Seeds of contemplative practices and pedagogies
Instructor and student testimonials
Anne Archambault
Anne has been teaching in the Department of Applied Human Sciences since 2000. In this video, she shares how she was able to integrate her backgrounds in therapeutic recreation and yoga into her teaching through joy, play and pausing. What she noticed was the heightened sense of connection in her classroom.
Click to download a transcript of the video (PDF)
“It’s a means to invite the students and instructor to create a space of safety, create a space of trustworthiness, and create a space where the group really comes together to be even more ready for learning.” – Anne Archambault
Joseph Siddiqi
In this video, Joseph talks about how he entered into the practices of Buddhist meditation and mindfulness and how they’ve influenced his teaching approach in his Studio Arts courses. In the second half, he talks about the benefits he sees with students, and emphasizes the intentionality and instructor-preparedness in order to incorporate contemplative practices into their teaching.
Click to download a transcript of the video (PDF)
“Mindfulness isn’t going to solve your problems, mindfulness is just going to make your problems clearer, it’s going to accentuate things… And maybe that’s not what students need in the moment. Maybe they need to just come and take a break from all their pressures and have a bit of an escape…that’s healthy too. Do their art project, their school project, focus their mind and get away from whatever’s really painful.” – Joseph Siddiqi
Elle Belvedere
Elle Belvedere, a former student of Gabriela Petrov, instructor in the Department of Theatre, recalls the awareness, silence, somatic and movement practices that Gabriela introduces in her classes. She emphasizes that the practices heightened her personal awareness and her connection with other classmates. Gabriela speaks to the “Six Viewpoints” (Overlie, 2016) concept that she based a practice off of.
Click to download a transcript of the video (PDF)
“[The practice] gives me time to ground myself and just honestly self-regulate myself in the current moment. Also, being with everybody in the room, it reminds me that people are navigating their own day just like I am. And also something I’ve learned from the check-ins that we do, it was a way for me to learn how to articulate my goals for myself in front of other people and share any boundaries… it’s about preparing my mind and body for collaboration and work or to create something.” – Elle Belvedere
Laura Gammack
Anne Archambault interviews a former student in recreational therapy, Laura. In her classes with Laura, Anne utilized contemplative practices through intentional pauses, breathing and movement exercises and individual journalling. Laura shares her experience as student in this class and recalls a specific time when Anne brought in roses from her garden as a contemplative activity.
Click to download a transcript of the video (PDF)
“The contemplative practices helped to bring some depth into the class in a way that I think kind of did bring the group together into something different than sitting and listening to you speak and listening to the other students ask questions. So it changed the rhythm of the class.” – Laura Gammack
Related content
- Anne Archambault’s recorded practices: Movement meditation and Three-point meditation
- Joseph Siddiqi’s recorded practice: Centering stillness, and his talks on Introduction to mindfulness, Two approaches to mindfulness, and Noticing the movement of attention
- Gabriela Petrov’s recorded practice: Aimless wandering
- Instructors mentioned themes related to being trauma-informed and building community in the classroom
References
Overlie, M. (2016). Standing in space: The six viewpoints theory & practice softcover. Fallon Press.
