Dr. Diane Gilbert-Diamond, ScD teaches Mindful Physiology to undergraduates at Dartmouth. This course aims to help students understand and appreciate their own physiology. In addition to didactic lectures, students practice about 20 minutes of mindfulness during each class, during which they reflect and observe their physiology. They are also encouraged to practice 15 minutes of mindfulness outside of class daily. Students from the class report that the mindfulness practices improved their appreciation for their own physiology and had positive benefits for their physical and mental wellbeing. Dr. Gilbert-Diamond is currently working with her graduate student, Zhuoya Zhang, to publish findings about the acceptability of, engagement with, and preliminary efficacy of the course.
In September, 2023, Dr. Gilbert-Diamond was invited to speak at The Buddha The Scientist meeting, which was co-sponsored by Thich Nhat Hanh’s Deer Park Monastery and the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. There she spoke about how mindfulness practice can help to support the next generation of scientists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pyDRX-Mwnc