Mindfulness Practice Center

Promoting mindful living, mindful speech, and mindful action.

The Mindfulness Practice Center (MPC) is a virtual center that has been organized through a campus-wide effort at the University of Missouri in order to offer mindfulness practices to students, faculty, and staff.  The MPC emphasizes a non-sectarian approach to mindfulness that draws on contemplative practices from a variety of traditions.

Mission

The Mindfulness Practice Center (MPC) is founded on the belief that mindfulness, the nonjudgmental and clear awareness of one’s experience of the present moment, can improve one’s ability to cope with the many challenges of life and to make choices that aid in living life to the fullest.

The mission of the MPC is to facilitate the practice of mindfulness through service, teaching, and research. The MPC activities are open to all students, faculty and staff. The Mindfulness Practice Center carries out its mission through activities such as the following: SERVING the campus community and the community-at-large through special events, publications, and other activities; TEACHING mindfulness through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs, courses, workshops, and practicum experiences; and RESEARCHING and encouraging research that furthers the understanding of mindfulness and its benefits.

The MPC emphasizes a non-sectarian approach to mindfulness that draws on contemplative practices from a variety of religious and philosophical traditions. We collaborate with people and groups inside and outside the University.

Original Steering Committee:

• Jan Colbert, School of Journalism
• Weldon Durham, Ph.D., Theatre Department
• Susan Even, M.D., Director, Student Health Center
• Robert Hodge, M.D., School of Medicine
• Lynda Kraxberger, School of Journalism
• Sandy Matsuda, Ph.D., Occupational Therapy
• Richard Reuben, J.D., J.S.M., J.S.D., School of Law
• Leonard Riskin, J.D., LL.M, School of Law
• Paul Robinson, M.D., Student Health Center and Child Health
• Todd Schachtman, Ph.D., Psychological Sciences
• Laura Schopp, Ph.D., Health Psychology
• Cheryl Shigaki, Ph.D., Health Psychology
• Beth Shoyer, Ph.D., Student Health Center
• Dennis Stambaugh, Chair, MU Wellness Steering Committee
• Terry Wilson, M.Ed., R.N., Student Health Cente

"Mindfulness can be thought of as a moment-to-moment nonjudgmental awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a specific way, that is, in the present moment, and as non-reactively, as non-judgmentally, and as openheartedly as possible."
From Coming to Our Senses by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.