This was a keynote presentation at the Technology, Innovations, & Pedagogy Conference at Fresno State University, in which the focus was mindfulness and contemplative education. This presentation explores the what, why, how and challenges of contemplative education. With the increase in stress and anxiety on campuses and the high drop out rates, contemplative education offers a foundation to engage students. The title, Coming To Our Senses, is an appeal to educators to explore how contemplative education can create transformative spaces to educate and engage the whole person so they can meet any challenge with wisdom, compassion and resilience. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to explore contemplative pedagogy for your institution.

1. COMING TO OUR SENSESH O W C O N T E M P L AT I V E E D U C AT I O N C A N T R A N S F O R M O U R
C L A S S R O O M S , S T U D E N T S , & T H E W O R L D
T E C H N O L O G Y, I N N O VAT I O N S , & P E D A G O G Y C O N F E R E N C E
Shalini Bahl, Ph.D.

2. 2005
“New age hippie! What are you
doing in a business school?”
–Marketing 301 class student

3. Feedback for mindful leadership course on campus
➤ The debriefs w/ the group solidified the humans we all feel
➤ The space to be vulnerable and open up to others in genuine
way. Practicing genuine communication & listening in a safe/
accepting way. Seeing others be vulnerable & recognizing our shared
vulnerability.
➤ The trust developed w/ other students
➤ The communal experience!
➤ The ability to quickly connect with others & to realize we
are all vulnerable humans
➤ Having other people sharing experiences that I have also identified
with made it more comfortable to be myself.
➤ These are the kinds of learning opportunities that matter
the most in life.
➤ Pushing the comfort boundaries and exploring
myself more deeply.
2015

4. AN INVITATION TO PAUSE & OBSERVE
Y O U R M I N D ( T H O U G H T S )
Y O U R H E A R T ( E M O T I O N S )
Y O U R B O D Y ( S E N S AT I O N S )

5. WHAT DID YOU OBSERVE?
C O N T E M P L AT I V E D R AW I N G
Y O U R M I N D ( T H O U G H T S )
Y O U R H E A R T ( E M O T I O N S )
Y O U R B O D Y ( S E N S AT I O N S )

6. What?
Why?
How?
Challenges
Q & A
THE ROAD MAP
Meaning & Goals
Scientific support
Practices & Strategies
What & How
Mini Lectures
Group Work

7. WHAT
Meaning & goals of
contemplative education

9. PERCENTAGE OF
1ST GENERATION
STUDENTS THAT
WILL GRADUATE
IN 6 YEARS
40%– Cardoza 2016

10. “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a
wandering attention, over and over again,
is the very root of judgment, character, and
will. No one is compos sui [master of
himself] if he have it not. An education
which should improve this faculty would
be the education par excellence.”
- William James,
Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 424 (Harper Torchbooks, 1961)

11. “Contemplative approach is one of inquiry into
the nature of things, a scientific suspension of
disbelief (and belief) in an attempt to “know”
reality through direct observation by being fully
present in the moment.
Barbezat and Bush , 2014

12. CONTEMPLATIVE EDUCATION
GOALS
1. Focus & Attention Building
2. Awareness
Nature of mind, body,
emotions, meaning, & insight
3. Curiosity
Introspection into course
content, personal relevance,
& multiple perspectives
4. Compassion
Understanding and kindness
toward self and others, seeing
interconnectedness
Barbezat and Bush , 2014

13. FOCUS
D I R E C T AT T E N T I O N
W I T H E A S E I N M I N D
A N D B O D Y
The ability to direct to attention to where it is needed and
away from what is not necessary.

14. AWARENESS
Y O U R M I N D ( T H O U G H T S )
Y O U R H E A R T ( E M O T I O N S )
Y O U R B O D Y ( S E N S AT I O N S )
Awareness is the experience of one’s current sensory and
knowledge-based mental phenomena, which cannot be grasped by
only conceptual thinking (Kabat-Zinn 2013)

15. CURIOSITY
R E L A X E D & A L E R T I N T E R E S T
D I R E C T E X P E R I E N C E
W I T H O U T C L I N G I N G O R
AV E R S I O N
Curiosity entails a relaxed and alert interest in our immediate
experience. Rather than trying to figure out, which involves
thinking and analyzing, mindful curiosity is staying open to the
direct experience of what is going on, without clinging or
aversion.

