Effectiveness of a Multimodal Mindfulness Program for Student Health Care Professionals: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The effectiveness of a multimodal mindfulness program incorporating traditional and nontraditional forms of active and nonactive meditation practices with a sample of occupational and physical therapy students was assessed in this study. Method: Thirty-six participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The 8-week mindfulness program consisted of one weekly 40-min in-person group session and four weekly 10-min online guided meditations. Pre and postintervention measures included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Student Stress Management Scale (SSMS), mindfulness activity log, open-ended qualitative questionnaire, GPA, and counseling visit frequency. Results: Statistically significant differences, with large effect sizes, were found between intervention and control group PSS (Z=-4.291, pd=-1.84) and SSMS (Z=-3.330, pd=-1.27) postintervention scores. Statistically significant differences, with large effect sizes, were found between intervention group pre and postmindfulness activity ratings for each week and all weeks combined (Z=-12.599, pd=1.29). Qualitative data revealed eight themes including greater sleep quality, energy levels, self-compassion, and life-work balance. No statistically significant differences were found between intervention and control group counseling visit frequency and GPA. Conclusion: As this is preliminary data about a novel intervention with a small student sample, effectiveness of this intervention should be further explored in a replication study

Re-Envisioning Contemplative Pedagogy Through Self-Study

Contemplative pedagogy focuses on creating a sense of presence within educators to effectively educate the whole person through mindfulness in teaching. As I engage in a self-study, I develop initial components for the way I employ contemplative pedagogy. I aim to understand myself as an educator in order to teach effectively. One way to enable particular kinds of understandings is through self-study methodology. The foundational framework that develops through my ongoing self-study may interest those who are unfamiliar with the terrain of contemplative pedagogy. For the purposes of this article, I place an emphasis on the philosophy and ethics classes that I taught at Middlesex County College in New Jersey, although I teach several classes on many campuses. My philosophical method requires me to engage in a self-study of my teaching practices. My project involves self-study as a philosophical research methodology that aims to inform educators and rethink the theories and praxis of teaching. As I work towards improvement- aimed pedagogy, I make myself vulnerable as I share my experiences with my Peer Scholar. My Peer Scholar, which some researchers call a “critical friend”, deliberates with me to challenge epistemological assumptions along with suspicions. The self-study dialogue with my Peer Scholar causes me to define initial components of how I engage in an improvement-aimed contemplative pedagogy. My hope is to support those who wish to implement contemplative pedagogy in higher education as I relate my working framework based on the themes that developed from the deliberation. The components in the article that convey how I engage in contemplative pedagogy are not meant to serve as a checklist or stern procedure for classroom activities. I share these components as aspects of my contemplative pedagogy, with suggestive scripts, not as a rigid structure but rather as a work in progress that is always under construction

The Messianic Zeal: A Case of Radical Aesthetics in Black Cultural Production

This essay examines artwork by popular artists D’Angelo, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and 2pac Shakur and compares their articulations to a larger discourse of messianic symbolism in (black) American popular culture. In this paper, messianic symbolism is a discursive chain of symbols that invoke the Black experience. Artists extend the legacy of earlier representations of black messianism by similarly representing themselves as Jews, saviors or folk heroes with a specific mission to save a world burdened by racial strife and oppression. These qualities manifest in lyrics, album covers, and other late 20th century rhetoric

Mediated Mindfulness, Inter-Religious Bonds, and Collective Healing: A Quarantine Diary

Srividya "Srivi" Ramasubramanian, Co-Founder of Media Rise, and Director of the Difficult Dialogues Project, reflects on her spiritual journey through the lens of mediated mindfulness, interfaith solidarity, and community-based healing, as she teaches online guided meditation sessions during a pandemic. Dr. Ramasubramanian's research focuses on media, race, ethnicity, inclusion, social justice, and mindfulness, which she approaches from a critical perspective.In this brief essay, I reflect on my spiritual journey through my quarantine diary during the COVID-19 pandemic. I move through various phases of denial, worry, fear, peace, solidarity, betrayal, withdrawal, and finally, hope for new beginnings through oneness. Yoga, meditation, music, and art help me heal from the collective losses, trauma, and grief around me. Creating sanctuary safe spaces for peace and interconnectedness across people of multiple faiths, backgrounds, and perspectives is central to going beyond individual transformation for collective healing as a community, nation, and world. To do this, we need to build bonds of trust, mutual respect, solidarity, collaboration, and cooperation. We need to understand that all faith traditions speak the same truth of bliss and joy that comes from oneness

The Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Yoga, Meditation, and Gratitude Practice Health Promotion Effort to Enhance Well-being in Women

