Honoring Neurodiversity by Exploring Undergraduates’ Individual Preferences for Meditation Methods

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Meditation, Mindfulness, and Educational Transformation

Abstract

While mindfulness meditation has been shown effective in assisting college students with mental health, many interventions have lacked neurodiversity and differentiation, possibly jeopardizing future, sustainable practice. During this research, we explored university students’ individual preferences and sensory anchor partiality for different meditation methods. Electronic single-surveys were administered to 110 university undergraduates in a yoga course to determine top choices for eight meditation methods practiced during a 16-week semester. Students preferred somatosensory-based meditation methods, including mindfulness and breath meditation. However, preference differences were found among female and male students and within college levels. Findings support previous research suggesting students prefer a variety of meditation methods and uniform mindfulness interventions should be avoided.

Authors

• Steven Haberlin, University of Central Florida

• Shiva Jahani, University of Central Florida