September 10, 2015. | Issue 3, Volume 63 | thebluebanner.net
Faculty and staff incorporate meditative practices into the classroom
CHAKRA
GUIDE
info by eclecticenergies.cora
Muladhara
The Root chakra is
about being physically
there and feeling at
home in situations.
If it is open, you feel
grounded, stable and
secure.
Swadhisthana
The Sacral chakra is
about feeling and sex
uality. When it isopen,
your feelings flow freely,
and are expressed
without you being
over-emotional.
Sahasrara
The Crown chakra is_,
about wisdom and be
ing one with the world.
When this chakra is
open, you are unpreju
diced and quite aware of
the world and yourself.
Inquiring about Inquiry ARC
11II11
m
MATT MCGREGOR
A&F Staff Writer
mmcgrego@un,ca.edu
icIcTKesr an J TdHn’WooH re
sponded to an unspoken need
.when they organized a, group
meditation and discussion for UNC
Asheville faculty and staff six years ago.
When 20 people arrived, they say
they knew they had tapped into a veri
table hunger for silence, stillness and an
openness to possibility.
The learning circle continues to meet
regularly, sitting for 10 minutes, fol
lowed by discussion. The faculty and
staff who attend say they incorporate a
variety of meditative practices into the
classroom.
“It’s an enterprise about being hu
man, a scholar, awake and cultivating
openness,” says Wood, professor of
sociology and anthropology. “Some
times in class I’ll just say, ‘Let’s just stop,
breathe and get in touch with our bod
ies, the soles of our feet,’ and I don’t talk
about it as meditation. It’s just to bring
us back to the present.”
Chess, professor of honors arts and
sciences and director for the center
of Jewish studies, suggests meditative
practices provide students the opportu
nity to let go of the internal judgment
and reactivity that may prevent one
from seeing the world from another
perspective.
“We found that these meditative
practices help us watch our minds ob
jectively and see when judgment is trig
gered. We can see it, watch it and let it
go long enough to listen on another’s
terms,” says Chess. “It’s developing an
other way to become self-aware of the
process of how we come to know things
and attaining intellectual humility, such
as the recognition that the way I see the
world is not the whole world.”
UNCA’s Inquiry ARC Program ad
opted these meditative practices as
part of the reflection aspect of its crit
ical thinking emphasis. Lorena Russell,
director of the UNCA Inquiry ARC
program and associate professor of lit
erature and language, says mediation
in the classroom improves learning and
teaching skills.
“It may seem odd to think of medita
tion with critical thinking,” Russell says.
“Why would you want to empty your
mind and create a void when critical
thinking should be about filling it with
ideas? But I’ve found the mind actually
functions a lot better if I can just take
some time to sit quietly and breathe.” -
Russell perceives meditation similar
to refreshing a computer. She says the
practice alleviates students’- stress of
rushing from class to class and keeping
up with the workload. Asking them to
stop, she says, allows them a few min
utes of calm, which recharges their
minds.
Ameena Batada, assistant professor
in the health and wellness department,
speaks not just to the intellectual bene
fits of meditation, but to the physiologi
cal benefits as well.
“When we are constantly stressed
from school, work, home or our car is
breaking down and we are having trou
ble getting to places - whatever it is, we
aren’t allowing our bodies to rest,” Bata
da says. “Our bodies are weathering
from the stress and then physiologically
we have heightened cortisol. This cre
ates midsection adipose, which results
in what is killing our society: heart dis
ease.”
Batada says meditation may coun
teract these physical stress responses,
and she integrates many different forms
of meditation in the classroom, such as
taking her class to the lookout obser
vatory where she asks her students to
write what they hear from moment to
moment.
“There are different practices
such as mindfulness meditation, or
loving kindness meditation,” Bata
da says. “Sometimes I’ll just tell my
Photo by Matt McGregor - Asst. A&F Editor
Rick Chess says he organized a meditation group for facul
ty and staff at UNC Asheville.
class we are going to sit for five minutes
at the beginning of every class because
I want them to develop attention skills.”
Chess emphasizes strengthening of
focus as a product of meditation, com
paring it to a mental version of lifting"
weights in the gym.
“Instead of working out your muscles
you are working out your brain,” Chess
says. “At first you can see how good
you are at sustaining attention, then re-
spond to that with meditation. If one
Read ntoie on page 16
Anja
The Third Eye
chakra is about
insight and visualiza
tion. When it is open,
you have a good
intuition. You may
tend to fantasize.
Thymus
The Heart chakra is
about love, kindness
and affection. When it is
open, you are compas
sionate and friendly,
and you work at harmo
nious relationships.
VISHUDDHA
The Throat chakra is
about self-expression
and talking. When it
is open, you have no
problems expressing
yourself, and you might
be doing so as an artist.
You're invited:
Wednesday Critique Sessions
2-3:10 p.m.
Karpen Hall 012
Don't hide behind Yik Yak! Speak your mind at one of our
W ^ Wednesday critique sessions or write a letter to the editor,
Timbi Shepherd at jshephe3@unca.edu