Mindfulness and contemplative practices unite students, staff and community members
By Emma Nolan
Hannah Stohry sits with her legs crossed on the floor. Although she is surrounded by chairs, pillows and mats, she believes her current position is the most peaceful and comfortable. As she tells the people in the room to close to their eyes, she grabs a bell at her side and hits it lightly.
Quiet falls as the sound vibrates through the room. The bell’s ringing marks the start of today’s meditation. The room is silent except for the sound of water coming from a machine by a window.
Stohry is a graduate student at Miami University pursuing a Ph.D. in educational leadership, with an interest in leadership culture and curriculum programs. Stohry also works at Miami University’s Mindfulness and Contemplative Inquiry Center.
The center officially opened at Miami in 2015 and was pioneered by Associate Clinical Professor Dr. Suzanne Klatt. Klatt came to Miami with the hope of pursuing mindfulness as a research project. However, Klatt faced difficulties when she realized her coworkers and other members of the community weren’t very familiar with the concept.
Starting off small, Klatt began incorporating contemplative mindfulness philosophies into her courses. From there, she worked on making mindfulness more present on campus and in Oxford.
“The process began by finding people who were connected by these mindfulness practices or contemplative practices, around the three campuses. We kept meeting and then offered faculty learning communities,” Klatt said. “We’ve done five faculty learning communities with at least 60 faculty involved in learning how to teach using this type of lens and practice.”
Once Klatt was able to facilitate these communities, she was offered the opportunity to conduct a mindfulness project on Miami’s campus. She landed on the idea of creating a contemplative inquiry center given the rising number of such centers around the nation.
Klatt pointed out that mental health and self-care are growing concerns on college campuses and a mindfulness center seemed like a way to address those issues as well.
But getting a mindfulness center up and running wasn’t easy.
Klatt’s first application to create a center wasn’t approved. However, a few years later, after a revision of the application and changes to the design of the center, it was approved and opened in 2015.
According to Miami’s College of Education, Health and Society, the Mindfulness Center “is designed to positively impact Miami students, faculty, and staff through the advancement, development, and evaluation of evidence-based contemplative, mindfulness, and awareness practices.”
The center hosts weekly meditation Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m to 11:00 a.m. It’s open to students, staff and members of the Oxford community.
However, silent meditation is just one of the many types of contemplative practices offered at the center. Klatt encourages individuals to engage in whatever practice feels best to them — this can include anything from dance to meditation to the creation of zentangles.
Once the center was officially established, Klatt was able to work with her graduate assistant to expand the center’s work around campus, in Oxford and in Butler County more broadly.
“I’ve gone to after school programs and done mindfulness programs for young children. I brought students along as research assistance so they can learn how to do those programs,” Klatt said. “We also connect with the interfaith center. I have had unofficial evidence-based mindfulness programs and courses at the interfaith center. Sometimes students will participate, but most are the community members.”
(To learn how some Miami University students use the Mindfulness Center read reporter Michael Daas’s article for Oxford Stories.)
Klatt has also worked to educate students around Ohio on contemplative teachings. For instance, Klatt and the center recently worked with students in Moran County to teach them about yoga and other active practices.
Creating a yoga community
Just up the street from the Mindfulness Center in McGuffey Hall, near the uptown park, sits Root Yoga, Oxford’s sole studio for yoga practice.
Root is owned by Emily Bufler, a yoga enthusiast and Miami alum. Bufler bought the studio from its previous owners after working there as a studio manager for two years.
Before Root opened, there wasn’t a specific space dedicated to yoga practice, although Oxford residents could take yoga classes through the city’s recreational department.
“There’s something really unique and beautiful about attending yoga in a dedicated yoga studio versus going to a class in a gym setting. The atmosphere and energy are so different and sacred. A huge benefit to opening Root has been the community we have fostered for our clients,” Bufler said.
“It is such a warm and welcoming environment, and the students really look out for each other and have become invested in each other’s lives. It’s also really neat to see Miami students and townies becoming friends and caring about each other. It’s a really special thing to see.”
Root offers an array of classes to meet the diverse needs of the community. There are “hot yoga” classes designed to cause individuals to sweat profusely while more slow paced classes are designed for individuals, such as the elderly or people recovering from injury, who need a more gentle practice.
“We really try to offer something for everyone,” Bufler said. “We have a weekly Baby & Me class which is an incredible resource for postpartum mothers and infant caretakers in the community.”
Because of these offerings, Bufler says Root has been able to build its own strong community.
“The backbone of our studio comes from those loyal locals who visit us nearly daily, year-round,” Bufler said. “They support us by showing up, sharing us with their friends and co-workers, and just by believing in us and wanting to see us succeed as a studio.”
Bufler believed that once a studio was established in Oxford, she would be able to teach residents and guests about mindfulness. Bufler thinks it’s important people understand that there are different types of practices.
“I’m a huge believer in finding ways to stay rooted in the present. There are 8-limbs of yoga, and the physical practice is just one of them,” Bufler said. “Yoga exists because the original yogis were seeking ways to physically prepare and train their bodies to be able to sit for long periods of time to meditate.”
Not only does Bufler work to educate the Oxford community about yoga practices, she also works with Miami’s Yoga Club to find instructors to lead a weekly practice on campus.
Senior Brian Calvey is the current president of the club, which he worked to resurrect after it lay fallow for several years. The group now boasts 75 members and Calvey says its popularity continues to grow.
Like Klatt and Bufler, Calvey believes that having contemplative resources around campus is critical for students, especially in times of stress.
“Having this club and resources like it on campus exposes students to these different types of contemplative practices that relax and focus the mind and body,” Calvey said. “It starts the conversation about people caring about their mental health. I think it’s really important to balance out our school work and resume builders with these contemplative practices.”
Calvey sees college campuses as a great starting point for education on mindfulness and contemplative practices.
“I really appreciate that these types of eastern practices are growing in the west, so many people are learning about them and adapting them into their everyday lives,” Calvey said. “I think it’s a really important introduction to a more balanced philosophy on life and being mindful and staying balanced as opposed to focusing on the many mainstream things our society often gets caught up on.”
In addition to Sunday yoga practice, the club has been involved with on-campus fundraisers and events with other clubs and organizations focused on self-care and mindfulness. Calvey says the club hopes to become more involved around Oxford and on campus, specifically with the mindfulness center.
Contemplative classroom; personal experience
For its part, Miami University’s Mindfulness and Contemplative Inquiry Center is hoping to get more contemplative practices into the classroom. Ph.D. student Hannah Stohry will work alongside center director Suzanne Klatt co-teaching a class on mindfulness and contemplative practices next school year.
Stohry and Klatt plan to incorporate various styles of mindfulness into their teachings, in the hope that students will find practices that work with their lifestyle.
Storhy notes the importance of finding a practice that works for you — not everyone will find peace practicing the same way.
“Using Jon Kabbat Zinn’s definition of mindfulness is paying attention on purpose, in the present moment non-judgmentally, you can use anything,” Stohry said. “For people that have never tried meditation, I would say try it again. Each time you engage in an activity you could have a different response or reaction. There are many different ways to engage.”
