National Collegiate Honors Council
Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive
Date of this Version
Fall 2024
Document Type
Article
Citation
Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (Fall/Winter 2024) 25(2): 55-62
Special issue: Form on student mental health
ADA-accessible PDF
Abstract
In today’s post-pandemic world, a sense of belonging within and in the larger relational world is something that many people struggle with, particularly those individuals leaving home to enter college. Socially engaged mindfulness can connect individuals with their breath, thoughts, emotions, and one another to promote and support well-being. This essay presents a programmatic overview of a Mindfulness Learning Community (MLC) in honors. Created for incoming first-year students (N = 31) to aid in their transition to college life, the multi-semester academic, social, and experiential-based learning community aims to teach honors students the psychological and physiological value of mindful practice, tools for developing deep thinking and reflection, and practical skills for nurturing a mindful body. Part of an engaged, supportive community, students selected for this program work with faculty, upper-division students, peer leaders, and campus partners to conceptualize and apply different methodological approaches to wellness. This longitudinal, multimodal mindfulness experience provides space to explore how honors can pedagogically, intrapersonally, and socially support well-being and belonging in the honors community (undergraduates, educators, and support staff) for new students as they transition to college and begin to attend to the rigors of higher education.
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Comments
Copyright 2024, National Collegiate Honors Council. Used by permission