The Year So Far

So far, we’ve had a great time this semester! From connecting with nature to connecting with our bodies, we’ve all grown a little more mindful in our practice.

This year, we’re holding our sits on Saturdays, at 12PM. We meet in the JE Common Room, but if you come late, you can find us in the JE dance studio (under entryway I) in case of bad or cold weather, or outside in the courtyard in case of good weather.

We hope you’ll join us if you have any interest in meditation!

Our first sit of fall 2014!

Body scans

Mental Health & Wellness Weekend | April 11-13

We’ve been busy since our last post – collaborating with Integrative Medicine Undergraduate to film Escape Fire, collaborating with Yogis at Yale to explore different contemplative practices…but our biggest collaboration yet is this weekend!

The inaugural Mental Health & Wellness Weekend is ten events, workshops, and speakers designed to foster thoughtful conversation about mental health at Yale, build skills for resilience, and promote a campus culture where students feel empowered to take care of ourselves and each other.

It’s sponsored by the Coalition for Mental Health & Wellbeing at Yale, a collaborative effort of more than a dozen student groups working on mental health and wellness at Yale, of which YMindful is one!

We can make Yale a healthier place for ourselves and each other – it starts with the conversations you have with your friends, and with yourself.

I hope you’ll pick one or a few events that sound interesting and explore!

A New Take on Love

When we think about love, we think about romantic love- it’s for one person, it gives you butterflies, it keeps you up at night, it makes you crazy, it can make you feel like you’re on top of the world and it can also make you feel like you’re at rock bottom. However, what we often forget is that there is also this other kind of love: selfless love- it can be for yourself, your friends, even strangers or those who’ve wronged you. This type of love is unconditional and it brings nothing but pure joy. How can one experience this type of love? Come join YMindful as we explore how to cultivate selfless love!

Bring yourself, your friends, or a significant other! All are welcome!

Yale Daily News on Meditation at Yale!

Meditation is deeply personal, and it’s also about being there for others. It can be spiritual, and it’s increasingly the subject of scientific inquiry. It’s for coping with adversity and for appreciating each gift in our lives.

States of Mind, a recent article in the Yale Daily News, presents meditation in this complexity.

The Weekend feature interviews several YMindful members to explore how Yalies meditate for clarity, community, and mental health – and how Yale students and faculty are researching meditation as therapy and mental training.

This semester, we have made a conscious effort to publicize YMindful, and we’re pleased to see meditation written about in campus publications. In part as a result, dozens of students have joined us to experience meditation for the first time, and many more have deepened their experience of practice together. We’re not about growing for its own sake, and we’re not about convincing people to meditate – but we are ALL about sharing the joys and challenges of meditation with one another and offering that sometimes transformative opportunity to the entire Yale community.

Meditate on Pumpkin Pie – a YMindful Study Break!

Meditation is all about learning to stop, so what better way to practice at Yale than with a STUDY BREAK!? When we break the inertia of our habitual hurrying, we can experience the delights and miracles that eluded our awareness but have been there all along.

Emboldened by the success of Mamoun’s and Meditation last year, we’re upping the ante with fifteen minutes of festive fall treats, followed by fifteen minutes of meditation in the wondrous Harkness Shrine. It’s a bite-sized break for busy people. Newcomers to meditation are decidedly welcome!

Meditation for Midterms – w/Yale Sangha!

A Sangha is a body of Buddhist practitioners. YMindful is religiously unaffiliated, but we’re excited to spread the word that Yale has a Sangha! They meet every Thursday at 7 PM in the Buddhist Shrine, located in the 1st floor of Harkness Tower.

We’re honored that the Yale Sangha has invited us to do a workshop with them. This Monday, October 7, from 7-8 PM, in the Buddhist Shrine, we’ll lead discussion and practice around Meditation for Midterms, geared towards stress reduction and rejuvenation. We hope to see you there!

Saturday Sit Series Starts!

You’ve finished a week of school, and you haven’t yet hit the books in preparation for next week. Saturday is a time to relax and re-energize, and we’ve got just the thing! Every Saturday, a supportive community is there to help you restore. “Just tell me when and where!” you say?

Saturdays | 2-3 PM | JE Common Room

(we’ll head out to the courtyard or down to the dance studio, depending on the weather)

Bring a friend!

First Sit Success

We’re delighted that more than a dozen newcomers joined up yesterday for our first sit of the year! We took a rain-check on sitting in the JE courtyard, but it felt good to be back in our traditional spot: the JE Dance Studio. After some brief instruction, we dove right into eating meditation (5 raisons in 5 minutes!) and mindful relaxation.

If you couldn’t make the first session, it’s definitely not too late! We begin our Saturday Sit Series this coming weekend – stay tuned for details.

No Rush Required

Tomorrow we’ll be repping YMindful enthusiasm at the extracurricular bazaar!

Sunday, September 1 | noon-3 PM | Payne Whitney Gym

Find our table to hear more about what we’re up to and how you can get involved. Tiny cups of loose-leaf tea will be yours – Woodland’s best!

Then join us the following day at our first sit of the year!

Monday, September 2 | 4 PM | JE Courtyard (common room in case of rain)

We’ll be doing a bite-sized intro to mindfulness, in the context of eating (yum!) and relaxing (ahhhhh…) See you there!

Ushering in the New Year

During Camp Yale, seven YMindful devotees reunited for tea and brainstormed about the upcoming year. Keeping the Saturday Sit Series the backbone of our programming, we’re embracing technological tools to prompt consistent practice the rest of the week, and looking forward to special events like mindful cooking (Reese’s pancakes, here we come!). Meanwhile, we plan to increase our visibility on campus, so there’s no way interested meditators won’t know what’s up. Stay in the loop by joining our email list and liking us on facebook!