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Going into EDL 222, I thought this class would be an easy credit and a time to relax.

I never considered the idea that understanding mindfulness and contemplation requires intellectual engagement.

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My expectations were challenged when I entered the Mindfulness Center for the first time.

This is a room for mindful contemplation, critical consciousness, and meaningful discussion.

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I learned that contemplation is meant to “cultivate a personal capacity for deep concentration, presence, and awareness” and to create “insights that arise from the mind, body, and heart… [which] can be applied to one’s everyday life” (Duerr, 2004, p. 37).

During each practice we engaged in as a class, I discovered new ideas about mindfulness and how I could incorporate it into my own life and in my future classroom.

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The first type of contemplative practice that really engaged me as a student was the practice of silence/stillness.

I was surprised about how many observations I could make when given the opportunity to focus on my thoughts, my surroundings, and simply my being.

This encouraged me to stop taking silent moments for granted, instead striving to appreciate them when they occur and even to seek them out.

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Moving forward in the class, another practice that really stuck with me was the practice of loving-kindness.

According to Sharon Salzberg, loving-kindness is often a goal or outcome of mindfulness and encourages us to think about our connections with other people because we are all living through a common human experience.

This practice also inspired me to come up with my own affirmative phrases during the weeks of field when I was reflecting on my social identities: May they be safe and respected, may they overcome their obstacles, and may they embrace their identities.

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I chose a meditation for the experiential practice assignment called “A 12-Minute Meditation for Connecting to Your Body" by Jeanne Corrigal.

This meditation connected me to the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth and got me more deeply in touch with my body and mind. It showed me the positive effects of meditation—that it can help me practice being in the moment and enter a state of deeper relaxation and focus.

Meditation is something that could greatly benefit me as a teacher, helping me manage my stress and know how to regain focus when I’m having a hard time.

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When we gathered as a class at the memorial dedicated to the victims of lynching in Oxford, Ohio, I gained a deeper understanding of the history of my college town while contemplating the effects of racism in the community.

This allowed me to see that contemplation and activism can work together.

Jane E. Vennard explains that people can be both contemplatives and activists by striving to understand the world and make change within it.

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I feel that many of the concepts and practices I have learned will help me cope with the unique stressors and challenges that come with being a teacher.

I can use silence/stillness practices, loving-kindness, meditation, and contemplative action to regain focus and awareness, practice empathy, manage stress and anxiety, and reflect on the social justice issues that I see in my school/community and work to change them.

There are so many ways in which I can incorporate contemplative practices directly into my teaching.

I can incorporate silence by allowing quiet moments for students to reflect on a question or a text, loving-kindness by encouraging my students to use affirmative phrases at the start of each class, and contemplative action by having my students reflect and write about a social justice issue that shows up in a novel or other text that I am teaching—then having them come up with ideas on how we could fight against that issue in the present day.

Overall, I am excited to bring what I have learned about contemplative practices into my future classroom and use those practices myself and directly with my students, as they will help contribute to a classroom culture of mutual understanding and respect.

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Baars, B. J. (2013). A scientific approach to silent consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology,

4(678), 1-3.

Corrigal, J. (2021, October 19). A 12-minute meditation for connecting to your body. Mindful.

https://www.mindful.org/a-12-minute-meditation-for-connecting-to-your-body/

Duerr, M. (2004). A powerful silence: The role of meditation and other contemplative practices

in American life and work. Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.

Salzberg, S. (2011). Mindfulness and loving-kindness. Contemporary Buddhism, 12(1), 177–182.

Vennard, J. E. (2005). Integrating contemplation and action. The Clergy Journal, 8-10.