally, practices that are applicable to daily routines are more likely to be incorporated by students to sustain their wellbeing and be applied to other aspects of their lives, while shorter spontaneous practices supported attention on existing behaviours for, e.g., positively shifting their relationship with stress through the experience and enhancing resilience (Nardi et al., 2022). The practicality of these short practices is such that they are time-efficient while having greater value in supporting student wellbeing than those requiring a greater time commitment in the classroom. One example is Deroche et al. (2025) who promote the integration of mindfulness into the curriculum by weaving it within the classroom using a three-step breathing space exercise. This practice is used at intervals throughout the session to create mindful awareness for increased learning engagement, greater attention and a joy of learning. Honsky et al. (2025) also agree that brief mindful activities in the classroom create a supportive learning space for student wellbeing. When delivered over a semester, these short practices impacted student mindfulness and stress, noting that students also reported carrying their skills beyond the classroom, though further research is required to assess this impact on self-care.

Wellbeing has a bi-directional relationship with creativity whereby creativity promotes wellbeing and wellbeing is fostered by creativity (Torrance, 1981; Huppert & So, 2013). Positive emotions experienced through creative expression are associated with subjective wellbeing (Tan et al., 2021). The state of flow that results depends on the focus and engagement with the task enhancing positive emotions and wellbeing (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) as well as broadening and building (Fredrickson, 2001) creative ability. From a teaching and learning perspective, informal mindful pedagogy helps students overcome creative barriers to creative expression, leading to creative confidence (Sweeney et al., 2025).

The aim of the current study is to critically assess the potential of informal mindful pedagogy as a curriculum-embedded wellbeing strategy in HE. The aim was applied to a pre-existing wellbeing-focused culinary education module called the Mindful Kitchen which uses informal pedagogy in its design. Using the Mindful Kitchen as a single-case study, the guiding research question is: How does informal mindful pedagogy impact chef wellbeing in a real-world context? The significance of the study lies in its contribution to the wellbeing-focused pedagogical practice in HE settings. The exploration of the use of informal mindful pedagogy applied to professional practice for real-world learning is unique and will therefore be valuable for other practice-based disciplines. Insights gained from the student and graduate experience will provide evidence and a defined understanding of the short and long-term impact of a mindful toolkit for students and the professional environment. Crucially, for applied learning, the study provides HE educators with a practical direction for integrating informal mindful pedagogy into their classroom.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Introduction Methodological Overview

This study employs a qualitative single-case study approach. As a unique case study it builds upon already established concepts related to the use of mindfulness in the classroom to support student wellbeing. According to Yin (2014, 2018), unique and bounded cases can be used for theory development. This case is bounded by four aspects: activity, cohort, time, and setting. The activity is focused on the use of informal mindful pedagogy in a wellbeing-focused module in year one of a culinary arts degree programme in one campus of a university. The cohort are culinary arts students currently in year one of their degree and graduates who have completed the module. Excluded are year 1 students in another campus of the university. From a time perspective, the module is delivered over 12 weeks in semester 2 of the programme, with students taking the module in 2025 and graduates of the module 2019–2024 being included in the study. The setting is a practical kitchen laboratory and the workplace. As a case study research, this paper is a systematic investigation of a wellbeing-focused applied learning module for young chefs that used informal mindful pedagogy, investigating its impact in a real-life context (Yin, 2018). This presents in-depth insights into the enriched experiences of a unique case and participants’ perspectives (Gomm et al., 2000; Cresswell, 2014). It is intended to capture the distinctiveness of the module design and its outcomes in order to create meaning and a contextual understanding of its activity (Stake, 1995).

2.2. Research Context

The Mindful Kitchen, a Health and Wellbeing for Chef’s module was designed in 2019 for an undergraduate culinary arts programme and continues to be delivered on the second semester of year 1 of the degree as a compulsory module (Figure 1).

The inspiration for designing the module was influenced by the growing need to support the wellbeing of young chefs in their time in college but also when entering professional practice. The professional kitchen is renowned for being a stressful environment that can lead to burnout (Rowley & Purcell, 2001) where historically abusive work practices and bullying have been the norm (Bloisi & Hoel, 2008). Self-care is not given priority; this may be due to the length of the working day and the expediency of tasks, all of which are stress predictors in daily activity and associated with increasing health complaints and a lower quality of life (Cerasa et al., 2020). Such stressful environments are no longer acceptable. Young graduates seek modern-day workplaces that are caring and meaningful places to work that support their wellbeing (De Smet et al., 2023). This highlights the need for cultural change both in the profession and in the education of culinary professionals. Aligned to this is the potential of employee mindfulness in moderating difficulties in the workplace (Yu et al., 2023) and therefore the need to explore its application through culinary education.

The Mindful Kitchen module therefore aims to empower young chefs to be mindful with food, cooking, their own self-care in everyday life and in professional practice and promote positive kitchen culture. It also seeks to foster creativity to support overall wellbeing. Using informal mindful pedagogy in the applied learning classroom, i.e., a teaching kitchen, presents students with a unique classroom environment for a practical kitchen class that is focused on being mindful with the task at hand. Mindful resources (e.g., breathing practice, body scan, qigong, yoga, mindful eating, mindful photography) are gradually introduced to students during the module with the view that students could then create their own ‘mindful tool kit’ to suit their individual needs. Practical mindful tasks challenge students to apply a mindful approach to food and creativity. Roleplays created by the lecturer and some created by students focus on aspects of self-care and kitchen culture scenarios. Facilitating students to step into roleplay characters encourages class debate on kitchen culture decisions while also adding humour. Journaling and reflection are important aspects of the session. Anonymous journaling allows students to express their emotions, while formal reflections are focused on their use of character strengths including a gratitude practice of “three good things”, a validated positive psychology intervention (Seligman et al., 2005).

The module was co-created and is co-delivered by the first author researcher and a colleague, both culinary arts lecturers. The former has a mindful practice.

2.3. Study Design

This study was designed to collect data over three stages. As the module has been delivered since 2019, it was important to garner the experience of graduates of the module as well as students that were completing the module. Data was therefore collected for the study over three key stages (Figure 2,

Table 1. The Mindful Kitchen Case study research tools.

Research Stage	Research Tool	No of Samples	Sample Details	Additional Information
1	Semi-structured graduate interviews	11	Male = 7 Female = 4	Completed module 2019–2024 [1 (2019), 1(2020), 2 (2021), 3(2024)] Completed module 2019–2022 [1 (2019), 2 (2021), 1 (2022)]
2	Anonymous Free-writing journal	9	Each recording insights over 11 weeks	Used in the class by students for personal reflection on their emotions and learning linked to the mindful approach to class challenges
2	Weekly Class reflections	62	Assessed component [reflective practice]	Used at the end of class to reflect on character strengths used during class and to log ‘three good things’ as a gratitude practice.
2	End of module Self-care plans	6	Assessed component [Application of learning for real-world context]	5-year professional plan
2	Co-creation workshops during module delivery	3	3 sessions in 12-week semester - Week 6 - Week 9 - Week 12	Interpretation of suggestions for class activities adapted in line with feedback without impacting module content delivery
2	Researcher Observations			Observation of student engagement during module delivery
3	Semi-structured Student interviews	7	Male = 4 Female = 3	Completed module 2025

). During the second stage, the delivery of the module was captured through the lens of students firstly through engagement, secondly through co-creation workshops with students to ascertain their feedback on module delivery at three interval points, and thirdly by researcher observations and reflections during module delivery.

2.4. Participants

Recruitment for stage 1 involved posting a recruitment poster on the module, degree programme social media channels and the culinary arts campus noticeboard. A total of 11 participants took part in the first stage of the study, male (64%) and female (36%). Two participants had been in the initial class in 2019, 4 had studied the module during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 3 were 2nd year students that had completed the module in 2024. All participants were working in professional practice either full-time at a senior level as sous-chefs (n = 2), at a senior junior level as chefs de partie (n = 4), at a junior level as commis chefs (n = 3) or had experience in kitchens (n = 2) (

Table 2. Profile of interviewees: students and graduates who completed Mindful Kitchen prior to 2025.

Transcript Code	M/F	Student (S) Graduate (G)	Year TMK	Years Experience in Professional Practice	Current Role	Other Notes
1_110225	M	G	2019	5 full-time	Sous-chef
I_130225	F	G	2019	5 full-time	Sous-chef
I-220524	M	G	2020	4 full-time	Chef de Partie
I_141124	M	G	2021	2 full-time	Chef de Partie	Studied during COVID-19
I_051224	F	G	2021	2 full-time	Chef de Partie	Studied during COVID-19
I_260424	F	G	2021	3 years part-time	Commis Chef Part-time student	Studied during COVID-19
I_011225	M	G	2021	2 full-time	Chef de Partie	Studied during COVID-19
I_091224	F	S	2022	3 years part-time	Commis Chef Part-time student
I_251124	M	S	2024	Placement only	Full-time student
I_130125	M	S	2024	1 year part-time	Commis Chef Full-time student
I_090125	M	S	2024	Placement only	Full-time student

).

