The University has incorporated two centers — the University Mindfulness Center and the Contemplative Sciences Center — to promote the health and well-being of community members both on-Grounds and in the greater Charlottesville area.
The University Mindfulness Center provides training courses and hosts public events to help participants focus their attention on the present. Mindfulness skills encourage participants to learn to be more aware of passing, seemingly trivial moments that might be overlooked in day to day life.
Practicing mindfulness skills is particularly beneficial for people who experience stress, undergo sleep disturbances and have headaches.
The Center’s programs are open to the general public, including the mindfulness based stress reduction, mindful writing courses and mindfulness meditation group.
The Contemplative Sciences Center, or CSC, was a 12 million dollar gift from an alumnus and launched at the University in the spring of 2012.
David Germano, director of the CSC and a religious studies professor, said in a press release that the Center tries to “increase mainstream awareness about the potential benefits of training your mind and body.”
CSC partners with all 11 schools at the University. The Center has championed the innovation of leading diverse academic disciplines to approach the practice of contemplative sciences.
Marian Matthews is the instructor of Mindfulness + Movement program at the CSC. This program strives to share mindfulness and movement practices with both students and teachers in four Albemarle County public elementary schools.
Matthews said in an email statement that she and the other curriculum developer were excited about the impact the program had among local Albemarle County schools.
“This outreach program provides a contemplative platform to connect higher education learners with primary education learners,” Matthews said. “[It] strives to cultivate awareness, resiliency and well-being through the sharing of these practices.”
Rising fourth-year College student Annie Miao said CSC is one of her favorite organizations on Grounds.
Miao participated in the University Spring Break Mindfulness Retreat in March and was encouraged to learn to be more conscious of the present.
“It was a silent retreat, so we were not allowed to speak for five days,” Miao said. “But the silence only worked to instill a sense of ineffable peace within me, and I felt deeper lines of connection with other retreaters even though strangely we barely communicated during our time there.”
Intrigued by the positivity of mindfulness and meditation, Miao said she wanted to be more involved in the Center.
Miao is now a summer intern, and said she is pleased that her goal of improving the quality of her life aligns with the Center’s mission and values.
“I greatly enjoy working for [CSC] to help promote its events — through taking pictures of the Tuesday night meditations and Wednesday night [free] yoga at the Amphitheater,” Miao said. “It makes me truly happy to see so many others discovering mindfulness.”
Information on specific events and its program curriculum is available on the CSC’s website.
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