16. COMPASSION
Being understanding and kind toward
self & others
Seeing experiences as part of the
larger human experience
Holding painful experience in
balanced awareness
The feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s
suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering. (Strauss et al
2016)
Neff et al 2007

17. WHY
Contemplative pedagogy
works – The Science
supporting it

18. “If we can deeply understand the
power of our minds to both
injure and benefit this world, we
see that (contemplative) practice
is not a luxury but an
imperative. It returns us to
ourselves, to our sanity, our true
capacity.”
~ Geoffrey Shugen Arnold

19. • Curiosity
• Flexibility
• Mo1va1on
Academic
Mindset
• Metacogni1ve
awareness
• Self-compassion
• Cri1cal thinking
Learning
Strategies • Resilience
• ACen1on
• Self-efficacy
Perseverance
• Self-confidence
• Compassion
• Effec1ve
communica1on
Social Skills
A CONTEMPLATIVE FOUNDATION FOR *FACTORS IMPACTING SUCCESS
Focus & Attention Awareness Curiosity Compassion
A CONTEMPLATIVE FOUNDATION
*Horton, J. (2015)
Growth Mindset

20. W H AT
P E R C E N TA G E O F
T H E T I M E Y O U R
M I N D WA N D E R S
AWAY F R O M
TA S K AT H A N D ?

21. 4 7 %
OF THE TIME
MIND WANDERING
Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010

22. Sensory(
Mind(
Wandering)
Mind)
THINKING
MIND
SENSING
MIND
USING THINKING MIND &
SENSING MIND
Williams 2010
AWARENESS

23. *Brewer&et&al&2011&
➤ Stress
➤ Anxiety
➤ Attentional lapse
➤ Inability to switch off
AN OVERACTIVE THINKING MIND
(DEFAULT MODE NETWORK)*

24. AMYGDALA HIJACK: REACTING WITHOUT THINKING
Amygdala
Prefrontal
Cortex
➤ Immediate
➤ Disproportionate
emotional response
➤ Regret
➤ IQ drop by 10 - 15
points

25. Curiosity activates parts of the brain regulating pleasure, reward, & memory
Dopamine enhances connection between cells involved in learning
People are better at learning information that they are
curious about.
Curiosity helps us learn boring stuff too!
Gruber et al 2014
Image by LA Johnson/
NPR
CURIOSITY

26. NEGATIVE SPIRAL OF SELF CRITICISM
Self
Criticism
Self-
Inhibition
Self-
Punishment
Demoralized
Rumination
Procrastination
Self-
Loathing
Slow
Progress
Less likely to
achieve goals
Powers, Koestler & Zuroff 2007
Gilbert 2006

27. POSITIVE SPIRAL OF SELF COMPASSION
Self
Compassion
Positive
feelings
Balance our
fears Joyous
Calm
Confident
Care-
Giving
Self-
Awareness
More likely to
achieve goals
Less Self-
Conscious
Less
Comparisons
Less
Insecure
More
Motivation
More
Resilience
Neff & Dahm 2015
Bahl & Milne 2010

28. TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
Distracted Attentive
Thinking
Mind
Meta-Awareness
Fixed
Mindset
Curiosity
Critical Compassionate
Expanding mind to new
perspectives & possibilities
Receiving information from
all senses to update
perceptions
Experiencing our shared
humanity &
interconnectedness
Find relevance and meaning
Reactive Engaged Neither grasping nor
resisting

29. NEUROSCIENCE OF MINDFULNESS*
Attentional
Control
Emotion
Regulation
Self
Awareness
Associated Brain
Areas
Anterior
Cingulate Cortex
Prefrontal
Cortex,
Amygdala
Insula, Medial
Prefrontal Cortex
Stage Early Intermediate Advanced
Effort
Effort To Pay
Attention
Effort To Reduce
Reactivity
Effortless
Being
Mindfulness Meditation
Awareness Curiosity Compassion
*Holzel et al 2011, Tang et al 2015

30. AN INVITATION TO PAUSE & BREATHE
B R I N G AT T E N T I O N T O T H E B R E AT H
N O T I C E S E N S AT I O N S O F B R E AT H I N G
S O F T E N A L L T H AT I S R I G I D W I T H I N
Y O U

31. HOW
Integrating Contemplative
Practices & Strategies in
Traditional Curricula

32. CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
1. Mindfulness – Concentration
& Open Monitoring
2. Contemplative reading,
writing, poetry & drawing
3. Contemplative senses – Deep
Listening & Beholding
4. Contemplative movement –
Sensory walking, Tai Chi, Yoga
5. Compassion & loving-
kindness
6. Community practices and
rituals – Check-in
Barbezat & Bush 2014

