Dates: May 16, June 6, July 18, August 15
Day & Time: Thursdays, noon to 1 p.m.
Location: Zoom
- Mindfulness and Habits (May 16) In this workshop, the Mindful Steps team will introduce ways to navigate your habitual nature with more mindfulness and compassion. You will be invited to explore the origin and urges underlying some of your daily habits. Mindfulness techniques and strategies will be practiced to induce a sense of self-agency, empowering you to generate optimal habits that support your overall quality of life.
- Mindfulness is AWEsome (June 6) When asked to name some emotions, the common response may include happy, sad, angry, excited, love, or fear. But what about the emotion of awe? Gather with the Mindful Steps team to learn more about the growing research devoted to this natural emotion and explore practical ways to sense into the feeling states of awe, joy, and wonderment. Approximately 45 minutes will include a presentation by the Mindful Steps team, followed by instructions for how to take a mindfulness walk. The remaining time will be used for individual awe walks.
- Welcoming Grief (July 18) Grief and sorrow are emotions that might make you want to flee from the heartache. Yet, as the saying goes – “what we resist persists.” Many mindfulness techniques can help you welcome uncomfortable feelings in a gentle and nonjudgmental way, so that you may navigate through them with a little more ease, confidence, and sense of agency. In this Mindful Steps class, you will learn about the importance of acknowledging and validating heavy emotions, practical tools for alleviating psychosomatic tension, and compassion exercises to cultivate emotional resiliency.
- Retaining our Humanity in Challenging Times (August 15) We all have a biological need for social connection. Many communal rituals and celebrations foster a sense of mutual humanity. Our lived experiences are also abundant with challenging events that stress our sense of self, perception of others, and ability to trust that “this too shall pass”. How do we retain our humanity and not lose sight of our intense, ever-present connections with the world, due to the struggles and distractions of daily life? Mindfulness practices, such as breathing techniques, loving-kindness meditation, and somatic exercises offer an alternative to turning a blind eye or letting your heart grow cold. Join the Mindful Steps team for an inspiring session that may aid in keeping a kind, but strong heart in an ever-changing world.
The mindfulness summer series is free for all WVU students, faculty, and staff as well as WVU Medicine employees. Interested participants can attend sessions individually or in sequence.