What an interesting phase you are in - recommitting to being back in NZ and full of ideas. I'm sure some will jell with the level of energy you have. is P2P person to person or something else.

A couple of other Wellington connections are http://www.simplymeditation.org.nz/ and http://secularbuddhism.org.nz/.

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Hi Everyone, it was great to meet some of you at the hui last week! I found it to be so inspiring that I now hope to be more directly involved in MfC. By way of an introduction I've been practicing yoga and meditation for 20 years and after seeing the benefits in my life I started to integrate contemplative practice into my work as a community artist in Auckland starting in 2000. I also used these practices in community development work that I did in Papua New Guinea. I then took my interest in the positive impacts of contemplation into a PhD in applied philosophy at UNSW, Sydney. It was through this research that I was introduced to contemplative education and since completing my PhD in 2013 I have continued to teach and research in this emerging approach in education. Over past few years I've been reflecting on a tension that exists when teaching practices that support people to be more relaxed, open and compassionate in settings (in my case tertiary education) that encourages them to be the exact opposite.

These reflections led to my realization that there needs to be systemic change and this is what led me to Mindfulness for Change. While it is early days for MfC I believe that our central focus on engaging mindfulness 'for change' is incredibly important and I really look forward to working with you all on this.

The prompt for this introduction suggests outlining areas of interest that I'd like to develop or working on in MfC (they're in no particular order):
1. Research MfC's processes, firstly to document them for MfC and secondly to develop programs for others.
2. Contemplative Education and Inquiry - and possibly the development of a hub for contemplative educators and theorists.
3. Big plan - A new kind of university/learning institution that acknowledges and engages first- second- and third-person consciousness; that is grounded in contemplative and creative process; that actively encourages the development of a contemplative orientation in the learning environment.
4. Developing approaches to a P2P Spirituality.
5. Contemplative Art and Contemplative Environmental Practice
6. Generally helping develop MfC
7. I'm not quite clear about this one but it is something to do with the psychology of self-awareness and awareness of others through mindfulness, and how to instrumentalise this to support mindful communication - for MfC, Enspiral, p2p organizations and anyone who is interested.

All the very best, Patricia

Hi Jan, Thanks so much for your kind words and the links I look forward to spending some time with them! I'll be looking for work when I get to Wellington so do let me know if you hear of anything. All the best, Patricia

Hi Patricia,
Thanks for your introduction and your list of areas of interest! I particularly resonate with "a tension that exists when teaching practices that support people to be more relaxed, open and compassionate in settings (in my case tertiary education) that encourages them to be the exact opposite". This is my struggle in my work and my interest in contemplative education as well - feeling quite a novice in it though. Hopefully with my reduction to working three days per week, I will be able to develop this more in my teaching.
I would be interested in a "subgroup" of contemplative education if that were to materialise in the future.
Cheers,
Marlies

I've created a new thread to discuss setting up a fund for MfC. The proposal here I've closed. I'd forgotten how to do this. :-(

Hi Marlies, thank you for your message - the tension I spoke of was what led me to MfC and the sense that making significant change in this area may start outside of the academe, though that's not to say that good work can't be done inside it also. I'm looking forward to speaking about this with you more and I agree a subgroup in contemplative education sounds good, maybe we can talk about that more at the next hui?
All the very best, Patricia