In stage 2, all students were briefed on the research before starting the module and were invited to participate. Nine participants out of a group of 11 gave their consent. One person left the programme in week 3 of the semester. The number of collected artefacts varied between the research tools (Table 1). As this stage was during module delivery, participant engagement varied due to attendance during the module and their submission of coursework. There were a total of 7 participants in stage 3, the end-of-module semi-structured interviews, male (57%) and female (43%). All had been attending professional kitchens one day a week as a college placement.

2.5. Ethical Considerations

Ethical approval (REC-23-016, 2023) was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Technological University, Dublin. During module delivery, as the first author is also the co-educator, the second educator was appointed as the gatekeeper for all assessed components of the module. For the student group taking the module, the researcher only used artefacts from those consenting to being involved in the research.

2.6. Data Collection

A qualitative methodology was used to capture the real-world context experiences of graduates that had completed Mindful Kitchen and students’ lived experiences as they completed the module week-on-week during a semester. As a single-case study, a variety of data sources were used: semi-structured interviews with students and graduates, classroom artefacts, co-creation workshops, class observation and researcher reflexivity (Table 1). Data collection was systematic. This deliberate strategy for engagement provides an extensive data set facilitating access to rich insights of participants’ experiences and perspectives from which to investigate and refine and interpret the emerging patterns of meaning (Braun & Clarke, 2022).

2.6.1. Semi-Structured Interviews

As part of the semi-structured interviews, graduates and students were asked ten questions. Two questions related to their views and insights on being a student in Mindful Kitchen, the classroom environment and the mindful tools used. One question explored the role of mindful learning in their creativity and in other classes, while another sought insight into its application in their wellbeing practice. Participants were asked two questions that probed into their learning about kitchen culture and the relevance of mindful tools for chef wellbeing in modern kitchens. They were also asked about the related value both in the classroom and in professional practice, of their learning about their own abilities, competencies and character strengths. One question explored the application of overall learning in supporting their professional workplace or while in placement. The lived experience of graduates in professional practice was garnered by a question relating to their daily practice of their applied learning. The final question sought to gain all participant views on the value of the module in the training of chefs.

2.6.2. Classroom Artefacts

Weekly classroom artefacts and assessment submissions were collected to add to the data. These included 3 key items, weekly entries into a personal anonymous journal (n = 8), end-of-class reflections (n = 62) and an overall five-year self-care plan (n = 8). The anonymous journal gathered their emotional reaction to the class and their learning. The end-of-class reflection was more formal as it used positive education tools (character strengths and gratitude) as an anchor for mindful wellbeing reflection. Students’ five-year self-care plan assessment submission was viewed as a valuable tool to explore the integration of applied learning across the module.

2.6.3. Co-Creation Workshops

Based on the pedagogical value of the co-creation process, stage 2 also involved a collaboration with students to investigate their interaction and understanding of the impact of the activities (Bovill, 2020a, 2020b). Co-creation sessions were held at three intervals during the 12-week module delivery (weeks 6, 9 and 12). As an interactive process, it was founded on nine partnership values: empowerment, trust, courage, plurality, responsibility, authenticity, honesty, inclusivity and reciprocity (Healey & Healey, 2019). Each session asked students to give input on nine key areas relating to: their experience to date, being a student in the module, learning about the self and using a mindful approach in the kitchen, learning about the self in relation to kitchen culture, how the module was developing them as a young chef, opinions on class activities (roleplays and challenges) and end-of-class reflections, and team suggestions for improvement. For each question students were invited to write their feedback on anonymous postit notes. These were then placed with the question on posters and discussed. Suggestions were discussed, agreed and enacted on with feedback sought on their impact in the following session. These suggestions referred to what could be included as activities (more group activities, mindful walk, guest speakers, more creativity challenges). The final session also sought their opinion on their overall experience and learning participating in the student–staff partnership aspect of the research study. Engagement in the co-creation workshops varied per session, session 1 (n = 8), session 2 (n = 7), session 3 (n = 6).

2.6.4. Class Observation

During module delivery, the first author being the co-educator, reflected on class observations (n = 7) and student engagement with the pedagogy, both in their own sessions and in those of the second educator.

2.7. Data Analysis

Drawing on theories and concepts of wellbeing and mindful pedagogy as sensitising concepts, data analysis is both inductive and deductive. Interview data was transcribed using MAXQDA software (version 2024), anonymised and given a transcript identifier. Data was uploaded on the same software, and the transcript identifiers were then used during data analysis. The researcher also engaged in a reflective practice following each interview, noting key observations by participants relating to the pedagogy, module activities, applied learning for wellbeing, creativity and real-world practice. Observations of research preconceptions and reactions were also noted. These notes were referred to during the data analysis stage. The anonymous journal text was tabulated for each student, with researcher reflection insights recorded on each weekly entry. Each table was giving an identifier and uploaded for analysis. End of class reflections were collated per student on an Excel spreadsheet, along with the self-care plans and weekly researcher class observations, which were also given specific identifiers and uploaded on the MAXQDA software under separate headings. The PowerPoint slides used in the co-creation sessions, showing the questions and results per session, were uploaded as separate files. A formal case study database was compiled from a systematic archive of all raw data in this case.

A qualitative educational study such as this recognising the value of analysing the researcher’s subjectivity and how it shapes the enquiry and outcome is key (Nowell et al., 2017). The case is focused on a real-world natural environment where the first author had a dual role of educator and researcher. Reflexivity is critical when addressing the dual role of the educator–researcher and is viewed as an asset rather than a limitation in a study (Liang, 2025; Olmos-Vega et al., 2023). Therefore, Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) framework for trustworthiness was adopted. The first author reflected on their positioning within the research and how it impacted the participants and the study. Personal reflection was used to mediate the first author’s enthusiasm for the pedagogical approach in order to uncover the influence of the approach. Importantly, this included acknowledging any resistance experienced by participants and aspects of the module that are less effective. Being able to get so close to the data in the classroom supported interview observations, giving a deep sense of the data collected and a heightened sensitivity to the credibility of a participant’s experience. While only one artefact was anonymous, the educators’ interpersonal reflexivity focused on the potential power dynamics within the classroom or past experiences of graduates that could shape the level and type of student engagement. This was mitigated in the classroom by having two educators for delivery of all content and giving students the opportunity to collaborate in the research process as part of the co-creation sessions where their feedback was openly discussed and acted upon. Prior to all interviews, participants were reminded of the importance of sharing both positive and negative experiences for the benefit of the study. The educators’ interpersonal reflexivity overlapped with a contextual reflexivity of the role of the novel classroom environment and the significance of the study in HE. While a reflexive approach was used during data collection, it was also used during data analysis. Data triangulation facilitated cross-verification of participants’ experience and analysis of the interpretations across the case study database, thus minimising bias by the first author. The search for outliers was intentional as there were many consistencies in the data. Interpretations were read and challenged by the second author, including the risk of being overly optimistic and blind to any negative case analysis. This resulted in further engagement with the data.

Initiated by a deep engagement with all the data guided by sensitising concepts of wellbeing in HE and wellbeing pedagogical practices, analysis using reflexive thematic analysis (RFA) was carried out observing Braun and Clarke (2022)’s six-phase approach. Using line-by-line semantic coding, the entire data set was systematically analysed for meaningful descriptors and code labels applied. Codes were then categorised under classroom environment, learning experience, learner wellbeing competencies, applied learning outcomes, self-care practice, creativity, the mindful toolkit, wellbeing in professional practice, journalling emotions, self-care themes and co-creation feedback. Each data set was then analysed further through creative coding tools in MAXQDA. The exploration of shared meaning in each data set, aligned to the research questions and researcher insights, resulted in potential themes in each set. Further analysis of these themes across the entire data set focused on capturing patterns of shared meaning and relationships between them linked to the research questions. The core focus of the resulting themes was further refined to build the core concepts of the study findings. The triangulation of data creates a chain of evidence across the case study database to strengthen the study’s reliability. Consistencies in the explicit evidence across the sources reinforced the themes and added deep insight and stability into the concept development, thus acknowledging the research question, the protocol used, data collection, the case study database and the case study findings.

3. Results

The results were taken inductively and deductively and some of the sensitising concepts emerged. Of significance is the role of informal mindful pedagogy as a wellbeing pedagogy, showing potential to address student challenges while in HE and when working in a professional workplace. Four themes emerged from the data: (1) “Stepping into wellbeing” using the breadth builds self-awareness, (2) a mindful environment builds creative confidence, (3) calm minds empower the self for the workplace, and (4) informal mindful pedagogy creates “spacious applied learning” in HE (Figure 3).

