Spiritual Wellness Workshops

The Office of Religious Life works with other offices, clubs, and departments on campus to offer the Columbia community meditation, mindfulness, and spiritual wellness workshops. Check out the offerings below from the Spirituality Mind Body Institute with Teachers College. Workshops are open to students, faculty, and staff, unless otherwise noted. Join us for more workshops this semester!

Spirituality Mind Body Institute Logo with a sunbeam on the left of the text

Workshops

Awakened Awareness

Each 8-week, 90-minute workshop includes meditation practices, an introduction to Awakened Awareness concepts, and sharing of reflections. During these 8 weeks you will learn techniques and tools to reduce stress, increase overall wellbeing, and find deeper meaning and purpose in your life!

Register for a Spring 2024 Cohort: 

Tuesday Group: 5:30-7PM EST, beginning February 6, 2024 and ending April 2, 2024.

Wednesday Group: 5:30-7PM EST, beginning February 7, 2024 and ending April 3, 2024.

Sessions will be held in the Choir Room in St. Paul's Chapel.

All participants must be enrolled Columbia University students at least 18 years of age.

Register here! 

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living: Yoga and Ayurveda

Explore how Yoga and Ayurveda harness the potential of mindful breathing, movement, and eating for healing and transformation.

Fridays 11/3, 11/10 11/17, 5:15-6:15pm. Register here

Spiritual WiFi: Connecting and Protecting Your Energy in the Digital Age

For anyone feeling overwhelmed or drained, this series offers practical
strategies to find balance and rejuvenation. We'll explore timeless wisdom as it relates to modern day challenges, and check out the subtle ways our environment affects u s our energetic bodies.

Thursdays 11/2 - 12/14 (no class 11/23) 12:30 -1:30 PM. Register here

Infinitely Enough: HarnessingYour Inner Peace and Power

There is considerable pressure to "measure up". The constant striving often leads to stress, anxiety, and disconnection. Join us to explore evidence-based practices you can incorporate into your daily life to rediscover your inner worthiness.

Tuesdays 10/24-12/5, 7:30-8:30PM. Register here

Elemental Magic: Spiritual Tools & Practices for Self Discovery

Nurturing the spiritual flame within can help you access your authenticity and embrace the path ahead, especially during periods of self-doubt or disconnection. Unlock your inner magic.

Mondays 10/30 -12/4 6:00 - 7:00PM. Register here

Partnering with Nature to Manage Stress

Guided practices inspired from forest bathing in Japan and Daoist wisdom.

Fridays, 10:30 am - 11:30 am, 10/27, 11/3, 11/10. Register here. 

Capturing Consciousness: The Synergy Between Spirituality & Photography

Participants will immerse themselves in the nondual awareness of beauty,
gratitude and perspective beyond and behind the lens, developing a deeper understanding of consciousness and reflect on the nature of what truly draws us together and into the gifts of the present.

Wednesdays 11/15, 11/29, 12/6 3:00-4:00PM. Register here

Awakened Awareness

Awakened Awareness is a meditation-based series of workshops that was developed from research at Columbia University's Teachers College and the work of Dr. Lisa Miller, and has been conducted there with undergraduates. More colleges and universities across the country are now offering it to their own undergraduate populations.

Each 8-week, 90-minute workshop includes meditation practices, an introduction to awakened awareness concepts, and sharing reflections.

We are offering two groups for Fall 2023: 

Mondays 7-8:30pm, beginning October 2.

OR

Wednesdays, 7 - 8:30 pm, beginning October 4.

Sessions will be in-person at the Dodge Room in Earl Hall, Columbia University. 

All participants must be enrolled in Columbia University or affiliates and must be at least 18 years of age.

Register here! 

Awakened Awareness

Columbia University students are invited to participate in Awakened Awareness: Spiritual Mind Body Practices for Enhanced Well-Being offered by the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI). Each 8-week, 90-minute workshop includes meditation practices, an introduction to awakened awareness concepts, and sharing reflections. Sessions will be in-person at the Dodge Room in Earl Hall, Columbia University. All participants must be enrolled in Columbia University or affiliates of CU and must be at least 18 years of age.

