Contemplative Journal: Background & Instructions
Background
“Contemplative practices” are a broad range of easy physical and mental exercises
which sharpen focus, improve attention, promote self-awareness, and cultivate
feelings of peace, calm, and clarity. Drawn from contemplative traditions all over the
world, imaginative uses of these practices have been helping athletes, artists,
scientists (including some renowned historical names), and individuals all across
the spectrum to have more productive lives as well as greater health and happiness
generally.
We have only recently begun to fully exploit their value in universities around the
U.S. The noticeable benefits for students and teachers, however, have already been
impressive. Just about every major university in the U.S., including the ivy leagues,
now has some kind of contemplative initiative underway, be it a campus program,
workshop, institute, course offering, or even major. NDSU is running a little behind
the curve, as we don't have a lot going on here yet!
One of the biggest proponents of contemplative practice is a guy named Jon KabotZinn. He's Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts
Medical School, and runs the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness
in Medicine, Health Care, and Society.
The medical evidence by now is just about overwhelming: these practices decrease
stress, improve attention span and focus, and even affect the brain physically by
increasing density in key areas. There's a reason why athletes, artists, corporate
executives and so many others are doing this stuff! Some businesses and
corporations now even require their employees to attend classes in contemplative
practice.
I personally see them as a sort of counter-balance or corrective to some of the less
healthy effects of living in a digital age. Many people are reporting web-fatigue,
stress, poor concentration, and overall ill health linked to multi-tasking with screens
all through the day. I enjoy and use the technology almost constantly myself, but just
because the technology is here to stay doesn't mean that we have to let the worst
effects of it run havoc over our mental and physical health.
The practices are almost stupidly simple, but can be very refreshing, calming, and
clarifying. You want to do them someplace as quiet and peaceful as possible.
And--THIS IS CRUCIAL--the stuff also happens to "wake up" the very faculties which
are likely essential to WRITING!
SWEET!
For this class, you will therefore keep a weekly record of responses to some simple
practices, and all you really need for a high score is open-minded willingness and a
little self-discipline.
Instructions
Each week you will be given a specific mindfulness task. “Mindfulness” is a term
strongly associated with the contemplative tradition and simply means "paying
attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally…” (Zinn qtd. by
Baime).
You will complete each assigned task on your own three times before the next
week’s assignment. We will also do the practice together in class on occasion.
Each session will generally take no longer than 20 minutes and sometimes quite a
bit less.
In an electronic journal file titled, “[YourName’s] Contemplative Journal,” you will
record the place, date, and time of each session, along with responses to several
reflective questions about your experience.
You will also copy-paste each record to our Bb Contemplative Journal area for
scoring.
Evaluation Criteria
Each week’s assignment must be completed three times, on different days. It should
be clear that a good-faith and open-minded effort was made to complete each
exercise. Journal observations and responses should be clear, thoughtful, sincere,
and relevant to the assigned questions. Proofreading is not essential, although
mechanical errors which interfere with understanding will be considered a problem.
(You may want to draft your responses first, then revise them for your journal.)
You will hand in your journal a few times throughout the semester for checking and
scoring.
A final 2 pages of reflective writing will conclude your journal.
Source cited: http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/practicing-mindfulness
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