3.1. Theme 1: “Stepping into Wellbeing” Using the Breadth Builds Self-Awareness

This theme is key to the impact of Mindful Kitchen on participants in that it influences all other wellbeing outcomes. Experientially, the use of informal mindful practices in the classroom (in particular the breadth) facilitated an inner connection with participants’ wellbeing potential and a confidence to apply it for self-care in college and workplace settings. Within the theme are five sub-themes that illustrate how the module influenced overall wellbeing in the students and graduates: (1) self-awareness of stress and anxiety, (2) breathing as a relaxation tool, (3) emotional regulation through breathing practice, (4) breathing, the most valued self-care tool, (5) building wellbeing as a subconscious habit.

3.1.1. Self-Awareness of Stress and Anxiety

Having self-awareness about being stressed and anxious is key to enacting positive change for health in daily life. For participants, the module created awareness of sources of stress in their life and the impact of this stress on their wellbeing. They acknowledged that as students this was related to starting college, assessments, having a tight schedule and going into busy professional kitchens.

“Like just because going into college new situation, it’s overwhelming naturally. And everything is new. You know, the smallest things become stressful for no reason.”

(I_051224, Pos. 2)

For graduates, stress in the job was a constraint that prevented them from being themselves while they also described that a lack of self-care can lead to burnout.

“You can burn out physically if you burn out mentally, it’s a lot harder to get back.”

(I_220524, Pos. 2)

They expressed both in the anonymous journals and the interviews that the mindful exercises resulted in them developing a greater sense of self-awareness.

“The whole thing helped me, helped me understand and help me more or less see, see myself in a different way.”

(I_011225, Pos. 70)

The class also facilitated creating a pause in their day to connect with themselves and check in on their emotional wellbeing.

“It meant being able to come into the kitchen and take those few minutes just to ask myself, how am I doing?”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

Amidst growing stress and anxiety in HE students, it is significant that this class opened a new lens of awareness in students of the imbalance created by stress and the realisation of the importance of using tools for self-care in their day-to-day activities as chefs.

3.1.2. Breathing as a Relaxation Skill

Awareness was created experientially through the pedagogy. While there was recognition that the mindful tool kit supported their wellbeing, breathing was viewed as a relaxation skill that creates greater self-awareness of sources of stress and how to deal with it.

“I really enjoyed the breathing techniques, the practice, because obviously you tend to forget to breathe in a relaxing way, and it’s almost kind of reins you back to a relaxing state.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

The practice allowed them to connect with themselves in a relaxing environment and created calm and ease in their minds.

“I can take deep breaths, and, like, you can reconnect with yourself and you’re able to do it.”

(S2_010525_5, Pos. 12)

For participants, this meant they did not have to compete or strive, they were allowed the space to relax and be, and this resulted in a mindset change.

“Then you’d go into the kitchen, and it’d be like, take a minute, take a breather. You know, it’s grand.”

(I_051224, Pos. 2)

“It really puts you in a different frame of mind, and it kind of makes you a lot more creative. And I just feel that you just overall work a lot better when you’re in that situation because you’re a lot more relaxed.”

(I_220524, Pos. 2)

Participants consistently reported that breathing was an antidote to the stress and anxiety they experience.

“It kind of it helps us face that stress from the beginning.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

One graduate reinforced its application in the professional environment by describing the interconnection between taking time to relax and stepping into a professional mindset.

“Before stepping into the kitchen so you can take that time to relax before stepping into a professional mindset.”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

From a professional perspective, these findings also point to the potential of a chef-wellbeing-focused approach in professional kitchen practice, where chef kitchen teams are encouraged to relax as part of their daily routine.

3.1.3. Emotional Regulation Through Breathing Practice

Participants described how the sense of self-awareness facilitated emotional regulation in the classroom.

“I’m more mindful of, like how I talk to people, which is very helpful to me.”

(S2_010525_2, Pos. 16)

Giving permission to relax in the classroom and professional kitchens was of importance to participants.

“I thought it was a good insight kind of into industry, like how to, if you’re pressured, how to like stay calm.”

(I_090125 (1), Pos. 4)

For many, this influenced their reactions in the kitchen environment and enabled them to build an ongoing habit of professional conduct as a reminder of how their actions impact kitchen culture.

“It’s helped me like in any kind of leadership, kind of just take a step back instead of being what people are classified as old, old style chefs going in very angry and saying they want to this way, that way, this way, I go in with more like a democratic look to the kitchen instead of a dictatorship.”

(I_110225.v1, Pos. 14)

From an applied learning perspective, they expressed the relevance of the practice for their overall studies and real-world learning and how insights gained could support their self-care while studying, during placement and in employment.

“If you do that from when you are a student, if you instil that mindset, I think when you leave the college and go to work, that’s where it will make sense as well. It will kind of make you want to have these, these things in work. And then if everybody thinks the same things start changing.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

This suggests that skills learned can not only enable individual wellbeing but also provide support for ongoing positive changes in kitchen culture which is currently aimed at a new democratic leadership style and focused care and respect for all team members. Uniquely, these experiences demonstrate additional real-world learning that can arise from mindful pedagogy and its role in building graduates’ skills for workplace wellbeing.

3.1.4. Breathing—The Most Valued Self-Care Tool

Participants’ preference for breathing as the most valued self-care tool was due mainly to the naturalness and simplicity of the practice, its ease of use and the privacy in its application for situational wellbeing and its immediate benefit.

“It’s so simple, but you don’t realize it until it’s brought to your attention the simplicity of it.”

(I_051224, Pos. 2)

“So, it’s something you can do quietly and it’s not noticeable. And it helps you.”

(I_091224, Pos. 174)

Importantly, they attribute the realisation of its impact as a self-care resource to the module.

“You feel with the breathing there is an instant feel of wellbeing. And it’s something that you don’t realize until you do it.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

This informality of breathing as a mindful tool is a significant finding and suggests that it is an essential component when using mindful pedagogy for physiological and eudemonic wellbeing.

Further explanation of the popularity of this practice was also expressed throughout the study. Participants’ description of the immediacy of the impact of breathing and the language used to describe their practice, in particular the use of “action verbs” in their narrative, reiterates their sense of a deep connection with this practice for their wellbeing. Breathing as a practice involves “stepping”: “aside”, “back”, “going outside”, “coming back”, “sitting back”, and allows them to relax the mind and improve overall performance at tasks.

“Like, step back, relax. You know, it doesn’t need to be 100 miles an hour. You can breathe.”

(I_051224, Pos. 2)

“So, I just step aside a little bit. I just breathe for even go out for 2 or 3 minutes and then you reset. You take a few breaths, and you come back and everything is gone.”

(S2_010525_4, Pos. 37)

They also applied the practice in an “active” way during their studies and in the workplace in order to manage their stress levels, which they felt supported them.

“So yesterday from my pastry exam I was very, very stressed out. And I didn’t think I was going to go through with it. And I was able to take a deep breath. I actually went outside for a little walk, like you said to. Yeah. And so, and I came back into my exam and everything was fine.”

(S2_010525_5, Pos. 10)

Distinctively, this application of the practice by students and graduates suggests mindful embodiment of the classroom practice and is a key outcome of using the pedagogical approach in HE for real-world learning.

3.1.5. Building Wellbeing as a Subconscious Habit

Interestingly, many participants described the time it takes for the breathing exercise to activate a state of calm and relaxation as being brief, i.e., from 3 to 5 min or the time it takes to go for a short walk. This illustrates why they view the practice as a practical “reset”. Of key significance for stepping into wellbeing is that the pedagogical approach of repeating the practice in each class was noted by participants as a supporting habit formation which they then apply to their wellbeing. Writing in their anonymous journal was part of this habit and their account of the impact on their self-awareness highlights the importance of mindful pedagogy in building positive habits for them as learners. Further evidence of this habit formation is expressed in how they use the practice in the professional environment to manage stress and give themselves some head space in a busy kitchen.

“Because I do the breathing just before I go in and just before service. And if I have time during the day, I do it during lunch.”

(I_220524, Pos. 2)

Relevant in the context of this study and its application to other disciplines is that the Mindful Kitchen allowed students and graduate participants to build a pause habit in the day using a simple breathing practice, which they confidently applied informally as a self-care tool when needs arose.

3.2. Theme 2: A Mindful Environment Builds Creative Confidence

One aspect when using mindful pedagogy in the Mindful Kitchen is the creation of a classroom environment that supports mindful activities focused on students’ mindful awareness, food, creativity and kitchen culture. Participants described the environment as being relaxed and calm, an open space for students to own at an unhurried pace, which was in contrast to their other classes.

“It was kind of slow, like, really chill environment. Like a really calm environment.”

