Category / branch (in the tree of contemplative practices): Stillness

I became interested in Eastern philosophy as a teenager and have been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while teaching painting and drawing courses online, I noticed a sharp increase in student anxiety and creative blocks. To help students manage their fears and access creative flow, I began sharing mindfulness practices—specifically my own experience and how meditation helps me feel centered and grounded in the present moment.

My formal training in mindfulness meditation began through multiple 10-day residential courses at the Dhamma Suttama Vipassana Meditation Centre in Montebello, Quebec. This experience led me to deepen my theoretical understanding of the practice by reading Ledi Sayadaw’s “Manuals of Buddhism” (English translation), which led me to connect with a community of Sri Lankan Buddhist Forest monks. I have studied with them weekly since 2020 and for the past couple of years have attended week-long silent retreats held by the senior monk and meditation teacher.

At Concordia, I’ve expanded this foundation through several institutional programs: the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s Contemplative Pedagogy initiative, the Faculty of Fine Arts Mindful Campus initiative, and completion of specialized training including the Mindful Self-Compassion program (MSC), the Mindfulness for Resilience program (MRP), and the Mindfulness for Resilience national teacher training intensive.

Cultural & historical origins

I investigated the background of this practice and found it was rooted in a late 19th and early 20th century counter-colonial movement in Burma (present day Myanmar). Briefly, prior to colonization, Buddhist meditation in Burma was the domain of a small number of forest monks who had learned these practices in a master-disciple tradition stretching back several centuries. Other monks and lay people performed rituals and ceremonies but didn’t practice meditation—it was considered too difficult and time-consuming for the average person to learn.

When European colonists arrived in Burma and started to spread Protestant teachings and values, a group of forest monks who feared that their traditional way of life and practices would be lost, decided the best way to save the teachings would be to make them widely available to the lay people. Texts in Pali, the ancient language of the historical Buddha (circa 480-400 BCE), which were only understood by the monks, were translated into Burmese, the common language of the people, by monks like Ledi Sayadaw (1846-1923). Teachers like U Ba Khin (1899-1971) later began teaching meditation practices in structured formats, including 10-day residential retreats, which was considered the minimum time required for a beginner to get a taste of the practice.

In the mid-to-late 20th century, the Burmese texts were translated into English and the practices spread into Europe and North America through two main lineages. The first is commonly known as Vipassana meditation (popularized by S.N. Goenka, following the U Ba Khin lineage), which emphasizes body-scanning techniques and structured 10-day retreat formats. The second is called Insight Meditation (based on Mahasi Sayadaw’s (1904-1982) teachings), which focuses on noting techniques and mindful observation of present-moment experiences. While both are forms of vipassana (meaning ‘to see things as they are’ in Pali), they represent distinct methodologies for the beginner within the broader movement. These practices, which stem from Theravada Buddhist sources, share similarities with those popularized by Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022), which stem from the Mahayana/Zen tradition. Today, many of these practices are largely removed from their original roots and are commonly referred to as mindfulness meditation, which is widely practiced by people in a secular way that has proven to be very effective in relieving stress and reducing anxiety.

What to be aware of

Keep in mind that not everyone will want to engage in a stillness practice. Before engaging, the person must already be somewhat at ease—if they are too stressed out or highly anxious, then they might be better off doing something else, like a movement practice or a creative activity.

Always give the students the option to opt-in to the practice, or simply observe, or do something else. It must be clear that it is optional and not a requirement—no grading here!

Also be aware that relaxing the mind can cause certain unwanted thoughts and feelings to pop-up, and so there should be a fair amount of discussion about the practice before engaging in it. For example, I found it best to talk about the theory and my own experience for a few classes in a question-and-answer style discussion with the students before leading a practice: this gave the students lots of opportunities to voice their concerns and offer me great advice from their perspective; it also gave me the chance as a teacher to make it clear how the practice was related to the course content, which was important for many of the students who were skeptical about terms like ‘mindfulness’ and ‘meditation’.

Ways to use this in the classroom

My full-year painting and drawing courses are held in large open studios in the Visual Arts Building, with classes scheduled 4 hours per week for 24 weeks. The students are there to develop their artistic and creative interests and are open to experimenting with new ideas and ways of thinking. My strength is teaching materials and techniques, promoting a skills-and-challenge-based approach to learning art. One of the tools I share with students is M. Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow, which uses meta-awareness of one’s mental state to self-direct one’s creative process; in practice, to apply this concept one needs a certain amount of mindfulness—the ability to notice one’s present moment thoughts, feelings and sensations in a non-judgemental way.

When leading the practice, I ask the students to gather around the centre of the studio classroom and take a comfortable position seated in their chairs; for those who are feeling overly anxious and/or would rather just work on their paintings, I ask them to adjust their work station so that they can easily glance over if interested and otherwise hear what is being said (I noted that giving this option to the students can make a big difference, for some later told me how much they appreciated being able to listen and benefit from the talk in their own way).

I would keep the practice short and sweet, no more than a few minutes at first, just to help students feel centered and grounded. I would follow the practice with a Q&A session, asking “What did you notice?” Having them talk about their experience is one of the most rewarding and beneficial parts of the practice, as it builds community and self-confidence in the students.

I found that a good time to use this practice, once the students were introduced to it, was before a stressful activity, like a class presentation (group critique) of their personal artwork.

Obviously, and most importantly, the teacher must be well-practiced themselves. This is not something that can just be read out from a script! If so, there is a good chance of confusing the students—the teacher must exemplify the practice, otherwise best to leave it alone.

Instructions

Click to download a transcript of the video (PDF)