Mindfulness and Social Wellness
Bridging individual practice with group practice to enhance the 'greater good'
Are there social aspects of Mindfulness?
While it is most common to practice Mindfulness as an individual practice — it’s application into social environments we will explore today. To extend mindfulness beyond ourselves and individual practice, it can create a ripple effect that positively impacts our communities. Specifically for today we’re going to talk about some ideas for Toward Wellth to incorporate mindfulness into programmatic design to further support the mission of social wellness.
Mindfulness in Groups - Considerations
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
My personal first introduction to mindfulness was when I took an MBSR class to address my own pre-hypertension (blood pressure). That was a group class and the group structure had an impact on my adoption of it as a practice.
MBSR Overview: Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn created MBSR as a structured eight-week program to combine mindfulness meditation, yoga, and group discussions. The end in mind is to reduce stress and enhance well-being.
How It Works:
Participants attend weekly sessions where they learn mindfulness techniques.
Daily home practice includes meditation and mindful movement.
Group discussions provide a supportive environment for sharing experiences.
Role in Toward Wellth: As MBSR has been widely studied and shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and improve overall quality of life, it also has many certified instructors. These instructors will provide this programming as a core staple curriculum offered.
Google’s Search Inside Yourself (SIY)
SIY Overview: Google created the SIY program to immerse participants in curriculum that integrated mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and neuroscience. It is offered as a two-day workshop for employees.
Core Components:
Mindfulness practices (e.g., breath awareness, body scan).
Emotional intelligence training.
Neuroscience insights on well-being.
Role in Toward Wellth: There may be situations where an adapted, immersive 2 day program may better fit into schedules and goals of participants (versus, say an 8 week MBSR class). Similarly it may be that stress reduction may not be the end in mind - i.e. the goals may be a deeper level of focus, resilience, and/or better relationships.
Reinforcement of the Mindfulness Taught in Schools
MTLSD-directed Mindfulness Overview: As Toward Wellth is a Mt Lebanon based entity, this example is more centered around the mindfulness brought to K-12 education at MTLSD. Teachers and students have incorporated mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and enhance focus since the Steinhauer administration - and it was helpful for many during COVID. (In those April/May 2020 days when everyone else was going “batshit crazy” trying to figure out remote learning, I appreciated Dr. Steinhauer dropping a mindful moment at the start of some of his 9am announcement videos!)
In Practice:
Short mindfulness practices have been integrated into the school day and/or taught to students in varying formats and by different school resources.
In some of the training, students have been taught how to use strategies to address situations — like mindful breathing before tests or during stressful situations.
Toward Wellth’s Role: Continue the reinforcement of any school taught mindfulness through modeling mindfulness practices to avoid/address behavioral issues. Depending on the receptivity of the HS aged patron population, these programs may begin as resources that can be viewed / attended for ‘lecture’ style presentations - and evolve into group practice or discussion groups to provide peer support. Mindfulness helps bring additional awareness - and teens sometimes can get tunnel vision when stressed - additional strategies can be taught to widen their lens of awareness!
Ad-hoc Open-format Meditation Sessions
Program Idea:
Regular open-enrollment meditation sessions.
Guided mindfulness practices led by trained facilitators.
Open to all, fostering connection and well-being.
Toward Wellth’s Role: Offer regular opportunities for the practice of meditation and mindfulness, leveraging different trained facilitators. May be of most use to those who need a schedule time to incorporate additional spirituality into their schedule - alongside a supporting group of others in similar situations.
Other Mindful Ideas
There are other activities such as coordinating volunteer events (which could happen outside of TW - like cleaning up parks, assisting local non-profits, supporting some of the community gardens at elementary schools, etc) where mindfulness can be practiced or the group may have a reflection gathering to discuss what they observed while volunteering - leading to an incorporation of empathy when engaging in future similar situations. Would be open to hearing your ideas on how mindfulness could be employed in other social situations!
Mindfulness isn’t solitary; it’s a bridge that can connect us to others. By incorporating evidence-based mindful practices (and instruction of these practices) directly into communities, we improve the capacity of patrons to have more agency and decrease feelings of isolation. This can have a ripple effect that improves the overall community.