(I_090125 (1), Pos. 10)

The anonymous class journal, performance of mindful activities and class observations supported this finding. For many, this allowed them to clear their head while it also supported self-expression. Participants noted how this affected their minds in a way that was in contrast with other classes and created a different mindset which simultaneously facilitated their learning.

“It was more relaxed. But we were still learning, but in a different kind of way in our head.”

(I_130225, Pos. 46)

The impact of the freedom of this environment and its related learning, all created through informal mindfulness, showcase the potential of the pedagogical approach in achieving learning outcomes in a way that meets the needs of current students.

Participants consistently reported that the mindful environment played a significant role in shaping their creativity. They described this creativity as a stress-free freedom to express themselves in kitchens as a result of the mindful space. It sparks their creativity facilitating them to think outside the box. Interestingly, they reinforced the interdependence between being in a relaxed mindful environment and enabling creative expression. It is also insightful that they attributed part of their success in being creative to being free from stress while simultaneously being challenged to unleash their creativity as part of the module.

“But it definitely showed me a way to be creative and how to unleash your creativity.”

(I_251124, Pos. 2)

Considering that creativity is a key skill required for the professional kitchen, this finding provides evidence that informal mindful pedagogy is appropriate for culinary education. It is also significant that the participants refer to having opportunities to express their creativity. Such opportunities not only allocated time to exploring their creativity but gave them space to realise its potential and its role in their wellbeing. Of importance here is that while they noted the impact of the Mindful Kitchen on their creativity; this contrasts with their description of previously held personal conceptions of their competency prior to studying the module. In particular, many described their lack of self-belief in a personal creative ability.

“Definitely prior to ever doing the Mindful Kitchen. I never had given myself any space to allow to think that I am creative.”

(I_251124, Pos. 2)

“I never ever had creativity. Well, I never believed I had creativity. I always I never showed Like if I had an idea, I never brought it to the table because I always thought it was a bit of a silly idea or I always doubted myself.”

(S2_010525_5, Pos. 40)

This finding implies that mindful pedagogy can positively shift students’ pre-existing negative perception of inherent creative competencies. This has significant application for HE in empowering all students to experience their creative potential.

Participants emphasised a personal sense of achievement in realising their creative potential. It is significant that they attributed part of their success in being creative to the role of relaxation, being free from stress while simultaneously being challenged to unleash their creativity. The module’s regular creativity challenges were noted by participants as being instrumental in promoting an experiential approach to creativity resulting in a shift in their self-belief in their own abilities and thus in developing their creative confidence. From a wellbeing perspective, they described how realising their creative abilities enabled self-expression and emotional transformation and this was valued as an educational experience. The freedom of expression and the open non-judgmental space within the Mindful Kitchen classroom served as the context for this learning outcome.

While exploring creativity is one aspect of learning in the classroom, it is noteworthy that graduate participants describe having extended the practice into the workplace. They conveyed that due to Mindful Kitchen, they felt more confident in being creative in the workplace while also reinforcing the value of an open kitchen culture in promoting creative practice.

“Where I work now is a really open space where our opinions are valued a lot. So, I can be as creative as I want to be. And I feel like mindful kitchen brought a lot of that creativity for me.”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

From a wellbeing perspective, they described how realising their creative abilities enabled self-expression and emotional transformation and this was valued as an educational experience. The freedom of expression and the open non-judgmental space within the Mindful Kitchen classroom serves as the context for this learning outcome.

“I feel more creative. More confident in myself as, a like as a young chef. Like it really, really helped boost like boost my self-esteem because I was such a low self-esteem kind of person. Like I, I’m always hard on myself.”

(1_011225, Pos. 66–67)

These findings illustrate how creative competence created using informal mindful pedagogy, primarily through the mindful classroom environment and mindful challenges, can empower students with confidence in their creative abilities not just for the classroom but for real-world settings. The impact of the mindful challenges in this study may be partly because they were tailored specifically to the real-world setting of the professional kitchen. Considering that in this case study participants were chef students and graduates, these insights linked to developing their creativity skills in the module are important for their professional practice, especially in creating menus. In addition, it recognises the importance of giving time to creative practice in any professional training and workplace for overall wellbeing.

3.3. Theme 3: Calm Minds Empower the Self for the Workplace

As part of their education for the professional kitchen, participants consistently described the impact of the calming relaxation skills learned in the Mindful Kitchen as not simply something that they engaged with in class, but practices that are important for their overall wellbeing at work.

Mindful awareness gave them clarity on how to be and act in various situations, be that for themselves or to benefit their team’s wellbeing. For their personal wellbeing, they outlined that this involved identifying when they needed to take a break, when they were developing habits that were having a negative impact, and noticing when there was a build-up of pressure and stress related to work.

“Just to take yourself out of the kitchen for a minute in your head.”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

They also connected their awareness to how their behaviour could impact others, be that through care for team members or negative emotions like anger.

“Steps to know how to manage your anger. Don’t let your feelings take over you.”

(S2_010525_4, Pos. 19)

The mindfulness reported in these findings demonstrates that these chefs are changing the traditional persona of the chef which for decades has been associated with a lack of self-care, abuse, ego-driven behaviour, and instilling fear in the work environment. It was also acknowledged, however, that against the backdrop of negative culture, creating and maintaining this approach can be difficult—it requires courage, confidence, positive thinking and maintaining a balanced view. This suggests maturity develops in their self-awareness as they are given positions of responsibility in the workplace.

Participants reinforced the importance of their wellbeing at work and that it needs to be given perspective within the profession. They described that chefs need to prioritise their wellbeing as not doing so can result in unhappiness at work, burnout, a build-up of negative emotions and fear which can lead to mental health issues. They also noted that this could impact their long-term personal sustainability in the profession.

“There’s no point in running yourself into the ground because then you’re going to have to, you’re going to burn out and you’re going to have to take a break or leave.”

(I_051224, Pos. 2)

Following on from this, they reported that wellbeing impacts their work practice. Being relaxed promotes a more mindful work practice which leads to more focused efficiency with food. Their linkage between time and efficiency is interesting considering that the mindset in kitchens is to work fast due to the demands of the business. The fact that participants made a connection between wellbeing, performance and career sustainability is a significant point and may have a bearing for future promotion of wellbeing to the profession.

Looking at wellbeing from another perspective, participants also described how it impacted their happiness at work. Joy was an important aspect in their kitchen environment. It was created through humour, “kitchen craic” and people connection. Others noted the importance of creating a work environment of care that supports teamwork for job satisfaction.

“Being a leader, is more about creating a good atmosphere and a good kind of friendly kind of work, teamwork environment.”

(I_251124, Pos. 2)

The attention they gave to positive emotions as part of kitchen workplace wellbeing is important. Kitchens are associated with a banter that some perceive as humour and enjoy, however sometimes it can be directed in a sarcastic way towards others, affecting their happiness in the job. The connection of humour with care suggests that when chefs are made more aware of their own wellbeing, they see the impact of their interactions on the kitchen atmosphere and happiness of others. While not every chef may have humour as a strength, these findings highlight that the strengths identified by students as part of the module could be used by them in the professional environment to support the happiness and job satisfaction of others.

The confidence in their communication of the fundamental role of wellbeing in professional kitchens demonstrates, as discussed in Theme 1, a lived experience of applying the tools presented to them in the module. Their focus on using their skills for workplace care in this way is a reframing of kitchen culture perspectives which in time may shape their influence as leaders of professional teams. The skills gained are transferable skills to any workplace and show potential for the inclusion of the pedagogy in leadership and team training for busy and active workplaces, including those focused on care, e.g., hospitality and nursing.

3.4. Theme 4: Informal Mindful Pedagogy Creates “Spacious Applied Learning”

This theme is an interpretation of the extent of overall student learning and wellbeing-focused practices when informal mindful pedagogical tools were applied in the classroom. Analysis of the theme revealed four distinct and interconnected sub-themes: (1) spacious learning, (2) building wellbeing skills, (3) applied learning outcomes, and (4) a student mindful toolkit for applied wellbeing. The findings will provide unique insights for educators interested in implementing the pedagogy in their HE classroom.

3.4.1. Spacious Learning

A characteristic of the Mindful Kitchen is the creation of a mindful space for learning established in the classroom using background calming instrumental music, and mindful self-care practices and activities. Participants emphasised the importance of the related pace on their overall learning. It created a calm stress-free open space that facilitated freedom of expression and less competitive learning among class peers, bringing joy to the overall experience. They consistently reported the impact the approach had on reducing their stress in the classroom and how this sets up a space in their mind to access learning.

“The fact that you are more relaxed. It gives you that space to be able to learn, to access learning in a, in a relaxing way.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

The language used by participants indicated how the learning space facilitated them stepping into wellbeing and applied learning, through making connections between their emotional state and their learning mindset. They spoke of checking in on their emotions as they entered the class, being at ease with being relaxed in the class, and seeing the relevance for their career.