  • Reawakening Wellness:  The Reawakening Wellness workshop is designed to create a sacred space to recharge your body, mind and soul through holistic wellness modalities giving you a fresh perspective of health and illness and an awareness of new possibilities! You will retreat with Mother Earth to be recharged from within, finding intimacy with nature and self; activate your Divine conscious awareness through meditation and sound healing; tap into your higher self with breath work and creativity
  • The Power of Play: Reclaiming Joy from Loss:  University life can be an exciting time, but for those grieving the loss of a loved one, this time may also be filled with sadness and despair. The facilitators understand and have personally experienced this grief. If you are ready to re-engage with life, we invite you to join us in this 5-session workshop on Saturday afternoons focused on "Play"! Using a series of scientifically based modalities, we hope to awaken your inner playful spirit, foster holistic well-being, help you feel comfortable in the present moment, and find "Joy" once again.
  • Set Sail towards Your True Self:  The workshop aim is to facilitate  self-discovery and foster authentic self-expression. Our modalities include journaling, conversation, meditation, and some playful and interactive group activities. We also encourage participants to take risks and engage with their vulnerability as a way to build courage and resilience.
  • Reclaim Your Center: Moving Through the Cycles of Life:  Just as each season moves naturally into the next, we can learn to navigate life's transitions with greater ease and resilience. In this 4-week workshop, we'll come together to approach transitions more mindfully, with self-compassion, hope and gratitude. By the end of this workshop, you'll emerge with a "wellness toolbox" that can help you connect to feelings of centeredness, well being, and joy during times of transitions throughout life.
  • Becoming the Conscious Creator of Your Life:  Explore the magic of waking up to your most powerful, potent, and purposeful self as the conscious creator of your life. This 5-week workshop series will leave you feeling excited and more connected to your inner wisdom and authenticity. Together we’ll explore how approaches like meditation, somatic practices (e.g. dance and movement), Reiki, and journaling can help you foster greater confidence, clarity, and connection to your purpose. By the end of the workshop, you will have tools to help you feel inspired, aligned, and in flow with the enchantment of life.
  • An Invitation to Heal:  From Dis-ease to Ease:  When dealing with illness, it is common to outsource our authority and quiet our inner knowing. This 3-week online workshop is designed to help you feel more empowered as you navigate your healing journey. Through mindfulness meditation, grounding, somatic, and self-compassion exercises, we will explore our innate capacity to heal. In doing so, we can begin to shift the narrative surrounding illness and disease to inspire a more sincere, kind, and empowered relationship with our overall well-being.
  • Finding Your Creative Voice:  Creative capacity emerges from deep within, awakened by sensory stimulation with sounds, colors, words, and emotions. As a bridge, it allows us to develop a personal voice that enables us to connect with ourselves and others and explore our ideas and experiences in a way that is unique to each. Sharing this inner world externally can sometimes be challenging. Come and develop your imaginative world with Camila and Alivia as we learn techniques and strategies to help awake our inner voices and unlock creativity using meditation, journaling, and connection through art.

 

A Journey of Empowerment Through Embodied Practice: A 3-Session Workshop

Do you desire to cultivate a more empowered and authentic life for yourself, and inspire more agency in how you navigate the world?
We’re here to remind you that you can.

In our workshop, you will learn to develop embodied awareness:

  • The felt-sense of what it's like to be YOU.

  • We will begin to shift from our mind-centric way of DOING in the world

  • And embrace a grounded presence of BEING in the world -

  • A new way of allowing yourself to be guided by the body.

Please join us for a 3-part workshop series, as we drop out of the mind and into the body - through movement, somatic-based experiences, and play.

Awakened Awareness

  • Columbia University & affiliate undergraduates ages 18-25 are invited to participate in this 8-week spiritual-mind-body workshop that explores mindfulness, meditation, stress reduction, self-awareness, finding meaning, spirituality, and healthy relationships. Each weekly 90-minute workshop will include meditation practices, introduction to awakened awareness concepts, and sharing reflections.

 

Columbia University Art of Living

  • The purpose of the Columbia Art of Living (CAL) is to create a stress free, energetic and joyful campus community ready to face the challenges of academic life and beyond. CAL offers free and open level yoga classes and meditation. Join their email list, follow on Facebook, or email them at [email protected] to find more details on upcoming classes. 

Redefining Inherent Worth and Fortifying your Spiritual Core

  • Fridays 10:00-11:30am
  • Facilitators:  Daphne Odeh & Aya Nasralla

Bloom:  Cultivating Self Acceptance & Revealing the Authentic Self Through Creative Expression

  • Wednesdays 1:00-2:30pm
  • Facilitators: Alina Grubnyak and Chrstina Pagan

Mindful Motherhood: Emotional Wellness for Expecting Moms

  • Thursdays 10:00-11:30am [ONLINE]
  • Facilitators:  Jonnie Hontanosas, Julia Sarewitz, & Victoria Trinko

Being HuMAN: Embodying What It Means to be a Conscious Man

  • Tuesdays 11:00-12:30pm
  • Facilitators: Marc Feller, Allie Hoffman, Melody Chuang

Cultivating Love for our Queer and Trans Selves

  • Thursdays 6:10-7:40pm
  • Facilitators:  Kriti Jain and Michelle Present

Finding Your Soul Focus

  • Saturdays 12:00-1:30pm
  • Facilitators:  Joe Milowic and Karalee Kothe

Understanding Daily Life Through a Spiritual Lens

  • Wednesdays 5:30-7:00pm [ONLINE]
  • Facilitators: Antonio Hairston, Ryan Kuhlman, Jaclyn "Jaci" Hawkins

Cultivating Connection through Skillful Relationships

  • Mondays 6:10-7:40pm
  • Facilitators: Natalie Shaghafi and Jordanne Greenberg

The heART of Now

  • Thursdays, 10am-11:30am [ONLINE]
  • Facilitators: Dandrea Reeder, Daniela Sarnacchiaro, Vivien Lee

Awakened Awareness

  • Columbia University & affiliate undergraduates ages 18-25 are invited to participate in this 8-week spiritual-mind-body workshop that explores mindfulness, meditation, stress reduction, self-awareness, finding meaning, spirituality, and healthy relationships. Each weekly 90-minute workshop will include meditation practices, introduction to awakened awareness concepts, and sharing reflections. Learn more about Awakened Awareness here.
  • Participate Online: Wednesdays 7:00-8:30 p.m. via Zoom, beginning October 6th.
  • Participate In-Person: Thursdays 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Schiff Room, Earl Hall, Columbia University, beginning October 7th.

Columbia University Art of Living

  • The purpose of the Columbia Art of Living (CAL) is to create a stress free, energetic and joyful campus community ready to face the challenges of academic life and beyond. We offer free and open level daily yoga classes: Professional instructor guided yoga session. Breath, stretch, and sweat.  We also hold free meditation classes every Saturday from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST in Lerner Hall. Join their email list, follow on Facebook, or email them at [email protected].