Mindfulness-Based Wellness: Getting Started

Mindfulness-Based Wellness (MBW) at Avila is off to a fantastic start! We have 24 participants in the Fall Semester group, each of them meeting weekly with one of 5 mentors/coaches (in addition to our weekly classes of 1 hour, 15 minutes). Participants are engaging in daily (or most days of the week) mindfulness practice (we've been working with the body scan these last couple of weeks). They are working on a project to identify values, goals, and activities in support of their goals (what kind of person do I want to be? what kind of life do I want to live? and, how do I get there, from here?). We have weekly yoga classes (thanks to Tom Jacobs) and tai chi classes (thanks to Royal Scanlon) that are available, free, to the whole campus. There is a LOT of excitement and active partipation in the yoga and tai chi!

Our Mindfulness Room is nearly finished, enough so that we can actually use it next week for class, mindfulness practice, meetings with mentors, etc. We will still need to borrow chairs till our new chairs arrive, but we have cushions and mats, and the lighting is very lovely (halogen track lighting installed in a spiral pattern in the ceiling).