Contemplative Practices: Supporting Faculty Self-Care and Professional Development

Contemplative practices have demonstrated their potential to facilitate learning and personal development (Treadway, 2009). Examples of their positive effects on the social sustainability of organizations have been documented (Duerr, 2004). This workshop will explore those contemplative practices (i.e., mindfulness-based techniques) which contribute more directly to self care and enhance the professional development of faculty. Recent research has demonstrated that training in reflective practices fosters self-knowledge and increases compassion (for oneself as well as others). By exploring one’s own immediate experience, faculty can better calibrate their attentional and reflective capacities, so as to teach more effectively and sustain a caring attitude toward their students and colleagues (McGarrigle, 2011; Christopher, 2006). Building upon the positive response to previous workshops, we plan to provide attendees with extended mindfulness-based practices which they can incorporate in their daily lives. Group discussion will focus on how attendees might incorporate contemplative techniques into their own practice of self-care