OUR
APPROACH
MBWP programs are inspired by ancient wisdom, modern research, and personal insights drawn from our highly experienced team of contemplative scholars, practitioners, educators, and artists.
Individuals and organizations who engage with us receive mentorship in four core areas of mindful development:
Embodied Self-Regulation
Attention and Awareness
Cognitive and Emotional Reframing
Values-Driven and Intentional Action
All programs are designed and facilitated by MBWP certified instructors and qualified affiliates and include structured opportunities for learning, practice, reflection, and feedback with our expert team.
Currently, MBWP specializes in personal enrichment and professional development for individuals, performing arts educators and professional performers, K-college teachers and administrators, and non-profit organizations. For more information on our offerings and programs, please contact us.
RESEARCH
The skills learned through MBWP have a direct impact on the states of mind and behavior that we bring to our lives and professional work. Over the last few decades, a large body of research has emerged demonstrating how mindfulness positively influences various aspects of physical and psychological health. Research on the impact of mindfulness in areas such as education and music performance are also emerging, with key benefits listed below.
Mindfulness for Educators
Improved self-control, feelings of compassion, less reactivity, and improved sleep
(Frank, Reibel, Broderick, Cantrell, & Metz, 2015)
Feelings of well-being and reduced burnout
(Jennings, Frank, Snowberg, Coccia, & Greenberg, 2013)
Reduced feelings of stress among urban teachers
(Jennings, Snowberh, Coccia, & Greenberg, 2011)
Improved focus, memory, and self-compassion
(Roeser et al., 2013)
Improved relationships between students and teachers
Reduced implicit bias
(Hirshberg, Flook, Enright, & Davidson, 2019)
(Lancioni, Winston, Karazsia, & Singh, 2013)
Mindfulness for Performers
Many artists and musicians experience performance anxiety, excessive perfectionism, burnout, and bodily injury. As mindfulness works on awareness of the mind-body system, MBWP can give you insight into patterns of thought, emotion, and movement that prevent you from practicing and performing at your best. Emerging research among musicians demonstrates that mindfulness may result in:
Decreased anxiety
(Lin, Chang, Zemon, & Midlarsky, 2008)
Increased experiences of awe and curiosity
(Diaz, 2013)
Reduced feelings of negative perfectionism
(Diaz, 2018)
Better focus and less negative rumination
(Diaz, Silveira, and Strand, 2020)
Improvements to physical, cognitive, artistic, and interpersonal skills
(Czajkowski, Greasley, & Allis, 2021)
Mindfulness as Pedagogy
In the MBWP program, we work with educators involved in K-College classroom and studio settings who teach everything from performance skills to graduate level research. Therefore, rather than providing a prescribed curriculum, we help educators interested in teaching MBWP principles to design lesson plans and curriculum appropriate to their needs and interests. Previous participants have implemented MBWP principles into warm-up exercises, listening and movement skills, conducting curriculum, and practice and rehearsal strategies among others.
References
Czajkowski, A.-M. L., Greasley, A. E., & Allis, M. (2021). Mindfulness for Singers: A Mixed Methods Replication Study. Music & Science, 4.
Diaz, F. M. (2018). Relationships Among Meditation, Perfectionism, Mindfulness, and Performance Anxiety Among Collegiate Music Students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 66, 150–167.
Diaz, F. M. (2013). Mindfulness, attention, and flow during music listening: An empirical investigation. Psychology of Music, 41, 42-58.
Frank, J. L., Reibel, D., Broderick, P., Cantrell, T., & Metz, S. (2015). The effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction on educator stress and well-being: Results from a pilot study. Mindfulness, 6, 208-216.
Hirshberg, M. J., Flook, L., Moss, E. E., Enright, R. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2022). Integrating mindfulness and connection practices into preservice teacher education results in durable automatic race bias reductions. Journal of school psychology, 91, 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2021.12.002
Jennings, P. A., Frank, J. L., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2013). Improving classroom learning environments by Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE): Results of a randomized controlled trial. School Psychology Quarterly, 28, 374.
Jennings, P. A., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2011). Improving classroom learning environments by cultivating awareness and resilience in education (CARE): Results of two pilot studies. The Journal of Classroom Interaction, 37-48.
Lin, P., Chang, J., Zemon, V., & Midlarsky, E. (2008). Silent illumination: a study on Chan (Zen) meditation, anxiety, and musical performance quality. Psychology of Music, 36, 139-155.
Roeser, R. W., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Jha, A., Cullen, M., Wallace, L., Wilensky, R., … & Harrison, J. (2013). Mindfulness training and reductions in teacher stress and burnout: Results from two randomized, waitlist-control field trials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105, 787.
Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A. S., Karazsia, B. T., Myers, R. E., Latham, L. L., & Singh, J. (2014). Mindfulness-based positive behavior support (MBPBS) for mothers of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Effects on adolescents’ behavior and parental stress. Mindfulness, 5, 646-657.