Abstract
This article revisits a five-year mixed-methods study conducted from 2012 to 2018, involving 207 student participants (n = 207), of an undergraduate sociology course—Consciousness, Creativity, and Identity—that integrated group meditation and mindfulness into a standard curriculum. Earlier analyses interpreted positive outcomes primarily as reductions in stress and improvements in attention among students. This paper reconsiders that interpretation, arguing that such a framing risks locating dysfunction within students rather than the social and cultural environments they inhabit.
Drawing on an ecological perspective, the study reexamines survey, reflection, and interview data documenting changes, not only in affect and attention, but also in social relatedness and belonging. In one cohort of 98 students (n = 98), more than half reported feeling more peaceful, and 77% preferred group meditation to solitary practice. Notably, meditation frequency was associated with reduced peer disconnection at a statistically significant level, indicating there was less than a 5% probability that the result was due to chance (p < .05). These findings suggest that consciousness-centered education functioned not merely as an individual intervention but as a relational learning environment fostering connection, coherence, and well-being through shared contemplative practice.
The paper argues that student wellness may be better understood as an ecological rather than purely intrapsychic phenomenon and proposes consciousness-centered education as a framework for cultivating more coherent, connected learning environments.
Keywords: consciousness-centered education, mindfulness, ecological perspective, student well-being, contemplative practice
Recommended Citation
Beauregard, M. (2026). From Pathology to Ecology: Rethinking Student Well-being Through Consciousness-Centered Education. Journal of Conscious Evolution, 22(1). https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cejournal/vol22/iss1/9
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