{"id":11211,"date":"2013-09-23T09:25:58","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T13:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=11211"},"modified":"2015-08-03T15:58:38","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T19:58:38","slug":"mindful-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindful Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Zakaria Kronemer spent six weeks in eastern China studying meditation and T’ai Chi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Zakaria Kronemer strolls down campus walk at the University of Mary Washington, he isn\u2019t thinking about his upcoming exam or the conversation he just had. Instead, he focuses on his feet as each step pounds the brick walkway. He feels the air touching his hand as the wind blows and concentrates on his muscles as they work to move his legs.<\/p>\n

Kronemer lives in the moment. It\u2019s a lesson that he learned this summer as one of 40 students from around the world studying the Buddhist practices of meditation and T\u2019ai Chi in the mountains of eastern China at the Shengshou Temple.<\/p>\n

After returning to UMW this semester, the junior philosophy major\u2019s outlook on life has changed. Most significantly, he\u2019s adjusted his outlook on the everyday mundane tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in the monastic life is a contemplative process,\u201d said Kronemer, who traveled to China after receiving a scholarship from the Woodenfish Project<\/a> aimed at educating emerging scholars on Chinese Buddhism. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been trying to incorporate into my life \u2013 taking a step into the moment and appreciating the value and significance and experiencing beauty in everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still his life now starkly differs from his six weeks spent at the monastery where he slept on a wood bunk with only a bamboo mat for comfort. For meals, he ate the same vegan dish of steamed rice and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. He drank water from a stream that he boiled before drinking.<\/p>\n

In the hot and humid Chinese summer, Kronemer awoke at 4:45 a.m. He and fellow students would line up and walk down the mountain to a reflecting pool to practice T\u2019ai Chi, a form of meditation in motion, and meditate for an hour and a half before eating breakfast.<\/p>\n

Kronemer was introduced to meditation and the principles associated with mindfulness through a contemplative practice course that he took last spring at UMW.<\/p>\n

\"Kroenemer<\/a>
Kronemer often spends time at UMW’s amphitheater.
Photo by Kimmie Barkley ’14<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDuring Zakaria’s trip to China, he experienced firsthand and really lived according to Buddhist concepts, principles and practices,\u201d said Angela Pitts, associate professor of classics, who co-teaches contemplative practice. \u201cHe also had the opportunity to understand more deeply other spiritual traditions in the world and to learn and grow from them. Such understanding, derived from personal experience, is the best foundation I know of for the promotion of inter-cultural dialogue and mutual respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among his firsthand experiences, Kronemer\u2019s spent one week in intensive silent meditation where he and the other students could not make eye contact, talk or read. But, perhaps, one of the most interesting and time-consuming practices Kronemer experienced was tea meditation where he contemplated the value of the nourishment the tea provided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about the tree that grew the tea leaf, the sunlight and water needed to nourish the tree, the person that picked the leaf and the people that support that person until eventually you get to the point that everything in the world is part of the tea in that cup,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

During that contemplative process, drinking a cup of tea took hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cAristotle asserted that the highest form of life is the contemplative life. Most of us, though, live the active life, fully engaged in and occupied with school, society, work, family, and the many demands that these responsibilities place on us, not the life of the remote and isolated hermit absorbed in thought,\u201d said David Ambuel, professor of philosophy and Leidecker chair of Asian studies, who co-teaches contemplative practice. \u201cTraining with some mindfulness techniques\u2026can help us maintain awareness of where and who we are, and maintain a balance in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kronemer is continuing the mindfulness lessons he learned this summer by maintaining balance in his own life. He begins his day with T\u2019ai Chi and he goes to the outdoor amphitheater every chance he gets to meditate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve found a steadiness within me. My mind isn’t fully drawn into the mass of stimulation that we experience each day. Instead, I\u2019m more able to remain within the present moment appreciating all of the vitality and incomprehensible beauty it has to offer,\u201d said Kronemer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UMW student spent his summer learning about Buddhism in the mountains of China. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":11231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[69,2,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-11211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"tag-alumni2015","9":"tag-classics","10":"tag-philosophy-and-religion","11":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMindful Lessons - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melina Downs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melina Downs\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7\"},\"headline\":\"Mindful Lessons\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-23T13:25:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-03T19:58:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":739,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/Zachariah_HP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni2015\",\"Classics, Philosophy and Religion\",\"Philosophy and Religion\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mindful Lessons - Great Minds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/Zachariah_HP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-23T13:25:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-03T19:58:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/Zachariah_HP.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/Zachariah_HP.jpg\",\"width\":4061,\"height\":1939},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/23\\\/mindful-lessons\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mindful Lessons\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Great Minds\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7\",\"name\":\"Melina Downs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melina Downs\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/author\\\/mdowns\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mindful Lessons - Great Minds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melina Downs","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/"},"author":{"name":"Melina Downs","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7"},"headline":"Mindful Lessons","datePublished":"2013-09-23T13:25:58+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-03T19:58:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/"},"wordCount":739,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Zachariah_HP.jpg","keywords":["alumni2015","Classics, Philosophy and Religion","Philosophy and Religion"],"articleSection":["Show on Great Minds"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/","name":"Mindful Lessons - Great Minds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Zachariah_HP.jpg","datePublished":"2013-09-23T13:25:58+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-03T19:58:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Zachariah_HP.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Zachariah_HP.jpg","width":4061,"height":1939},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2013\/09\/23\/mindful-lessons\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mindful Lessons"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/","name":"Great Minds","description":"University of Mary Washington","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/#\/schema\/person\/40421ab26b3450232f0804c6b67525a7","name":"Melina Downs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfbe3377a32a6b3823ef4aa180d8bb6f46d318a7ce552490b40644f8fcece3d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melina Downs"},"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/author\/mdowns\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Zachariah_HP.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}