Meditation in the Military and in Universities Higher Education

January 2013 marked an era of new beginnings.  The Marines and the University of Virginia are have both begun what may be continual offerings of meditation mindfulness (aka mindfulness meditation) courses!

Camp Pendleton School Infantry-West will offered an eight-week course in mindfulness starting on Tuesday (January 22, 2013) to about 80 Marines. The plan was to give Marines a tool to regulate their own stress levels before they lead to problematic behavior: "We have doctors, counselors, behavioral health scientists, all sorts of people to get help for Marines who have exhibited stress type symptoms but what can we do before that happens? How do we armor Marines up so they are capable of handling stress?"  said Jeffrey Bearor, the executive deputy of the Marine Corps training and education command at its headquarters in Quantico. (1)

Adding to behavioral issues while in the military, veterans by the thousands are seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress. A record number are committing suicide, causing the military to search for ways to reduce strains on service members and veterans.

Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training" or "M-Fit" was designed by former U.S. Army Capt. Elizabeth Stanley, a professor at Georgetown University who found relief doing yoga and meditation for her PTSD. (“Mindfulness” includes practices that emphasize non-judgmental active attention to keep the mind in the present.)

Stanley, who is also involved in studies for the Army, said the techniques can help those in battle think more clearly under fire when they are often forced to make quick decisions that could mean life or death, and help them reset their nervous systems after being in combat.

"If indeed that proves to be the case, then it's our intention to turn this into a training program where Marines train Marines in these techniques," Bearor said. "We would interject this into the entry level training pipeline - we don't know where yet - so every Marine would be trained in these techniques."

The growing movement of mindfulness courses, as well as student interest in the topic, is being spurred in part by research showing how stress affects the ability to learn. The University of Virginia offered ‘Mindfulness as a Tool for Learning and Living,’ for the January 2013 term.  The course included a number of contemplative exercises as well as a dozen guest speakers who taught the class a variety of contemplative practices, including yoga, nia and t’ai chi. (2)

UVA’s new Contemplative Sciences Center, to be launched in April, will also offer a 180-person class this spring on ‘Buddhist Meditation and Modernity’ that will cover mindfulness. There are 50 students already on the wait list.

______________________________________________

(1) http://www.13abc.com/story/20632304/marines-test-adding-meditation-stretching-to-training)

(2) http://anniemurphypaul.com/2013/01/colleges-begin-to-offer-meditation-101/#