Mindfulness in Higher Education is gaining more and more attention as college students are reporting greater levels of stress and less time for contemplation and reflection. In recent years, higher education settings have been turning their attention to the question of how to foster greater resilience among students and mindfulness is gaining more traction on college campuses.
Mindfulness is one of the most critical skills a young adult can master.
Yet too often, the way mindfulness is taught is neither relevant nor accessible to the people who need it most. Try to get a college age student to sit for a 30-minute meditation! They may be willing to give it a try, but they are busy human beings and committing to this amount of time on a regular basis is rarely sustainable among busy college students.
Students want to experience relief from their stress now, not tomorrow or a week from tomorrow. If they cannot feel the benefits relatively quickly, they will give up. Mindfulness in higher education settings must take the developmental needs of this age group in mind in order to be successful.
The Koru Mindfulness program was developed at Duke University’s counseling center over a 10 year period of time.
Over those 10 years we learned what worked and didn’t work and we ended up focusing on practical skillsets made relevant to students. And it worked! Our randomized, controlled trial (insert link to study) demonstrated that student’s reported feeling a greater sense of calmness, improved mindfulness, improved sleep, and greater levels of self-compassion. The Koru curriculum was able to demonstrate these significant outcomes over the course of a 4 week curriculum. The brevity and structure of Koru is a perfect fit for college age students and it meets the needs of higher education professionals searching for a curriculum they can fold into their classroom.
Training to teach mindfulness in higher education offered
Now, after much anticipation, The Center for Koru Mindfulness offers an in-depth mindfulness training program to those who work in higher education. Koru’s evidence-based training is specifically designed to address the problems facing students in higher education, and it’s backed up by a comprehensive certification and teacher-support program. Our mindfulness teacher certification program will offer you the tools to start changing your student’s lives. Take a look at our teacher directory (insert link) to see the higher education settings where Koru is currently being taught.
Send us a message if you are interested in learning more about our teacher certification program for mindfulness in higher education.
