About
The Mindful Revolution is a student-run initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, exploring how mindfulness, positive psychology, and character development can transform our education system from the inside out—at the level of the students themselves.
And what is mindfulness, you say? Oftentimes, people who are passionate about revolutionizing something, use words and phrases that others hear and interpret differently than intended. In this light, based on the research we have done, here is how we define mindfulness:
- conscious awareness of one’s current thoughts, feelings, and surroundings
- approaching one’s life in an orientation that is characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance
- being unconditionally present with whatever arises
Our goal is to raise awareness on the implications of minding one’s internal health—emotionally, socially, and psychologically. We plan to do this through exploring the existing research available on this topic as well as helping to launch and study a pilot mindfulness-based program called YES! (Youth Empowerment Seminar) right in the city of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.
Meet Our Students:
Justin Broglie
Justin is a Junior studying Digital Media Design at the University of Pennsylvania. After experiencing severe depression in his freshman year of college from questioning his purpose in life, Justin began to critically examine his inner state through meditation, open-minded inquiry, and breath work. Through these practices, he had many profound insights into himself and the world around him. He started to touch true happiness and contentment that did not depend on what was happening outside of him. From these experiences, Justin has decided to dedicate his life towards both helping others find true internal peace and contentment as well as helping create global dialogue in all areas on how an internal transformation can vastly affect our world and society for the better.
Recent Post by Justin:
YES! Gives Students Power They Can Own
Natalie Tse
Natalie is a Sophomore in the Wharton School. She was born and raised in Hong Kong but is a proud alumnus of St. Paul's School in Concord, NH. In fact, it was an Intro to Buddhism course she took in her senior year at St. Paul's that sparked her interests in philosophy, meditation and mindfulness practices. Perhaps it was fate that during spring term of freshman year, she stumbled across the Consciousness Club founded by Justin and Lauren. She feels extremely blessed to have shared wonderful experiences with the club, such as the Art of Living course and now The Mindful Revolution. Her next spiritual adventure would ideally be a Zen retreat in a monastery in Kyoto, Japan. She is currently obsessed with morning runs, swimming laps, yoga and meditation, chai tea, books, playing jazz, listening to bossa, and loves her friends and family!
Recent Post by Natalie:
The Mindful Revolution Documentary
Lauren
Lauren is a Junior studying Nursing and Spanish at the University of Pennsylvania. She is from Mendham, New Jersey and is interested in finding out what makes her come alive, and embracing it - at this point in time, that might involve nursing work with the pediatric population and attending graduate school to become a Holistic Nurse Practitioner. Yoga, breath-work and integrative medicine techniques have been very valuable to her and changed the way she approaches stress. She has worked in hospital settings that offer integrative medicine services, such as yoga and mindfulness meditation, and would love to see how these techniques could take their own shape for students in a classroom setting, specifically one in West Philadelphia. Lauren volunteered last year as a dance teacher in a West Philadelphia middle school through Penn's CityStep program. After gathering a collective voice of anxiety from her students, she is passionate about figuring out the best way to offer students mindfulness training to create a more positive learning environment for today's children and teens.
Recent Post by Lauren:
Investigating “The Mindful Revolution”
David
David is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He is from Queens, NY and wants to return to NY to work as a teacher after graduation. He eventually would like to start his own school. He taught eighth grade math this summer and has worked in an after-school program with elementary school students in West Philadelphia for over two years. He believes that meditation, yoga, or some form of mindfulness training would be very helpful for the students he works with. These practices have been very helpful for him, and he would like to introduce these techniques to as many students as possible.
Recent Post by David:
ArticlesMeet Our Mentors:
Charles Dwyer
Professor Dwyer has been on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania since 1966. He is currently Academic Director for the Aresty Institute’s Leading and Managing People Program in the Wharton School. Professor Dwyer is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He has held positions as Chairman of the Board of the Wharton Center for Applied Research and as Director of Wharton’s Management and Behavioral Science Center. He has also held the Position of Chair of the Educational Leadership Division of the Graduate School of Education. He has more than thirty-five years of experience in educational, corporate and organizational consulting and executive development including the design of Wharton’s well-known Effective Executive Workshop.
Elan Gepner
Elan is a filmmaker, performer, and educator from Philadelphia, who has spent the last four years organizing arts programming for youth. He believes strongly in the importance of Art in education and its power to heal and foster development. He also emphases the need for community and positive relationships in order for individual students to thrive. Channeling his love for both theater and youth advocacy, Gepner also created a nonprofit called Building Blocks that seeks to give youths creative means of stress relief and decrease incidents of violence in public schools.
