While our world is becoming increasingly interconnected, people report increasing anxiety, depression, and loneliness. With “Mindfulness, Dignity, and the Art of Human Connection,” you’ll explore innovative mindfulness techniques that foster a more profound understanding of dignity within yourself and others. This course provides a comprehensive understanding of the holistic mindfulness perspective, which focuses on strengthening your relationships with the self, others, and nature. It covers mindfulness from three perspectives: Buddhist psychology, critical theory, and contemplative studies. This interdisciplinary approach allows you to not only learn major aspects of the Banyan Tree mindset framework but also provides an inclusive perspective that builds a greater sense of understanding for others with diverse experiences.
The course explores current research on mindfulness and offers various contemplative activities such as meditation, art, poetry, photovoice, and journaling to practice mindfulness. By developing a vision for leading a dignified life, you’ll strengthen your grasp on how to integrate mindfulness practices into your daily life and better understand the world around you.
Overview
Syllabus
- The Foundations of Mindful Mindset: Compassion & Sympathetic Joy
- Welcome to the Mindfulness, Dignity, and the Art of Human Connection course! We start the first module by learning about the foundations of a mindful mindset: compassion and sympathetic joy. We will learn how to cultivate compassion and sympathetic joy as well as practices to sustain them. Recognizing how hard it is to sustain practices for a mindful mindset, we conclude this module by learning how to overcome challenges in sustaining these practices. Let us begin our journey toward a mindful mindset!
- Understanding & Working on Self: A Complex Process
- Welcome to Module 2! Now that we have learned about the foundations of a mindful mindset, in this Module, we will learn how to work on ourselves to connect well with others. This involves being aware of two major concepts: Situated Intersectional Awareness and Negative Capability. We learn how to recognize how imperfect we are as human beings and discover ways to creatively engage with our imperfections. We conclude this Module by learning how to cultivate methods for emotional regulation. Let us start working on ourselves!
- Connecting to Others at the Interpersonal Level
- Welcome to Module 3! You are now halfway through our course. After learning in the last Module how to work on ourselves to connect well with others, in this Module, we will learn about how to be open to learning from others. This involves knowing about Cultural Humility, Wonder, and the six different kinds of generosity. We will learn about diverse cultural and cross-cultural communication practices and how we can appreciate miracles and surprises in life to appreciate the present. We conclude this Module by learning skills to learn from and appreciate others. Let us begin learning from others and appreciate the present!
- Using Mindfulness to Live with Dignity
- Welcome to Module 4, the last Module of our course! After learning about how to be open to learning from others, we conclude our journey by learning how to use mindfulness to live with dignity. This involves learning about three kinds of dignity and being able to think of mindfulness and dignity together. Let us conclude our journey toward a mindful mindset!
Taught by
Ramaswami Mahalingam
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Reviews
5.0 rating, based on 1 Class Central review
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I just finished listening to Ram Mahalingam's "Mindfulness, Dignity, and Art of Human Connection" lecture in Coursera. The lecture was chiseled with sensible metaphors, appropriate examples, thought-provoking case studies, relevant research works, and creative, contemplative exercises. It was intellectually stimulating and therapeutic at the same time! Before listening to Ram's social justice-informed approach to mindfulness, I thought of mindfulness only as a self-care practice. But Ram guided me to realize how I could use them to be a better being and positively influence my environment through my presence! I strongly recommend his course to anyone looking to find a safe space within themselves!