“It meant being able to come into the kitchen and take those few minutes just to ask myself, how am I doing? And then also, in the best way possible, trying to leave any emotional baggage or family and friend dramas at the door just before stepping into the kitchen so you can take that time to relax before stepping into a professional mindset.”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

Taken together, these findings point to participants in general identifying stress with the HE classroom and how the space created in the Mindful Kitchen classroom contrasts with that. It implies that they prefer being stress-free in order to gain the full benefit from their studies. This is an important insight from an overall-wellbeing-in-HE perspective.

Further analysis of this point illustrates three key influences within the learning space. Firstly, they described the background music as creating a calming, relaxing atmosphere that puts them at ease.

“I think the music is brilliant, like, because it’s one of those like as soon as you hear it, it really puts you at ease. I just think it completely changes your train of thought. Like, and you can really feel the stress going as you’re listening to it, like, which is absolutely brilliant.”

(I_220524, Pos. 2)

Secondly, for participants the pace in the classroom, it allowed them to see things differently, reporting they were less rushed. They reflected on how it enabled them to think about what they were doing. They were also clear to counteract any concluding perception linking slow pace and less effective learning, stating that calmness was not laziness but resulted in learning that was more engaged and through a new mindset.

“Because there I was able to disconnect and be able to like calm down, that was good because you’re able to just, like, go into a different mindset.”

(S2_010525_5, Pos. 26–28)

“I think I definitely learned better that way. I was engaged with the module.”

(I_251124, Pos. 2)

This indicates that the classroom (though what many may view as being slow and unproductive) encouraged critical thinking. The fact that this resulted in giving them a different perspective on their learning is of significance considering that HE values accommodating learner diversity. In current education, considering there is a volume of content to deliver this finding, this also illustrates that learning may be more effective when the pace of delivery is considered.

Thirdly, participants acknowledged that the scheduling of their module in their timetable impacted their overall reaction to the module and its role in their learning. They spoke of the module as a break in the day, sandwiched between busy active practical and theory modules, and an opportunity to relax without restraints, free from worry.

“It’s a nice break. Like especially like, as you said, that point in the week. Good break a stop and lets you relax a bit during what is otherwise a very busy college week.”

(S2_010525_6, Pos. 180)

Participants’ confidence in this learning space was expressed in how they developed a new lens of awareness. They described how they became more self-aware, i.e., how they viewed themselves, their strengths and sources of gratitude in their lives. They also spoke of being more mindful not just with food but also of their reactions to others in the workplace and their natural surroundings.

“The whole thing helped me understand and help me more or less see, see myself in a different way.”

(1_011225, Pos. 70)

For educators collectively, these findings highlight that to enable students to create a space in their mind for learning, the impact of stress, worry, and constraints through content delivery and scheduling on their wellbeing need to be considered. Participants valued the space that the Mindful Kitchen created both in their head and in the classroom. Their learning insights extended beyond the module content into holistic applications of appreciation and self-awareness. This indicates the potential of spacious learning within HE, providing evidence that an informal mindful pedagogical approach can support this endeavour as a wellbeing strategy.

3.4.2. Building Wellbeing Skills

The Mindful Kitchen is focused on empowering young chefs with wellbeing skills to support their self-care in daily life and application in the professional environment. Skill development requires repeated practice and participants acknowledged that the weekly repetition and reminder of mindful practices built their wellbeing habits into a daily practice. This recognition of the habit-formation process (also referred to in Theme 1) is important from an education design perspective in two ways. Firstly, the fact that the module involved weekly student activities gave them the opportunity to practice their skills. Secondly, while the activities varied each week, the structure and the use of informal pedagogy followed a weekly routine, i.e., start and the end of the class using journaling, mindful practice, and reflection on their use of their character strengths and gratitude. This illustrates the importance of a planned gradual approach to teaching wellbeing. The insights gained from using this approach illustrate a potential relevance of current neuroscience theory on building habits for wellbeing, applied to mindful pedagogy.

Participants reflected on the wellbeing skills acquired. These are related to relaxation, creativity, emotional transformation and self-care skills. As mentioned in Theme 1, they spoke consistently about the relaxation skills gained in the module. Similarly, the mindful environment and the creative challenges together were reported as building their creative confidence (Theme 2), enabling them to think outside the box, innovate, and develop their curiosity. They attributed the creativity skills gained to the space and time given in the classroom to express themselves. From a wellbeing perspective, they described how realising their creative abilities enabled self-expression and emotional transformation and this was valued as an educational experience. The freedom of expression and the open non-judgmental space within the Mindful Kitchen classroom serves as the context for this learning outcome.

Self-care skills linked to relaxation skills, eating for wellbeing, exercise and workplace wellbeing are a key element of the module content. Evidence on the application of the skills was described by the participants and referred to as being key to the overall learning. They spoke of the importance of taking breaks at work without any guilt, using breathing practices and stepping out of the kitchen for 3–5 min as an antidote to stress and anxiety (Theme 1), or going for a walk to clear their head.

“That’s like that’s kind of all I think about when I, when I get told or asked about this module Is just think about self-care.”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

They also justified the courage to maintain self-care at work as being important for balance in work practice and the need for giving priority to mental health. The participants’ ability through self-awareness to identify when they needed to mind their mind when they got stressed is in itself another wellbeing skill.

“I do think it’s a very important learning in here, like to have that balance of looking after yourself as well as being good in the kitchen, you know.”

(I_251124, Pos. 2)

While they were less focused on their eating for wellbeing practice at work, which was not ideal, they were aware of the need to attend to this area of self-care. This may be due to the fact that the later wellbeing skill was only mentioned theoretically rather than applied or practiced in the classroom.

Gratitude is also regarded as a wellbeing skill. At the end of each class students were required to record three positive experiences in their day. As a result of this exercise, participants’ reflections noted gratitude for many aspects of their learning, linked to their classmates, joy of learning, skills learned and class activities (See Figure S1: Student end-of-class reflections). They described also how this became a skill in their day-to-day lives.

“It made me like, realise like, how grateful I was for, like, everything I have, you know? And like, before, I thought I was actually, like, not very grateful for what I had. But now, after this, I was like. I realised I’m very grateful for everything I have.”

(S2_010525_2, Pos. 71)

This last finding suggests that the weekly gratitude exercise helped to build this habit for wellbeing. Thus, the simplicity and ease of use of this practice should not be overlooked when creating wellbeing activities in the mindful classroom.

From an educator’s perspective, there is a uniqueness in how effective the applied learning approach using informal mindful pedagogy is at helping students build essential wellbeing skills to navigate the stress of HE and their future workplace. Overall, these findings demonstrate mindfulness and empowering action for ongoing self-care, which has relevance for any professional practice.

3.4.3. Applied Learning Outcomes

Applied learning was a deliberate planned outcome in the design of this module, i.e., delivery in a practical environment using informal mindfulness across practical activities and challenges over 12 weeks, with students attending in full chef uniform. Graduate and student perspectives separately are necessary here to frame these results under this theme.

Graduates emphasised its relevance to the professional kitchen and their real-world learning. They described the module’s contextual significance in particular for navigating kitchen culture as a young chef, empowerment of how to be in that culture, how to look after their wellbeing in the professional environment and heightening their awareness of changes needed to create a kitchen culture that supports chefs’ wellbeing.

“As a new student, it kind of helps because we were just discovering how the kitchen culture is and sometimes it can be quite tough environment, especially even a young student. And it’s something that you don’t know about really until you discover it.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

Graduates also highlighted how their learning influenced their opinions of kitchen leadership and built confidence that someday they too could be a leader. They linked this confidence back to activities in the classroom; however, the full realisation of this only came to be when challenged in the professional kitchen to lead.

“Probably leadership was a big one for me because I always felt I was never in, like a leadership mindset or a leadership role. And I had strengths that I never realized were there until I was challenged inside of professional kitchens.”

(I_141104, Pos. 2)

These insights are significant for modern-day debates on kitchen culture and the need for a change of leadership styles. They point to the role of education in empowering young chefs to advocate for a wellbeing-focused lens of change.

Building on the graduate applied learning regarding kitchen culture, the students that completed the module but were still in college emphasised the impact of learning for career choices in the industry. In their self-care plans for the next 5 years, they outlined their personal vision when working in the professional kitchens as one that values self-care, prioritises self-care practices (as opposed to working in stressful environments) and a leadership style that respects team members.

“I want to be an autocratic and diplomatic chef. Being a diplomatic chef is good as I believe you should treat other chefs with kindness and respect but however you need to set boundaries. Being an autocratic chef can also be good as you set boundaries, and you have respect for yourself but however you need to have to show respect and be kind to other chefs. Being mean and disrespectful to other chefs will not get you anywhere, because at the end of the day you’re all chefs and need to respect each other because you’re all there to learn and need to work together as a team whether if you’re in college or in a restaurant.”