33. STRATEGIES TO INTEGRATE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
➤ Clear logic: Include logic for incorporating contemplative
approach in the syllabus
➤ Silent observation: Mindfulness meditation on a question,
concept, image or text
➤ Silent expression: Freewriting or freedrawing to note their
observations and what is alive for them in that moment
➤ Mindful sharing: Students are invited to share, if they want,
any aspect of their experience in dyads or small groups
➤ Shared learning: Students are invited, if they want, to share
with the full class any observations, discoveries, and insights
➤ Oscillate between inside-out approach and vice versa to
deepen exploration and learning

34. EXAMPLES OF STRATEGIES TO INTEGRATE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
Paul Wapner’s “Contemplation and Political Change” investigates
the nature of political action. Students practice 3 kinds of change:
1. Work for external, institutional change.
For e.g., write letters to editors of newspapers & lobby their
congressional representatives to advance their political goal
2. Adopt a lifestyle change in line with political goal for specific
time period, usually two weeks
3. Alter their understanding of their challenge they are addressing.
For e.g., how do they respond to the fact that they are not going
to be able to solve the problem of climate change with the
actions taken in that semester.
+Contemplative Practices – Community tuning, Meditation,
Yoga, Journaling

35. EXAMPLES OF STRATEGIES TO INTEGRATE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
In my “Personal Branding: A Mindful Approach” online class for
executive MBAs, students explored mindfulness and emotional
intelligence practices and skills and applied to the three stages of
personal branding:
I. Self-awareness and definition of purpose, unique skills, and values
II. Defining a unique positioning based on the needs of the target
market
III. Communicating the personal brand using traditional and
innovative marketing channels
+Contemplative Practices – Mindfulness Meditation, Mindful
Walking, Journaling, Empathic Listening, Awareness of sounds
meditation

36. CHALLENGES
Efficacy & ethics of bringing
contemplative practices in the
classroom

37. CHALLENGES OF INTRODUCING
CONTEMPLATIVE PEDAGOGY
1. Separation of church and state
2. Aligning students’ expectations
3. Uncomfortable about discomfort
and vulnerabilities
4. Skillful integration of
contemplative pedagogy in
traditional disciplines
5. Instructor’s personal experience
and comfort with contemplative
practices

38. MEETING THE CHALLENGES
1. The purpose is nondenominational &
approach is non coercive and voluntary
2. Transparency and skillful framing of
contemplative approach - appropriate language,
timing, context, & sensitivity
3. Clear pedagogical purpose
4. Provide opportunity for students to opt out
before & during exercises so students feel
safe
5. Limiting frequency, type, & length of practice

39. MEETING THE CHALLENGES
6. Creating ground rules for sharing
7. Be flexible and responsive
8. Deep listening and student focus
9. Personal practice and authenticity
10. Community of contemplative learning and
teaching on campus

40. SUMMARY
➤ Contemplative education
meaning with a focus on
awareness, curiosity &
compassion
➤ Factors impacting students’
success
➤ Why awareness, curiosity &
compassion vital for students’
success
➤ Contemplative practices &
strategies with examples
➤ Challenges

41. EXPANDING CIRCLES OF COMPASSION & WISDOM
Thoughts
Questions
Insights?

42. THE GATES OF HOPE
“Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope—
Not the prudent gates of Optimism,
Which are somewhat narrower.
Not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense;
Nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness,
Which creak on shrill and angry hinges
(People cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through)
Nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of
“Everything is gonna’ be all right.”
But a different, sometimes lonely place,
The place of truth-telling,
About your own soul first of all and its condition.
The place of resistance and defiance,
The piece of ground from which you see the world
Both as it is and as it could be
As it will be;
The place from which you glimpse not only struggle,
But the joy of the struggle.
And we stand there, beckoning and calling,
Telling people what we are seeing
Asking people what they see.
–”Victoria Safford, the minister of White Bear Unitarian
Universalist Church, in Mahtomedi, Minnesota

43. DIFFERENT WAYS TO CONNECT WITH ME
➤ Email me: shalini@RemindingProject.com
➤ Read topics related to emotional intelligence on Facebook:
➤ https://www.facebook.com/DowntownMindfulness/
➤ To read my blog posts: http://remindingproject.com/blog/
➤ To view other slide decks: http://www.slideshare.net/ShaliniBahl
➤ Connect with me on LinkedIn:
➤ https://www.linkedin.com/in/shalinibahl
➤ Find my 5-minute meditation series on Simple Habit for:
1. Women’s resilience
2. Self-Awareness
3. Procrastination
➤ or email me to get a direct ink to the above meditations.