Well-being is critical to fostering improved physical, mental, and emotional health among women. Regular physical activity also has significant implications for women’s health. Addressing the barriers that women experience to exercise may help improve exercise adherence and—ultimately—help to promote well-being in women. Mind-body therapies (e.g., yoga and meditation) have long been considered health promoting efforts with a well-being emphasis. Research confirms that these therapies are generally beneficial, safe, flexible, cost-effective and accessible. In addition, gratitude has strong links to mental health and life satisfaction, and has been shown to enhance well-being and facilitate goal attainment. There is an abundance of research on yoga, meditation and gratitude practices, though there is no program that effectively combines all three. This dissertation therefore developed, implemented, and evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of a health promotion effort that integrates elements of yoga, meditation, and gratitude practice. One-hundred and eleven women participated in the study (nexperimental = 56 and ncontrol = 55). Data on adherence and feasibility were collected throughout the program. Data on study outcomes (including well-being) were collected at baseline and again following completion of the program from both groups. Qualitative data were also collected to help contextualize participant experiences in the program. The participants adhered to the yoga component of the program exceptionally well. The average participant completed 125% of the yoga classes, 86.58% of the meditations and 88.24% of the gratitude practices. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to examine pre- and post-intervention changes in well-being between and within groups. Despite the popularity and positive response to the program - 93.10% of participants in the yoga, meditation and gratitude group (YMG; n=54) reported a perceived improvement in well-being - many of the well-being findings were statistically insignificant. However, significant improvements on disposition and positive relationships were observed among the YMG group; suggesting the intervention had a significant impact on experiencing gratitude in everyday life, as well as on one’s positive assessment of personal relationships. This study lays important groundwork for future and larger scale research to create and subsequently implement successful mind-body health promotion programs for women

Finding the balance: Mindfulness meditations to foster interdisciplinary artistic exploration

While mindfulness has existed as a tenant of prominent Asian spiritualities since the sixth century B.C., the last fifty years have seen an appropriation of mindfulness practices into diverse sectors of American life, including into clinical research. Within the same fifty years, contemporary artists have increasingly pushed their crafts towards interdisciplinary collaborating between and across artistic disciplines. The body of academic research into creativity suggests a correlation between mindfulness practices and elevated collaborative artistry. Thus, this project seeks to answer the question, how can mindfulness practices encourage interdisciplinary artistic collaboration? My contribution to this inquiry consisted of two main studies. First, a case study on myself where, for twelve months, I systematically practiced different mindfulness meditations from religious and secular sources, including breath awareness, walking, eating, listening to Tibetan Bowl music, and Satsang gazing. For the second stage of my project, I facilitated two cohorts of collegiate artists in hour-long meditation sessions over the course of twelve weeks. While my own meditative practice appears to be linked with my elevated success as an individual and collaborative artist, the findings from my two cohorts suggest that mindfulness meditations do not contribute to artistic collaboration within just six weeks of initial practice. Towards my discussion of these findings, it may be necessary for collegiate artists to invest more time in their own personal mindfulness routines to reap benefits similar to those which my case study indicate. Surprisingly, my own consistent meditation practice aligned with an increased level of detachment from academia and general responsibility that I have noticed within myself. While this relationship between my meditations and my decreased collegiate involvement indicates only anecdotal relatedness, the literature supports an additional hypothesis that mindfulness may bring about amplified dedication to artistic craft, while simultaneously fostering detachment from urgent responsibilities in other sectors in the lives of meditation practitioners

Bells of Mindfulness: An Online Mindfulness Meditation Course to Promote Mindfulness Meditation for PhD Students

Over the last 20 years, there has been growing evidence of mental health issues in doctoral candidates worldwide (Zhang et al., 2022; Barry et al., 2019; Gewin, 2012; Radison & DiGeronimo, 2005). Practicing mindfulness meditation, which is one way to cope with stress and anxiety (Kabat-Zinn, 1991), could be a useful practice for these PhD students. However, despite all the evidence that suggests the health benefits of having a regular meditation routine, motivating graduate students to practice meditation can be challenging (Franco, 2020). This study addresses this challenge by assessing a 5-week mindfulness meditation course designed to support graduate students in developing a habit of practicing mindfulness meditation. Graduate students in PhD degree programs, many of whom worked and/or had families, were recruited to participate in a 5-week online mindfulness meditation course. Principles from social cognitive learning theory, particularly self-efficacy, guided course structure and activities, helping to better understand and interpret participants\u27 experiences and growth throughout the course. Interviews were conducted mid- and post-course to find out how effective the online course was in helping participants to make a habit of practicing mindfulness meditation and to understand what factors of the course were most effective in changing their mindfulness meditation practice. Participants took the Self-Efficacy for Mindfulness Meditation Practice surveys, pre-, mid-, and post-course to inform qualitative data from interviews