(Self-care Plan Student 2025_6, Pos. 7)

While self-care plans and visions are aspirational, the graduates emphasised how the overall learning in the Mindful Kitchen supported them entering their professional career. They described how it gave them an insight into the industry, how it built a positive mindset and how this in turn influenced their work environment.

“If you do that from when you are a student, if you instill that mindset, I think when you leave the college and go to work, that’s where it will make sense as well. It will kind of, make you want to have these, these things in work. And then if everybody thinks the same things start changing.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

They did however reflect that they only realised the relevance and impact of the module content when they were working in industry. They valued this realisation as it also empowered them for situational disrespect.

“I feel bad for the people who didn’t who didn’t have it before. Because I know you kind of you’re kind of doing it and you’re kind of laughing at what you’re doing. But I feel like in those moments, you don’t realize the effect it’s going to have on your career down the line. I feel like when you’re doing it, you’re like, oh, this is just gobbledygook. But more as you go out into the industry, you realize how much it helped you. Instead of being used by the industry. Yeah.”

(I_110225.v, Pos. 103)

Alongside applied wellbeing practice, graduates also noted that their learning enabled more mindful practices in the kitchen. This mindful appreciation and food care was attributed to being relaxed while also recognising the role of nature and the planet in creating food. This framed their focus on respecting the ingredients, preparation and waste avoidance. Connections were noted on the impact of food sustainability practice on the environment, including waste management practice within the kitchen.

“I brought nature into the dish. It also stems from the Mindful Kitchen because then you start appreciating, you know, nature, the plants outdoor, you have a better relationship, with nature when you’re more relaxed. And because the mindful kitchen made you think, oh, where this, this food is coming from, where how to cook in a mindful way to protect the environment because you haven’t sourced from miles away.”

(I_260424, Pos. 2)

This provides evidence that mirrors the application of various mindful challenges used in the module, i.e., food sourcing, sources of waste in the kitchen and a creative challenge that tasked students to use only waste food in dish creation. The relevance of the application they reported is significant in today’s kitchens that are now focused on sustainable practices. This indicates how informal mindful pedagogy in a practical environment can also impact practices in real-world settings including sustainability priorities. This distinctive sustainability application captures the potential of the pedagogy in sustainability education in other professional programmes.

The graduate voice is key in substantiating the applied learning for professional practice that has resulted from the Mindful Kitchen module. Finally, from the student perspective, it is significant how they too applied their learning in the module to their programme of study. This has been partly explored in Themes 1 and 2 and will be explored further in the sub-theme below (Section 3.4.4).

3.4.4. Student Mindful Tool Kit for Applied Wellbeing

In the module, students were presented with a suite of mindful tools to choose from, to create their own wellbeing toolkit. These tools were used in class at different stages of the session. Participants found that the tool kit was a resource for their wellbeing during their studies, assessments, while in placement and in their professional practice. They experienced them also as a vehicle for calmness amid stress, nurturing self-care and wellbeing. It was acknowledged that while not all the tools were beneficial to everyone, the fact that there was even a small benefit from a tool for someone’s daily life was an important aspect of the module. In contrast to this, a few participants described their initial resistance to the tools, stating that for them the quiet atmosphere was strange, daunting, a waste of time, preferring instead to be rushing around a hectic kitchen. However, the same participants observed that the tools instilled in them a sense of care for others, changed their mind as the module progressed or when they were working in the professional environment.

“I think giving people in general that kind of toolkit that they can piece together themselves is incredible. It’s like even if 90% of it is useless for someone about 10%, just that extra tool in their, day to day or their work or whatever. That that on its own is worth a course. Just to give them that availability for that stuff.”

(S2_010525_6, Pos. 182)

It is significant that participants liked being given a choice of mindful tools, particularly as many of the tools would have been completely new to students and they wouldn’t have expected them to be used in a kitchen classroom. This in turn emphasises the need to integrate the tools using informal mindfulness where they become a less formal activity and instead are integrated into the practical environment. The fact that they described using tools in their college studies is indicative of their potential value when working in the real-world environment. Based on insights from those resistant to using some of the tools, it is incumbent on the educator to be aware of this during delivery and to ensure a variety of activities adaptable to the needs of the group. For example, in this study, resistance to the tools was discussed with the students during the co-creation sessions. One participant was resistant and asked for more real-world fast-cooking challenges. Aware that such resistance could become all-consuming for the students’ learning, the suggestion was enacted using integrated informal mindful pauses in the following week’s activities with positive outcome. The adaptability of the activities using the informal mindful approach is a key strength in this pedagogical approach.

As mentioned in Theme 1, of all the mindful tools presented, the breathing exercises were the most valued self-care tool by participants and were being used in other aspects of the studies and work practice. The key chef yoga practice preferred by participants was “rocking their feet” as they noted that it can de-stress in the moment, it is easy to apply even in practical exam situations or while working in professional kitchens. In contrast, though very few participants like qigong practice due to the physical aspect of the relaxing exercise, i.e., stretching, most described it as unrealistic for a practical environment. The use of nature walks and images to inspire classroom activities was acknowledged by participants as promoting relaxation and nature appreciation as a mindful tool. The relaxing calming music, as discussed, creates a mindful environment for learning, and it was also reported by participants as a wellbeing tool in the workplace and as a wind-down mechanism after work. Participants reported that the use of mindful photography as a tool was appealing to them as it was a tool for exploring their creativity, while others noted its impact on visual learning. There were very few comments on mindful tea exercise used at the beginning of the class, though participants did note they welcomed having it in the structure of the session as a settling effect, or grounding ritual at the beginning of the class.

• Chef yoga:

  “If I’m stressed, I start walking back and forward like on my feet from tippy toes back.”

  (I_090125 (1), Pos. 20)

• Qigong:

  “I think it was just a bit unrealistic.”

  (I_051224, Pos. 2)

• Nature practice:

  “You start appreciating, you know, nature, the plants outdoor, you have a better relationship with the, with nature when you’re more relaxed.”

  (I_260424, Pos. 2)

• Music:

  “I think it just soothes you instantly when you hear relaxing music.”

  (I_220524, Pos. 2)

  “Sometimes I play some peaceful music on the bus. That’s my time to kind of wind down.”

  (I_141104, Pos. 2)

• Photography:

  “Quite like the one where we took a picture and then had to recreate it with the food.”

  (S2_010525_1, Pos. 34)

• Mindful tea exercise:

  “I quite like that kind of, ceremony kind of thing, like having that kind of step as, as I said, I like that structure. It’s very nice. It’s very centred and organised.”

  (S2_010525_6, Pos. 192)

The above mindful tools all involve practical activities, and some are valued more than others as an applied wellbeing tool in the professional kitchen. Considering that mindful practices are built as a habit and this involves time, these insights highlight an opportunity to reassess the mindful tools being offered in the module, considering how they are integrated informally in the class and their ease of use in the professional environment. Any reassessment must also take cognisance of the impact of some of the tools on visual learning and subject-specific applied learning outputs that accommodate the more resistant learners.

The use of journaling as a mindful tool was employed at the beginning and end of class in the student group and was done in an anonymous manner. Of key significance in this study is the pattern of a shift in emotions from the beginning of the class to the end. The physiological factors influencing emotions were also noted (See Figure S2: Student anonymous journaling in class—overview of emotions; Figure S3: Researcher’s observation and journaling notes). In summary, participants’ overall change in mindset was heavily weighted towards a positive emotional experience. At the start of class, negative emotions were summarised as anger, fear, sadness and disgust (i.e., “not in the mood”, “bored”), while at the end of class there were less comments on each, anger was not listed, and the disgust label only referred to tiredness. From the perspective of the positive emotions, at the beginning of the class, emotions linked to serenity, joy, and hope were noted and at the end of the class they were reframed as serenity, joy, inspiration, amusement and satisfaction. There were also words that communicated indifference, i.e., “alright”, “not bad”, “okay”; these increased slightly in the end of class descriptors to include “fine”, “grand”, “unsure” and “the same”.

These insights point to the influence of the module on the emotional wellbeing of the students during the semester. While the outcome was mainly a positive one based on the journal analysis, caution is needed as this was not the experience of the entire class. This may be due to peer influence by those in the group that were already resisting the approach. Overall, the journaling analysis findings provide evidence of the potential of the informal mindful pedagogy in promoting wellbeing.

3.5. Proposed Conceptual Model

Taken together, the results indicate the potential of informal mindful pedagogy as a wellbeing and learning strategy in HE as illustrated in Figure 4. From the student perspective, once the pedagogy connects them with an awareness of their wellbeing potential though habitual practice primarily focused on the breath, their wellbeing is then enabled in an applied way through a spacious classroom environment linked to real-world learning, opportunities to develop creative competency and the mindful tool kit they choose that suits their personality. The significance of these findings will be discussed in the next Section.

