If the walls of room 209 in the Patton College of Education could talk, they would tell stories of students practicing mindfulness and balanced living. The walls would also say they participated in meditation and feel more grounded in their busy lives, watching students run around all day and every day.
Sunder Singhani, the founder and president of Ohio University’s Mindfulness-Based Living, or OUMBL, started an organization centered around the practice and idea of mindfulness after recognizing that there was nothing like it on campus.
Singhani is a doctoral student in counselor, education and supervision, a mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher and a mental health counselor. Singhani said he talked to his advisor about noticing a need for such an organization on campus, even if it meant creating one just to sit and practice mindfulness by himself.
“So I talked to my advisor, and he said, ‘Well, what if people are not interested in this,’ and I said, ‘I’ll sit and meditate for an hour by myself,’” Singhai said. “I think the reason for mindfulness in my mind is just being present in life so that you can enjoy every moment in life.”
Another reason for practicing mindfulness, Singhani also said, is because of the mental and physical health benefits. People have reaped these benefits for thousands of years. Mindfulness originated around 2,500 years ago and from ancient eastern and Buddhist philosophy, according to Physiopedia. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is responsible for bringing the meditative approach to mindfulness to the West, according to the University of Cambridge.
Physiopedia defines mindfulness in multiple ways, one being: “The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.”
This semester, OUMBL has a series of activities planned, some of which include practicing grounding techniques and mindful eating, movement, arts and crafts, communication, self-compassion and more.
The organization meetings every Tuesday in Patton College room 209 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Although OUMBL is new to campus, students are already seeing how mindfulness can positively impact their mental health and outlook on life.
Ridge Cook, a senior studying field ecology, said he found out about OUMBL because he and Singhani run together.
“I think there’s not only a need for (OUMBL), but I think it’s something that the students would really be into here,” Cook said. “I had practiced mindfulness before but always through an app on my phone or something like that by myself. So this was my first time coming to a group or a club and it made a huge difference, like practicing around other people. I’m excited to continue.”
It can be helpful for people to practice mindfulness in a group and according to Mindful Therapies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making psychological counseling, education and training accessible to all. One of these advantages is mutual support. In groups, some people find the motivation to continue at the task at hand; in this case, the task is practicing mindfulness.
Gabby Turner, a freshman studying environmental sciences and sustainability, said it is reassuring to be in a group space where people are intentionally listening to each other and understanding one another’s experiences.
“It’s just really nice,” Turner said. “Just to have that shared interest, and wanting to do that and wanting to be mindful together is really cool.”
OUMBL has also partnered with Morgan’s Message, a student-athlete mental health organization on campus, to reach more people who can practice mindfulness. Together, the organizations started doing Mindful Mondays on Jan. 23 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. every other Monday at the Sook Academic Center. There will be six Mindful Monday sessions throughout the semester.
Students who take the time to place themselves in the moment and acknowledge their emotions with a group of people may find a new way to connect with others at OU. For Singhani, practicing meditation and mindfulness is a way to get better at life, which he quoted from the world-renowned teacher in the field of Buddhist Meditation, Sharon Salzberg.
“One of the big reasons I started this was as I share this with other people, I really love practices, so that’s why it’s so powerful for me,” Singhani said. “So that’s why it was really important to have these experiential activities, not just you know, I could spend a whole hour of meditation but that’s not the point.”
