“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
–Thich Nhat Hanh
Incorporating mindfulness into your everyday life can significantly improve your wellbeing. Mindfulness practices cultivate embodied presence, developing our ability to show up just as we are (Burns). When you practice mindfulness, you center your attention on your immediate experience–your body, feelings, actions, and thoughts–with an open curiosity that observes, instead of judges. Through that process, you become increasingly aware of the emergent quality of your experience, and how you are in relationship with everything (Kabat-Zinn). While many people practice mindfulness through meditation, there are many mindfulness practices that can support connection to yourself, others, and the world around you.
Professor Castillo has developed a Wellbeing Curriculum that integrates evidence-based mindfulness approaches with principles of Positive Psychology. Teachers can adapt this curriculum to meet the specific needs of their individual classes.
The exercises employed in the curriculum can be accessed below. Explore some of these, or create some of your own. A large part of engaging in mindfulness practice is discovering what works best for you. As you engage, keep a log of your practices to track their impact. (Mindfulness and Wellbeing Log)
PRACTICES
Works Cited
Burns, Carla, and Rotterdam, Charlotte. Naropa’s Contemplative Traditions. CACE Website. Naropa University, Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education, 2021. https://youtu.be/Em5_AcG8ZPs.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. New York: Random House, 1995.
Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition with Preface by Thich Nhat Hanh). New York: Bantam Books, 2013.