Leaders and speakers inform about Mindfulness at Community Awareness Event
Delaware Technical Community College hosted its first Mindfulness Summit on Oct. 28 at the Staunton Campus, where students, faculty, and staff attended to learn about what mindfulness is, what it can do, how to use it in daily life, and how to encourage it in the workplace.
Delaware Tech began planning this event about three months ago led by the President of Delaware Tech, Dr. Mark T. Brainard.
“Research has proven that these [mindfulness] strategies help students meet educational goals,” he said.
The eight-hour long Mindfulness Summit began on Saturday morning in the Conference Center at the Staunton Campus. It cost $50 for faculty and staff of Delaware Tech to register, and $75 for the general public.
The event began with a welcome from William McCracken from the Delaware Center for Wellness, and a short meditation activity.
This was followed by two talks about identifying mindfulness and applying it to daily life. The first was from a Movement Specialist, Johnny Gillespie, about how to treat the body with mindfulness in mind. The next was from Diane Reibel, Ph. D., about the results of mindfulness and its importance.
A panel discussion from leaders in mindfulness followed, and then three group activities to practice mindfulness. The discussion was about how mindfulness practices are being used successfully with mental health patients, children, college students, and veterans. The activities included a breathing exercise, a group game, and a meditation practice.
These activities helped the audience participate and interact with mindfulness. One of the attendees included Rebecca Fahey, a Student Affairs Assistant at Delaware Tech. She decided to attend because she wanted to learn more about how mindfulness works.
“I’ve learned so much,” she said. She hopes to take a mindfulness class in the future, as well as “take a course in empowered yoga.”
After the activities, Sam Beard from the Global Investment Foundation for Tomorrow (GIFT) talked the foundation’s goals for mindfulness in the future.
After lunch, Michael Carrol, a corporate executive, meditation teacher, and author of “Awake at Work”, shared strategies of transforming the stress of work into an opportunity for personal growth. He talked about finding clearance during the chaos that works brings through meditation, exercise, and some other Buddhist practices.
After another panel discussion was a talk by Holly Rogers, M.D., about the new partnership between The Center for Koru Mindfulness and Delaware Tech, and then closing remarks by Dr. Mark Brainard.
Dr. Mark Brainard said he was very pleased with the event. He said it went “fantastic, not only regarding attendance, but also the speakers and their content.”
Movement Specialist Johnny Gillespie coaching the audience on how to mindfully treat the body. Photo by B. Wiseman.
(From left to right): Rebecca Baelen, Karen Barwick, Margaret Keenan, Ph.D., and James M. Walsh, Ph.D., during the second panel discussion, talk about the challenges and opportunities associated with bringing mindfulness to organizations on a larger scale. Photo by B. Wiseman.