The practice of mindfulness is growing internationally, and now being practiced in many different settings. Mindfulness was even featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, and Anderson Cooper featured a mindfulness retreat on 60 Minutes. Over the last five years, Mindfulness has become a central part of the Middlesex curriculum as well. Each new student, and many members of our faculty, parents, and extended community, have begun practice through a program led by alumnus and mindfulness educator Doug Worthen ’96.
This June, twenty-five Middlesex faculty, staff, parents, and alumni gathered for a 3-day mindfulness retreat, quite possibly the first of its kind on a boarding school campus. Led by mindfulness educator and Middlesex graduate Will Kabat-Zinn MX’93 and Jess Morey of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, the retreat offered a variety of silent meditation and group reflection practices. Participants called the retreat “incredible”, “revealing”, “peaceful”, “inspirational”, “powerful”, and “transformative”. “It was a gift to myself,” said one participant. All of the participants recommend the retreat to others. “It has inspired me to be more present with my family, my work, and most importantly, with myself,” indicated a participant. “It is a matter of me becoming the person I want to become. Being more mindful is the start.”
We look forward to the next retreat in the summer of 2016!