4. Discussion

This research study aimed to explore the impact of using informal mindful pedagogy as a curriculum-embedded wellbeing strategy for real-world learning. The critical assessment of the Mindful Kitchen as a case study created four distinct wellbeing themes and recognised it as a distinctive real-world example of how informal mindfulness as an educational practice in HE could impact student wellbeing (Ergas & Hadar, 2023; Deroche et al., 2025; Fadil et al., 2026). These findings contribute to recent research findings by Honsky et al. (2025) and Birtwell et al. (2019) by highlighting the impact of the pedagogy on student self-care and mindful practice inside and outside the classroom.

4.1. Fostering a Pathway to Psychological Wellbeing

The most significant and novel finding of this research is the role of the breath in anchoring a new lens of awareness in students, expressed as a physical–psychological–neurological movement, stepping into a new head space and creating new pathways that support self-care practice. This aligns with the pedagogy having an intrinsic value and students travelling with a different view of mindfulness (Ergas & Hadar, 2023), therefore placing informal mindful pedagogy as an active mechanism for wellbeing education in HE.

The quality of awareness from mindful practice impacts learning and mental processing, the breath is the object for attention while a monitoring function in the brain brings awareness (Davidson & Kaszniak, 2015). From a psychological wellbeing perspective, findings from this study align with the four pillars of the Healthy Minds Index: awareness, connection, insight and purpose (Kral et al., 2026). Emerging from a synthesis of contemplative neuroscience, wellbeing theories and psychology (Dahl et al., 2020), these pillars may explain the sub-conscious habit-building that participants referred to. Participants described being aware of their emotions, thoughts, feelings and behaviour and how this empowered them in daily life. What is significant is their level of meta-awareness, i.e., how they were attuned in real time to these aspects of their minds and their reactions to various scenarios, knowing when they needed to ‘step into wellbeing’ and come back to themselves using their breath. The value of the connection domain is explained in the importance given by participants to having a calm mind in the professional environment to create a positive workplace for wellbeing in the team. Over time, their overall personal awareness in the classroom and the workplace (insight domain) helped them understand themselves and realise how using mindful practice can support them daily. This psychological flexibility and regulation of emotions is also a significant self-regulation strategy when dealing with stress and anxiety (Öztekin et al., 2025). The personal resources developed by the students are congruent with Bandura’s (1997) findings on the impact of psychological wellbeing and self-efficacy, and their application to navigate academic stress as proposed by Freire et al. (2019). The sense of clarity that results from this lived experience (purpose domain) as a student and graduate may explain this dominant finding in the study. The module is anchoring them in all pillars; this suggests that these dimensions of wellbeing can be promoted using informal mindful pedagogy in the applied learning classroom. This is a unique contribution to overall wellbeing and real-world learning in HE. It points to the potential of the approach in mitigating the stress and anxiety of students in the first year of study. Additionally, it provides empirical support for Lopes et al.’s (2020) recommendation of having measures that sustain wellbeing levels to support learning and development. While this theory gives us insight into understanding the impact on participants’ psychological wellbeing, further research should explore student use of the Healthy Minds Index alongside informal mindful pedagogy in the HE classroom.

The weekly mindful practices in the classroom create an embodied experience for students. This corroborates with suggestions that mindful embodiment in the classroom is fundamental to wellbeing education and engaged learning in HE (Castillo, 2025). Consistent with other research, the use of breathing as the key mind–body practice helps to ground students during difficulty and enable positive experiences (Nardi et al., 2022); however, these relate to mindfulness-based training programmes. Regarding this point, findings from a randomised control study found that, once delivered, there is limited continuation of breathing practices post-training; it was however suggested this may be counteracted through the integration of mindful practices into the curriculum (Qvick et al., 2026). This study provides evidence of such mindful integration where the applied brief informal mindful practices appear to provide scaffolding to build sustained practice. This sustained and embodied use of the practice therefore demonstrates the value of merging real-world context learning with informal mindful pedagogy. To date the impact of wellbeing practice frequency on overall wellbeing has been debated over many studies with little evidence of its correlation (Young et al., 2022). However, Birtwell et al. (2019) argue that the frequency of informal mindfulness plays a more significant role in psychological flexibility and wellbeing than the time and frequency allocated to formal mindfulness. This also suggests that the frequency of the micro-practices used in the Mindful Kitchen classroom is a key determinant of the practice impact. These short practices concur with current neuroscience research, as Davidson argues that having a short consistent practice carries greater importance than practice duration (Huberman, 2026). The embodied language used by participants on the implementation of practice involving physiological, physical and mental processes, “stepping in”, “stepping out”, “taking a breather”, “resetting”, “decompressing”, establishes their understanding of how they can use it to balance their wellbeing (Douwes et al., 2023; Nardi et al., 2022). Their wellbeing literacy (a requirement for flourishing) expresses their relational learning and contextual factors in their engagement with their wellbeing experience, while concurrently leading to a sustainable practice (Oades et al., 2021; N. Lemon et al., 2025). However, the overall participant engagement in this study and the applied wellbeing that resulted challenge Oades et al.’s (2021) argument that the focus of the curriculum should be on wellbeing literacy rather than wellbeing. This case study signals the relevance of using the informal mindfulness approach in building real-world wellbeing habits to balance multiple aspects of their lives. However, a more in-depth investigation of the level of sustained practice by graduates in professional practice would strengthen this finding.

4.2. The Role of an Informal Mindful Environment in Wellbeing

This is the first study in HE that has embedded informal mindful pedagogy in a practice-focused module, designed specifically for wellbeing applied to a real-world context. It goes beyond other studies in its reporting of findings from both students currently in HE and graduates on the related lived experience in professional practice. The findings of the role of the mindful environment in developing participants’ wellbeing capacities build on previous research on embedding wellbeing programmes within the classroom (Young et al., 2022), thus leading to new pedagogical directions for informal mindful pedagogy for student wellbeing in HE.

In educational learning environments, students, upon seeing the relevance of what they are learning and its application for their career, have greater engagement in their learning (Rusticus et al., 2023). This provides further explanation as to why the applied learning environment created by the pedagogy was described by participants as being distinct within their programme, supporting their learning in the classroom and their overall wellbeing as a student and in professional practice. However, learning environments are also psychological, physical, social and cultural settings (Shochet et al., 2013). Fundamental to the Mindful Kitchen outcome is the emotional and personal space created in the classroom through short mindful practices applied to real-world activities, humour, along with the freedom to explore and connect with their own wellbeing and professional practice in a new and relaxed way. This aligns with previous research where students particularly valued this mindful classroom space for self-expression (Bywater & Keane, 2026). From an applied learning perspective, the physical space created within the classroom is also an important consideration (Crowther et al., 2020). Having students in their practical learning space linked to their profession enabled greater access to applied learning experiences. The resulting contextualization of mindfulness and the related transferable personal and professional skills influenced its relevance for real-world learning (Hassed, 2026). Considering Castillo’s (2025) challenge to reconceptualise approaches to wellbeing education from the strict divide between clinical and teaching spaces to facilitate more engaged learning, this study frames its finding as “spacious applied learning”, a new emergent pedagogical strategy for wellbeing. A strategy which in turn has potential to be implemented across many educational settings and disciplines. In addition, it advances current research in the use of brief-classroom-based mindful activities in HE (Honsky et al., 2025). Little is known, however, about the impact of the pedagogy in a theory-based classroom setting with large class groups. Further research should investigate and compare the impact between both settings.

As there are few guidelines for integrating informal mindful pedagogy into the curriculum in HE, this study points to several unique findings relating to its implementation by the educator as a student wellbeing strategy. Consistent with other studies, this study in its use of mindful tools views mindful pedagogy as contributing to the process of personal and real-world context learning (Ergas & Hadar, 2023). The prevalence of the participants’ use and dependence on the short breathing practice for their self-care is particularly salient both for the student and the educator. For the student, its accessibility, immediate and discrete use suggest that they value convenience and privacy in their wellbeing practices. This also explains why their second preference was to use the yoga practice “rocking their feet”. The resulting emotional regulation from movement (Shafir et al., 2016) may be one factor contributing to participants’ description of mindful practice as a “reset” for their wellbeing. In terms of delivery time, mindful breathing practice can be easily woven by the educator into the classroom activities as it only requires a few minutes to do (Deroche et al., 2025). This research found that informal mindful pedagogy facilitates a dual process for wellbeing education where real-world challenges, activities and assessments can be integrated into the classroom as part of the subject content in conjunction with using mindful tools for wellbeing. This therefore mitigates the educator argument linked to time constraints in curriculum integration (McCaw, 2020). Hassed (2026) also supports the integration of assessment, contending that for students it emphasises the importance of mindful practices. In this study there was full engagement with the in-class assessment and limited engagement with other written assessments. This suggests that the assessed real-world practical challenges within the class were of greater interest to students, thus concurring with trends in assessment (Walker, 2025). What is not clear is the impact on diversity of the learners; therefore, further research is required to identify how the approach can support equity and inclusiveness in the classroom.

