Mindfulness Meditation

Two people sit cross-legged meditating outdoors on the grass under a tree.

Recentering Your Mind: An Introduction of Mindfulness Meditation for UC Berkeley Staff

Program Overview

The Recentering Your Mind: An Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation, a transformative 4-week program designed exclusively for UC Berkeley staff, aimed at introducing mindfulness meditation as a powerful tool for cultivating a balanced and centered mind.

In today’s world, mindfulness meditation is an important tool that will enable you to consistently and successfully deal with the stress associated with work and life. Incorporating these practices into your life will help you succeed as you seek out ways to avoid burnout, remain resilient, thrive, and grow in today’s world.

Whether you are new to meditation or looking to deepen your practice, our exploration will offer a structured yet flexible framework to cultivate mindfulness, presence, and peace.

This is a 4-week program, and you will get the most benefit if you can attend all 4 sessions, but we welcome you to register for any of the sessions that seem most useful and interesting to you.

Why Attend All 4 Weeks?

You’re unlocking the full transformative potential of mindfulness meditation, building foundations for lasting change. Each session is designed to build upon the previous one, creating a seamless progression that fosters the development of new neural pathways.

Attending all sessions fosters a supportive environment where you can share insights, challenges, and successes, creating a collective energy that enhances the overall transformative journey for all.

Program Description

In this 4-week eCourse you will:

Learn about the power of mindfulness and explore the four aspects of a mindfulness practice.
Gain a better understanding of the nature of the mind, cultivating compassion for your thinking mind, and deepening your understanding of your human experience.
Develop your own mindfulness meditation practice, fostering compassion for both yourself and others.
Learn effective techniques for mindfully working with your emotions by cultivating awareness of the breath and the body.
Learn and practice the foundations of a Wise Heart practice: lovingkindness (metta), compassion, joy, and equanimity.

After attending this program, you can expect to:

Have a better understanding of mindfulness principles and practical applications.
Feel more self-compassion and a more supportive relationship with your own thoughts and emotions.
Build your own mindfulness meditation practice, incorporating techniques learned during the program into your daily routine.
Have a sense of increased well being with the potential for reduced stress, and a greater sense of balance in your personal and professional life.
Become part of a supportive community of like-minded, mindful, heart-centered people.

Eligibility & Intended Audience

This program is open to any UC Berkeley staff member who is interested in deepening their understanding of mindfulness meditation. You can sign up for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 sessions in the UC Learning Center.

Program Dates & Time Commitment

April 19, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm

April 26, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm

May 3, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm

May 10, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm

We strongly encourage staff to sign up and commit to attending all four sessions to truly gain the benefit of this powerful program.

Participation is limited to 300 people per session, so once you sign up, please make sure you can attend. If your availability changes and you need to cancel your participation, please do so in the UC Learning Center 48 hours before the session so individual’s on the waitlist can be admitted into the session.

Program Sessions

The class is divided approximately as follows: 20 minutes of teaching, 20 minutes of guided meditation, and 20 minutes for a share-out and Q&A.

Session 1: Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation

April 19, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm
In this session, you will experience a one-hour Guided Meditation on the Breath and Body.
Come prepared with a relaxed mind and an intention of being open in using these techniques to help you get more clarity and feel more grounded.

Session 2: Being Fully Human: Working with Emotions

April 26, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm
In this session, you will learn about the concepts of Awareness of Emotions and Applied Self-Compassion.
In our day-to-day lives, we experience a wide range of emotions that are up and down. We will explore how to hold all emotions with a sense of openness.

Session 3: The Wise Heart

May 3, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm
In this session, you will experience a one-hour Guided Lovingkindness (Metta) Meditation.
We will explore the benefits of the Lovingkindness meditation and how it impacts our well-being.

Session 4: Bringing Your Practice into the World - Guided Meditation of Breath, Body, and Emotions

May 10, 2024 - 2:00-3:00 pm
In this session, we will conclude our mindful meditation journey by providing you with tips for establishing your own meditation practice.
We will share practical guidance on sustaining mindfulness practices and incorporating them into everyday life.

About the Instructor

Ramona Harvey is a certified professional leadership coach and mindfulness meditation teacher. She helps leaders and entrepreneurs overcome Imposter Syndrome, Perfectionism, People Pleasing, and other self-sabotaging tendencies.

Ramona's mission is to help people unlock their potential for healing, happiness, and for making a powerful, positive impact in their communities. Using mindfulness and holistic leadership development, she guides deep inner transformation as catalysts for a more peaceful and harmonious world.

Ramona coaches senior leaders and conducts mindfulness and leadership workshops, trainings, and retreats for organizations and private clients. She collaborates with several non-profits focused on social change and justice.