Abstract

Colleges and universities are increasingly grappling with challenges related to loneliness, social disconnection, polarization, and belonging among students. While institutions have expanded counseling services, mindfulness programs, and wellness initiatives, there remains an opportunity to develop and study educational approaches that cultivate kindness, compassion, empathy, and constructive engagement with others. Credit-bearing contemplative education courses may offer one promising avenue by integrating reflection, dialogue, and ethical inquiry directly into the academic curriculum. This qualitative study examines the long-term impacts of a UCLA undergraduate seminar that combined yoga, mindfulness, breathwork, reflective writing, ethical teachings from the Yoga Sutras, and facilitated discussion. Across two cohorts, 45 students completed the course, many of whom were low-income and racially minoritized students. Through interviews and focus groups conducted one to two years after course completion, this study will explore which practices, perspectives, and principles students continued to use in their daily lives and how these experiences influenced self-awareness, self-compassion, empathy, relationships, social connection, and engagement with others. Findings will provide insight into the potential of credit-bearing contemplative education to cultivate enduring capacities related to kindness, compassion, and belonging while informing future educational interventions designed to foster more connected, caring, and inclusive campus communities.

Field

Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health /Healthy Campus Initiative Center, UCLA