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The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is offering online courses to the public in February and March that teach introductory meditation and mindfulness skills.
Six courses are offered in the spring. The course lasts four weeks with a lesson of 75 minutes each week. Upcoming course dates include:
- 16.00 Sundays 5, 12, 19 and 26 February
- 13.00 Tuesdays 7, 14, 21 and 28 February
- 13.00 on Wednesdays 1, 8, 15 and 22 March
The course, called Koru Mindfulness, is an introduction to mindfulness meditation and stress management skills. These skills help participants to fully experience life moment by moment with kindness and without judgment. It helps participants learn to increase self-compassion while finding balance in life.
The UAMS Mindfulness Program’s certified instructors have been teaching Koru Mindfulness to students, faculty and interns at UAMS since 2017. Now the course is also available to the public.
The course is donation-based; while a donation is not required, attendees are encouraged to donate. Donors who donate at least $125 or more will receive a Mindfulness Program T-shirt and course book. All participants will receive the Koru Mindfulness app with guided meditations and learning materials, which participants will continue to have access to after the course is completed. This course will be conducted in person on the UAMS campus.
To register, visit Mindfulness.UAMS.edu.
Koru Mindfulness is a popular and widely used program on many college campuses in the United States. It was developed by Holly Rogers, MD, a psychiatrist with the Duke University Student Counseling Center, and her colleagues. It is now an independent organization with hundreds of teachers worldwide.
Elements taught in the course include:
- Breathing meditation
- Belly breathing
- Dynamic breathing
- Body scan
- Walking meditation
- Gatha meditation
- Guided pictures
- Labeling of thoughts
- Eating meditation
- Labeling of emotions
Certified Koru Mindfulness teachers from UAMS will teach the classes. Additional courses and dates with our other certified instructors will be announced on the Mindfulness.UAMS.edu website. Puru Thapa, MD, directs the UAMS Mindfulness Program.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, health professions and public health; a research school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses the entire clinical enterprise of UAMS. UAMS is the only Level 1 adult trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,240 students, 913 medical residents and fellows, and five dentists. It is the state’s largest public employer, with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, TwitterYouTube or Instagram.
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