Research

Researcher’s guided meditation videos offer a moment to ‘just be here’

Kami Dvorakova, doctoral Compassion and Caring Fellow in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State, filmed three guided meditations at The Arboretum to help the viewer cultivate mindfulness.  Credit: Bill Zimmerman / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It’s time to be here with your beautiful breath.

That’s the message of Kami Dvorakova, a doctoral Compassion and Caring Fellow in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State, in a collection of Mindful Moments guided meditations.

Dvorakova, who recently published the results of her research on mindfulness training’s benefits for first-year college students, has filmed four videos offering evidence-based mindfulness techniques focused on cultivating an accepting, nonjudgmental and kind attitude toward present-moment thoughts and feelings.

Dvorakova’s research team discovered that an eight-session mindfulness training program produced significant increases in the students' life satisfaction, as well as a significant decrease in depression and anxiety, when compared to students who did not participate in the training. There was also an overall drop in alcohol use.

At Penn State, Dvorakova is highly involved with the Dharma Lions, a meditation and mindfulness community at Penn State. For more information, go to http://dharmalions.weebly.com/.

Last Updated June 8, 2021