getting undergrad students to meditate on their own
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
why I’m an expert in this area
• done over 500 hours of training in yoga and meditation (YA certified)
• been practicing yoga since I was 15 - sustained a yoga practice as an undergraduate student
• been practicing breathing meditation for 3 + years
• been teaching breathing meditation to students for the last 2.5 years at Stanford
• background in psychology, behavior sciences, and neuroscience of meditation
students I am focusing on• WHO: female juniors at Stanford
• WHAT: a 20 minute set breathing meditation practice
• WHEN/HOW OFTEN: at least 4 days/week
• WHERE: in their own dorm room
• WHY: to help manage the stress
what I did first• I focused on one of my students, Lina, who is enrolled in a meditation
breathing course for academic credit at Stanford
• I wrote out 20-30 concrete behaviors I would like Lina to do in association with her practice - they ranged in effectiveness and easiness
• I figured out which of these behaviors were of highest priority by mapping them out ... just like...
Very effective in getting Lina to practice 4 days/
week
Not effective in getting Lina to practice 4 days/
week
No
way
. We
can
’t g
et L
ina
to d
o th
is Yes! We can
get Lin
a to do th
is
feasibility
impact
...this!highest priority behaviors are
here
meets and speaks to person who
originally designed the
practices with another person 4X week in her dorm.
(P)
sends an email to her teacher to confirm she
has done her practice for 1 quarter (S)
congratulates herself every time she finishes her
practice (P)
goes to an advanced course to
deepen her understanding of
organizes a “learn to breathe”
session in her dorm (D)
takes a breathing course for
academic credit for a quarter (S)
writes in her journal any effects
of her practice 4days/week (P)
gets closest friends to learn
the same practice (D)
gets doormates to learn the same
practice (D)
writes in her journal effects of
not doing practice 3 days/week (P)
attends weekly follow up group sessions for a
quarter (S)
anchors her practice in another routine behavior she does
4x/week (P)
reads a scientific article on the benefits of
breathing (D)
tests at least 3 different sitting
props for 1 week (S)
tests at least 3 different sitting postures for 1
week (S)
choose from a list of tiny
celebrations to do right after her
chooses from a list of rewards to give herself if she
scores 4/4 (D)
practices a very routinized version of her practice for
1 week (S)
writes a plan to routinize her
practice (triggers, sitting, etc.) (D)
sets up a calendar reminder for her
practice (D)
chooses from a list time periods she
would like to practice the most (D)
choose a list of rewards to give
herself if she scores 4/4 for the week (D)
chooses from a list of options a spot in her dorm she would do it
the most (D)
writes down all the reasons she loves her practice in her
notebook (D)
posts her reason for loving her
practice on her dorm wall (D)
Very effective in getting Lina to practice 4 days/
week
Not effective in getting Lina to practice 4 days/
week
No
way
. We
can
’t g
et L
ina
to d
o th
is Yes! We can
get Lin
a to do th
is
picsks one friend of family member to speak regularly
about it (P)
sets up a visual trigger in her dorm to remind her of her practice (D)
feasibility
impact
here in digital...let’s make this one our “target
behavior”
lead up to the target behaviorAfter picking a “target behavior” - I mapped out the the other behaviors that would lead her to it.
anchors her practice in another routine behavior she does
4x/week
Lina opens an email requesting her to make a
list of her top 3 (most stable) daily habits
Lina decides on her most solid habit
the next day, Lina does her home practice right
after this habit sheʼs identified
target behavior
tested if this would work
I sent her the following clear steps in an email on 11/11/12:
results
• Lina responded on 11/11 and agreed via email telling me she would make the list the next day
• Lina made her list and sent it to me on 11/12 - she decided that making her bed was her most solid behavior
• the following day, on 11/13, she emailed me confirming she did her practice:
“Hi Maria I did the practice about 45 minutes ago but had to sprint to breakfast before they closed. I got a bit delayed cause my mom called me right as I was making bed hehe but well i did it :)”
discussion and insights
• itʼs not clear that she did her practice right after she made her bed and whether such a tight sequencing is needed.
• her accountability to me was probably the biggest factor in making her do it, i.e., providing her the needed structure and/or “social pressure” - especially given itʼs not clear whether making her bed was a sufficient trigger.
• since the practice takes 25 min., consider identifying anchor behaviors that occur between classes (when she returns to her dorms) or in the evenings versus in the morning when she is pressed for time
• Next steps: interview with her to figure out the relationship between making her bed and doing the practice - and maybe testing other anchors during her day.