44. Attention Awareness Curiosity Compassion
A. Contemplative
Practices
1. Mindfulness
2. Reading, Writing,
Drawing, Poem
3. Sensing - Listening &
Beholding
4. Movement
5. Compassion
6. Community
B. Integrated
Strategies
Beginning Of Class
Ending Of Class
Class Material
Outside Of Class
H O W C A N C O N T E M P L AT I V E P R A C T I C E S & S T R AT E G I E S H E L P Y O U A N D
Y O U R S T U D E N T S C R E AT E T R A N S F O R M AT I V E L E A R N I N G E X P E R I E N C E S ?

45. REFERENCES
➤ Bahl, S., Milne, G. R., Ross, S. M., Mick, D. G., Grier, S. A., Chugani, S. K., ... & Schindler, R. M. (2016). Mindfulness: Its Transformative
Potential for Consumer, Societal, and Environmental Well-Being. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 35(2), 198-210.
➤ Barbezat, D. P., & Bush, M. (2014). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning.
John Wiley & Sons.
➤ Burack, C. (2014). Responding to the challenges of a contemplative curriculum. The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 1(1).
➤ Cardoza, K. (2016). First-generation college students are not succeeding in college, and money isn’t the problem. The Washington Post.
➤ Gilbert, P. and Procter, S. (2006), Compassionate mind training for people with high shame and self-criticism: overview and pilot study of
a group therapy approach. Clin. Psychol. Psychother., 13: 353–379.
➤ Gruber, M. J., Gelman, B. D., & Ranganath, C. (2014). States of curiosity modulate hippocampus-dependent learning via the
dopaminergic circuit. Neuron, 84(2), 486-496.
➤ Horton, J. (2015). Identifying at-risk factors that affect college student success. International Journal of Process Education, 7(1), 83-101.
➤ Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2013), Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, rev. ed. New
York: Bantam Books.
➤ Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932-932.
➤ Meiklejohn, John, Catherine Phillips, M. Lee Freedman, Mary Lee Griffin, Gina Biegel, Andy Roach, et al. (2012), “Integrating
Mindfulness Training into K–12 Education: Fostering the Resil- ience of Teachers and Students,” Mindfulness, 3 (4), 291–307.
➤ Moore, Adam and Peter Malinowski (2009), “Meditation, Mindfulness and Cognitive Flexibility,” Consciousness and Cognition: An
International Journal, 18 (1), 176–86.
➤ Palmer, P. J., Zajonc, A., & Scribner, M. (2010). The heart of higher education: A call to renewal. John Wiley and Sons.
➤ Strauss, C., Taylor, B. L., Gu, J., Kuyken, W., Baer, R., Jones, F., & Cavanagh, K. (2016). What is compassion and how can we measure it?
A review of definitions and measures. Clinical psychology review, 47, 15-27.
➤ Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 16(4), 213.
➤ Wapner, P. (2016). Contemplative Environmental Studies: Pedagogy for Self and Planet. The Journal of ConTemplaTive inquiry, vol. 3, no.
1
➤ Williams, J. M. G. (2010). Mindfulness and psychological process. Emotion, 10(1), 1.
➤ Zajonc, A. (2006). Contemplative and transformative pedagogy. Kosmos Journal, 5(1), 1-3.

46. “Transformational education—understood as educating
the whole person by integrating the inner life and the
outer life, by actualizing individual and global
awakening, and by participating in compassionate
communities—has become a quiet but sturdy movement
that encourages the recovery and development of the
academy as a liberating and capacity-building
environment.
–Palmer, Parker J.
The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal .

47. “The issues facing the next generation globally
demand that we educate our students worldwide
to use all of their resources, not just their mind or
their heart. The hour is late, the work is hard, and
the stakes are high, but few institutions are better
positioned to take up this work than our nation’s
colleges and universities.
Diana Chapman Walsh, President Emerita of Wellesley College, noted in her 2005 keynote
address to the Dalton Institute on College Student Values at Florida State University,
(Nepo, 2010, in The Heart of Higher Education )

48. BENEFITS OF CONTEMPLATIVE
PRACTICES INCLUDING MINDFULNESS
➤ Attention-enhancing (Lutz et al)
➤ Develops meta-awareness (Williams)
➤ Better use of brain resources (Slagter
et al)
➤ Creativity (Shapiro et al)
➤ Enhances flexibility (Moore and
Malinowski)
➤ Cultivates self-compassion, which is
better than self-esteem in
responding to challenges in college
students (Leary et al)
➤ Stress-reducing (Shapiro et al)
➤ Builds resilience (Meiklejohn et al)
Why Mindfulness is a
SUPERPOWER