For 10 years, FGCU’s Contemplative Life community has been helping students learn to tackle life's challenges.
The Contemplative Life course teaches students meditation, yoga and other skills that allow for greater mindfulness, stress management and emotional resilience. Dr. Maria Roca, director of the Roots of Compassion & Kindness Center in FGCU's College of Arts & Sciences, introduced the class – and what eventually became a community — to FGCU.
“I have been engaged in contemplative practice pretty much my whole life,” Roca said. “It started with a Catholic upbringing and going on retreats and seeing the power of that but then continued and my doctoral dissertation included meditation as a part of it.”
Roca’s dissertation focused on helping people become better listeners, and she began incorporating her research into the classes she taught. Upon realizing the potential of contemplative methods, Roca began training with The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.
Roca said, “The first time I did [residential training] was when I started Contemplative Life and brought that back to campus as a full course, recognizing the need for students to have a practice that helps them live a saner life, a calmer life and a happier life.”
When starting the course, Roca wanted to help her students who spoke about feeling depressed and anxious. She asked herself what she could do to help, and the class became part of her solution.
“[The community] grew out of the course. The students in the course really loved what they were doing and they didn’t want it to end,” Roca said. “So they decided to create an RSO [registered student organization] so that they could continue to practice, but also, to bring students who didn’t take the course.”
The Mindful Living Club sprang out of The Contemplative Life course. Last April, it celebrated its 10th anniversary alongside the Contemplative Life community. The celebration included a tea party and a camping trip, with alumni also participating.
“I’ve seen so much over the years,” Roca said. “Students have talked about finally getting through depression, you know, finding a way back to themselves.”
Sage Petrie is the president of the Mindful Living Club. She hosted the group’s meeting on Feb. 25, which included a sound bath meditation designed to target the heart chakra.
“It gives you club involvement, just something to chill with some friends during the week,” Petrie said. “It helps you relax, stay well rested for your classes and kind of gives you that nice break in the middle of the week.”
According to Petrie, students who participate in the club can expect to gain skills in teamwork and grow as people.
“A lot of self-introspection, a lot of realizing that we take life a little bit too seriously and so learning to rest, take that time for ourselves and self-love, I think is a very big part of it,” Petrie said.
“I love meditation dearly. I think everyone should practice it. It’s helped me a lot [to] get through tough times with my classes and when I’ve been very busy. It’s very healthy,” Petrie said.
To those who are skeptical, Roca encourages them to “look at the science.”
Roca said, “There are these studies that have been with fMRIs [functional magnetic resonance imaging] where they put electrodes all over people’s heads. They actually can watch the shift from the part of the brain that’s activating when people start to meditate. The more you meditate – the more you develop your frontal lobe.”
“The more you give yourself the tools to not be reactive… where you are able to be reflective and not have the knee-jerk reaction makes our relationships better,” Roca said. “There’s so much science, there’s things like quality of relationships, mental health, the physical health that follows from a lot of this.”
Alexander Toal, an Integrative Studies major, is an Army veteran and course assistant in Roca’s section of The Contemplative Life. He attended on Tuesday, Feb. 25, with his service dog, Cash. Toal also owns a fishing and hunting company.
“Today we practiced yoga nidra. It's a type of yoga that focuses on consciousness and relaxation. This is my second time taking the course – I’m a group leader now,” said Toal. “It’s really helpful, especially for students who feel super restless and can’t find a practice that calms them down.”
Roca’s course is divided into groups of students, each paired with a course assistant who serves as a leader. The class meets twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m.
The course consists of group discussions, meditations and guest instructors who teach students various contemplative skills.
“Dr. Roca really cares about her students. The course hadn’t had an all-male group before – and she was hoping to have that attendance – and we did it,” Toal said. “I get to [lead] her first all-male group and hopefully foster more of that because there’s not as much representation for men’s mental health, so them learning some tools in there where they can take care of themselves is very productive.”
Cash was donated to Toal by a nonprofit called My Warriors Place after Toal sustained brain injuries while on active duty.
“I took the [course] last semester. I was actually just coming back from a brain injury clinic in Boston,” Toal said. “It definitely helped me find some space during the day and be more conscious and be more relaxed and stuff like that. It definitely gives you a lot of tools.”
Eddie Stewart is another student of Roca’s. He is a journalism student with a dual minor in Integrated Studies and Environmental Education, graduating in May. Stewart works as a host and reporter at WGCU Public Media.
“It’s really easy in a university environment and in journalism, where I work, to always have this kind of fast-paced mindset, you know, to always be go, go, go, to always be thinking about the next thing, the next thing, the next thing,” Stewart said. “That’s caused me a great deal of stress in myself, my relationship with other people, and in my understanding of what I want to do and what I’m going to do in the future.”
“I listen more now to my friends, and I think I feel more prepared to go into situations that I’m scared of. It’s made it easier to talk to my parents because I know that I can just think through things and meditate on it,” he added.
Stewart said, “Having these tools that Dr. Roca has taught, as well as those I've been able to teach myself, has been a real boon and a real blessing.”
The Mindful Living Club meets weekly every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. For more information, those interested can view “@mindfullivingfgcu” on Instagram. Roca’s section of The Contemplative Life is offered in the fall and spring semesters.
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