Introduction to Mindfulness Practice for College and University Students: an Instructor’s Manual and Syllabus

Abstract

There are doubtless many effective ways to teach an introductory mindfulness practice class in a college or university setting. This is one of them. Mindfulness practice can only be taught from one’s own experience. My experience, as a student and a teacher, has come mainly through the MBSR Program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and described in detail in Full Catastrophe Living. It is not my purpose to restate or summarize that work. Rather, I would recommend it (enthusiastically) to anyone not already familiar with it. My purpose is to describe an undergraduate syllabus that is derived from the MBSR program. It is taught in a similar manner and covers much of the same content. The syllabus described below may be of use to teachers who are unfamiliar with MBSR, but it is primarily intended to be a resource for other MBSR teachers who have the interest and opportunity to try reaching a younger population.