Communities of Generosity: Mindfulness for Academics

Abstract

Over the last four years, our team has developed a contemplative practices group centered around mindfulness, mutual support, kindness, and generosity. In our experience, this undertaking has been rewarding and enlightening. The teachings we have learned, the practices we have adopted, and the community or sangha we have formed have helped us feel more alert and present, manage stress, deal with anxiety and depression, and remain resilient against the pandemic’s traumas, both local and global. We have noted benefits that go beyond ourselves as well. Our readings, discussions, and practices have further sensitized us to social inequalities, while helping us build our energy for and commitment to working towards justice and peace. We have experienced this at the local level in our ability to be present for and compassionate with our students during all sorts of unprecedented difficulties presented by the pandemic. We also noticed we were able to show up for our colleagues in ways we had not anticipated. In this short paper, we provide an overview of our practice to comment on the benefits of mindfulness for academics.