Mindfulness Meditation at CAPS

Whether you are an upper or lower classmen, we have all experienced some sort of stress in our college career. This stress could be caused bya number of things: important tests, a presentation in your worst class, group partners not pulling their weight, you name it. These are all common occurrences in college and sometimes you can feel on edge for days about it.

“The practice of mindfulness can have a significant impact on the way we respond to our environment and to ourselves, which can allow us to better manage stress and be more present in our lives,” CAPS staff counselor Monica Villalta-Rabb.“Though meditation is not the only means by which one can cultivate mindfulness, we offer the Mindfulness Meditation Workshop because meditation can be a very useful modality in which to begin to practice the intention of mindfulness, which is attending to the present moment with openness and acceptance.”

Since the fall of 2015, a Mindfulness Meditation workshop has been offered on a weekly basis. Mindfulness Meditation is an event offered by CAPS to the students of IUPUI. The workshop meets every Friday from 11-11:45 a.m. in CAPS suite 220 in their conference room. Throughout  the 45-minutes, students can participate in a variety of mindfulness meditation practice guided by a CAPS clinician.

The CAPS meditation guides experience varies from person to person, but each guide has some degree of personal and professional experience with mindfulness meditation. Many of these guides facilitate other mindfulness groups and trainings outside of the Friday session.

Students do not lead the mindfulness meditation workshop but are encouraged to get together and talk about their experience with the practice. “This workshop is only facilitated by CAPS staff and clinicians-in-training, however, there are opportunities for students to reflect with one another on their experiences with the meditation practices during the workshop each week,” says Rabb.

Mindfulness meditation is described as an intentional practice of mindfulness, in which we bring attention to our experience in the moment with acceptance and non-judgment. It is not about emptying the mind, reaching a particular emotion state, or trying to push away thoughts, but rather bringing open awareness to our thoughts and experiences while seeking to maintain our focus on the here and now. This workshop was developed as a collaboration amongst CAPS staff based on what they saw as a need they could meet for IUPUI students.

This meditation session does not require anything but a student ID. “Students are not expected to bring anything in particular with them. We typically engage in meditation practice seated or lying on the floor and we provide yoga mats and meditation cushions to facilitate doing that comfortably.  However, if any students have their own mats or cushions that they would prefer to use, they are welcome to bring them,” says Rabb

For those students who may not be able to make the Friday meetings Healthy IU offers mindfulness meditation based on programming you can find out more by visiting: https://healthy.iu.edu/campus-programs-services/university/mindful.html