INCORPORATING MINDFULNESS MEDITATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mindfulness can be defined as “bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis” (Marlatt & Kris-teller, 1999, p. 68). One way to focus the mind on the present and being aware of one’s thoughts and actions in a nonjudgmental way is through meditation. Although many people believe this 2,500 year-old Buddhist practice requires isolating oneself to sit in quiet contemplation for hours, days, or weeks. However, one can actually improve mindfulness with meditations lasting one minute or less. We conducted a classroom experiment by incorporating one-minute mindfulness meditations in two sections of introductory managerial accounting at the beginning of each class period. Our paper addresses the following: 1) why and how we chose to incorporate mindfulness meditation in the classroom, including a brief history of mindfulness, 2) the effect of in-class mindfulness meditation on students’ self-reported stress levels, 3) the effect of mindfulness meditation on students’ exam performance, and 4) future directions to incorporate other aspects of mindfulness into business course curricula. Keywords Mindfulness, meditation, business education