Student engagement in the classroom is key for effective education and overall success. This study demonstrates that using informal mindful pedagogy in HE focused on real-world learning for wellbeing, resulted in a positive shift in participants’ emotions from the beginning of the class, self-efficacy and reporting of wellbeing. Giving students space to anonymously journal their emotions at the beginning and end of the class along with a reflection on gratitude had a fundamental role in achieving this result. The anonymity and the space provided was the driver of this finding. For the educator this demonstrates a pathway that is aligned with Ergas and Hadar’s (2023) argument on the need to facilitate student exploratory engagement with their inner view. This outcome is also significant as it mirrors Kahu and Nelson’s (2018) mechanisms for effective student engagement and Fredrickson et al.’s (2008) theory that positive emotions, derived as a result of mindful practices, build personal resources. Therefore, the current research extends the meaning of the role of wellbeing in mechanisms for student success in HE. Another aspect of the study that is aligned to student engagement is the scheduling of classes within the timetable. Students prefer it when mindfulness classes are scheduled in the morning or early afternoon (Nardi et al., 2022). Participants in this study also viewed the class as a break in the middle of the day between other classes. This suggests that they consider the class as a wellbeing space for them to step into and be themselves. This is a distinctive result and validates both the need for a wellbeing learning space in their day and consideration of the role of the timetable as part of the overall wellbeing strategy in HE. While this is ideal, it may not be practical in every HE programme.

It is inevitable that the introduction of mindfulness as a teaching strategy can meet resistance from students and disrupt the overall experience for all students (Gilbert, 2024). This study found resistance in a very small cohort of participants. Their negative perception was triggered by nervousness, cultural differences, and a tension between their perceived view of what a practical real-world learning class should involve and what was being presented as an integrated mindful environment. For curriculum-embedded wellbeing interventions to be effective, Bannigan et al. (2025) recommend that consideration must be given to the student voice at all stages of the intervention. Therefore, rather than ignoring their interpretation, it was instead viewed in a circular nature (Ergas & Hadar, 2023). The co-creation sessions gave them an opportunity to give feedback and suggest in-class activities. Though this resulted in improved engagement, it is noted that such resistance, if not addressed, could have a negative impact on students’ learning and wellbeing. This highlights the need for in-built flexibility, personalised student input, and educator awareness when using mindfulness for wellbeing in the classroom (Honsky et al., 2025). Though relational learning in the co-creation session in this study did transform resistance in students, further research should explore how the design of an integrated curriculum using informal mindful pedagogy can support the wellbeing of all learners.

4.3. Fostering Creative Freedom

Another unique contribution for wellbeing education in HE is the way students described the impact of informal mindful pedagogy on their creativity. While existing research has shown that mindfulness supports creativity in education (Henriksen et al., 2020) and informal mindful pedagogy in HE positively influences creative confidence (Sweeney et al., 2025), this paper builds on these findings by exploring how creativity challenges in a mindful classroom focused on real-world learning inspire creativity and impact wellbeing.

In this study, students responded well to the uncertainty involved when mindful creative challenges were issued in the supportive environment of the classroom (Beghetto, 2019). The spacious environment, the permission to be creative, and the contextualisation of the task for real-world learning (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014) enabled this outcome. Of significance in this finding is their description of how the class gave them freedom to be creative, which in turn gave them confidence to be creative in other classes and the workplace. This sense of self-autonomy is associated with life satisfaction (Payne & Schimmack, 2026) and may have particular relevance as a protective factor for students experiencing stress (Padmanabhanunni et al., 2023). Our findings suggest that the sense of freedom created by spacious applied learning opens up positive emotions in students, broadening their attention and critical thinking, mitigating negative emotions, and building personal resources, all of which over time can support their wellbeing and flourishing (Fredrickson, 2004). Freedom therefore is the pathway to students experiencing what they refer to as ‘unleashing’ a curiosity for creativity. It is significant that curiosity has been identified as an area within HE that needs greater attention in promoting student engagement, creating innovative learners (Cain, 2019) and supporting sustainable wellbeing, meaning and purpose in life (Kashdan & Steger, 2007). It should be noted that the creative confidence expressed by participants in this study was developed over 12 weeks in a mindful environment. The educator’s role in motivating, setting real-world challenging tasks, giving feedback, supporting students, and ensuring flexibility over that timeframe was a driver for the resulting self-efficacy (Basileo et al., 2024; Usher & Chen, 2026).

Recent research by Beresford et al. (2025) calls for a new way of considering this interrelationship between creativity and wellbeing, favouring a recognition of the interrelationship between negative emotions, creativity and flourishing. Though participants of this study did log negative emotions in their weekly journal, the study was not focused on exploring the relationship between these and the creativity findings. Further research is needed to explore this aspect including its integrated relationship with participants who demonstrated resistance to the classroom approach.

4.4. Transferability of Findings to Other Disciplines

Implementing applied learning is not unique to a culinary arts classroom. It requires pedagogical tools relevant to the context, curriculum and student cohort (Schulz, 2016). The spacious applied learning created using informal mindful pedagogy in this study has relevance for other disciplines. Within the context of education and professional practice, there are notable similarities between the practical real-world learning of the Mindful Kitchen and other high-stakes, applied clinical environments like nursing wards or skills laboratories. In training medical and allied healthcare professionals for example, Hassed (2026) argues for the need to include wellbeing skills into core curricula, ideally using mindfulness, considering its transferability and the ability of such training to mitigate personal and professional challenges in the workplace.

As an integrated-curriculum pedagogical approach, the informal mindful pedagogy as presented in this case study would transfer effortlessly across practical-based disciplines. Distinctively, the highly portable micro-practices are perfectly suited for fast-paced, high-stress professional disciplines (such as nursing) where formal, lengthy mindfulness sessions are impossible. Similarly to the chefs in the Mindful Kitchen, these practices could be used: to “step into wellbeing”, during simulation experiences, to manage stress during assessment and professional practice. Likewise, reflective journaling could support an inner connection with their wellbeing through the emotional processing of training and professional experiences. The Mindful Kitchen case study provides an informal mindful pedagogy template, aligned to using this applied real-world learning approach. While transferability of the findings is practically implementable for professional skills training, further research must explore the nuances in that transfer and the potential for using the approach in less applied programmes.

4.5. Implications for Research and Practice

These study findings have significant implications for future research and practice in HE. Future research should use the research from this paper to create a framework for introducing informal mindful pedagogy into the higher education classroom. For HE institutions, this case study identifies the potential of a classroom-focused wellbeing strategy using informal mindful pedagogy, and it might be time to rethink the overall wellbeing strategy to include the student’s lived wellbeing within the classroom. Significantly more research is required to explore the complexities of embedding informal mindful pedagogy as a collegewide wellbeing initiative.

HE educators should explore how informal mindful pedagogy could be integrated into current programme modules, especially where there is an applied learning focus in the module. For educators, it is fundamentally important when using informal mindfulness for delivery of programme content to ensure contextualisation of the practices, challenges and assessments along with allowing for flexibility to include the student voice. This study highlights the importance of having a real-world focus on class activities (which should challenge students) and assessments. The assessment should also be linked to mindful practice and not overly structured. More research is required to address the educator skills needed to confidently integrate this pedagogical approach. It might also be time for educators to consider how a spacious environment for learning can be created in the classroom both physically and from a delivery perspective, i.e., the volume of content being delivered in one session. Research into the challenges for the educator in implementing this into programme design and delivery is required.

4.6. Limitations

This study has three main limitations. Firstly, the homogeneity of the sample; all participants were culinary arts students, and though the sample size was 18, this was sufficient for indicative research and it was supported by extensive classroom artefacts. To generalise the findings a larger data set is required. Secondly, both the researcher and the co-educator designed and delivered the module being researched; reflexivity was used to monitor potential biases. Finally, the research focuses on a practical-orientated subject which already has a wellbeing focus. Further research should expand on using different university courses and different cultural backgrounds.

5. Conclusions

Despite its limitations, the current study makes a unique contribution to wellbeing education in HE by creating an effective template to implement informal mindful pedagogy in a real-world context. Importantly, it identifies the pathways in which the pedagogy promotes student psychological wellbeing, psychological flexibility, self-efficacy, embodied learning and creativity while extending the meaning of the role of wellbeing in student success. Distinctive from other studies, the study also highlights that integrating mindfulness into learning using an informal approach contributes to a more sustainable wellbeing practice by graduates. Critical for HE in addressing the growing needs for wellbeing in the sector, it establishes a research-informed rationale for HE institutions to include wellbeing in the classroom as part of their overall wellbeing strategy.