Mindfulness and Well-Being Programs

The University of Miami Libraries’ Mindfulness and Well-Being Programs are offered by library employees and community partners who come together to create experiential opportunities to cultivate mental health and well-being. Inspired by current scientific research and ancient wisdom, the offerings below aim to foster connection and a sense of belonging in our challenging times.

Mindfulness for Inner Resilience
Online Sessions 

The University of Miami Libraries offers introductory mindfulness sessions designed to support inner resilience. These 45-minute online sessions introduce the fundamentals of mindfulness meditation and movement with periods of guided practice and opportunities for reflection and questions.

4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Wednesdays
Registration is required.
Fall Semester sessions will begin on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 and continue through Wednesday, December 4, 2024. Please note that no session will be held on Wednesday, November 27, due to the Thanksgiving holidays.

The sessions are led by Kelly Miller, a Certified Mindfulness Teacher (MMTCP), Director of Mindfulness and Well-Being Programs, and Associate Dean for Learning and Research Services in the University of Miami Libraries, and Professor Scott Rogers, Director of the University of Miami School of Law’s Mindfulness in Law Program, and Gisele Rocha, a Certified Yoga Teacher (RYT® 200) and Assistant Director in the Libraries’ Creative department. Guest teachers are also occasionally invited. Together with Vera Spika, the former Librarian for Nursing and Health Sciences, Kelly Miller and Scott Rogers established the Libraries’ initial mindfulness offerings beginning in 2016, and the program has been growing steadily since that time.

What participants say about the sessions:

“The group environment is very supportive and provides a sense of belonging.”

“The sessions are not only an excellent place to start but also a place to develop and sustain meditation practice indefinitely.”

“I feel more relaxed and aware!”

Breathe and Be
In-Person Sessions 

Learn skills and strategies for living through challenging times with greater ease, sense of well-being, and belonging. The “Breathe and Be” Program offers 60-minutes in-person sessions that combine guided meditation, breathing, and conscious movement practices, as well as opportunities for reflection and questions. Facilitated by a guest teacher, Guayana Paez-Acosta, MSc, a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 500 hr.) and Founder and Director of the Athena Lab for Social Change, the Program fosters a welcoming, inclusive, and healing learning environment. No prior experience is needed.

10-30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Thursdays
Richter Library 1st Floor, Learning Commons, Flex Space B
Registration is required.
Fall semester sessions will begin on August 22, 2024.

Yoga Classes
Online and In-Person Sessions

Join us for a gentle yoga practice, as we build strength and flexibility while cultivating self-awareness, balance, and inner peace. Through a series of asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques), experience the transformative power of this ancient practice in sessions facilitated by Gisele Rocha, a Certified Yoga Teacher (RYT® 200) and Assistant Director in the Libraries’ Creative department. All levels are welcome. For more details on schedule and registration, click here.

Meditation Room in Richter Library

A Meditation Room is located on the second floor of Richter Library, Rm. 215E. All are welcome to visit the room for reflection, prayer, or meditation.

E-Books and Audiobooks

The University of Miami Libraries provides access to mindfulness and well-being resources available online. Browse a curated selection of e-books and audiobooks, and explore the catalog and public health databases for more options, including current research on mindfulness and well-being.

What is mindfulness?

“Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. It is one of the many forms of meditation, if you think of meditation as any way in which we engage in 1) systematically regulating our attention and energy, 2) thereby influencing and possibly transforming the quality of our experience, 3) in the service of realizing the full range of our humanity, and of 4) our relationship to others and the world.”

            — Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment — and Your Life (2011)

Foundational attitudes that support and strengthen mindfulness include curiosity, kindness, gratitude and generosity, acceptance, nonjudging, nonstriving, letting be, patience, humor, trust, and a beginner’s mind.

Researchers have documented the benefits of mindfulness in several areas: 1) symptom reduction (reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms, improvement in quality-of-life outcomes among cancer patients, etc.), 2) improvements in biological markers (changes in cortisol measures in those with high stress levels, etc.), and 3) neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to change in response to life circumstance and learning).

For more information on mindfulness and its roots in Buddhism, please see our University of Miami Libraries’ Mindfulness Research Guide.

Donate

The Libraries’ mindfulness sessions, meditation room, and related resources are offered freely for the benefit of the University of Miami community. If you would like to donate to support the Libraries in this work, please click here. Support for the Libraries and our community programming is greatly appreciated.

Collaborative Partners on Campus and in the Community

The Libraries’ Mindfulness programs involve collaboration with partners at the University, including the University of Miami School of Law’s Mindfulness in Law Program and UMindfulness, and community partners, including the Athena Lab for Social Change.

Mindfulness Offerings Available through Campus Partners

The Lowe Art Museum offers monthly free “Slow Looking” virtual programs that provide participants with a 30-minute guided mindful exploration of selected artworks from the Lowe’s collection. Check out the Lowe Art Museum’s Events Calendar for more information about dates and times.

Questions

For questions, please contact Kelly Miller (kelly.miller@miami.edu), Director of Mindfulness and Well-Being Programs for the University of Miami Libraries and a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher (MMTCP).