The Annandale Center for Contemplative Practice

About The Annandale Center for Contemplative Practice (ACCP)

What would our campus and community look like if it were driven by contemplative practice? At the ACCP, we aim to foster a community of individuals who not only thrive in the classroom and within their work units but also who engage in the personal work of identifying their own conscious and unconscious needs, identifying strategies for meeting those needs and fully embrace their complete humanity, recognizing the presence of needs as they exist in others, and, ultimately, challenging the prevailing depersonalizing culture that can exist in institutional spaces.

Drs. Cheri Lemieux Spiegel (Professor of English) and Paul Fitzgerald (Professor of Biology) are the primary contact people for this initiative and shared space.

The Annandale Center for Contemplative Practice assists faculty, staff, and students in bringing a mindful, non-violent perspective to their personal and professional experiences. We engage in this work via the offering of workshops, facilitated small group discussions, and other opportunities to gather, both in-person and online, with the express interest in engaging in activities that make active, intentional progress toward building a mindful, inclusive community culture.

Mission

The Annandale Center for Contemplative Practice assists faculty, staff, and students in bringing a mindful, non-violent perspective to their personal and professional experiences. We engage in this work via the offering of workshops, facilitated small group discussions, and other opportunities to gather, both in-person and online, with the express interest in engaging in activities that make active, intentional progress toward building a mindful, inclusive community culture.

Vision

At the Annandale Center for Contemplative Practice, we envision our workplace as one where all members of our community – staff, faculty, administrators, and students - are fully empowered and equipped with tools to identify and recognize their needs as they arise, envision possible strategies to meet their needs and communicate those needs and strategies to others in a non-violent, supportive way.

Join Us!

Beginning Fall 2022, we will host regular drop-in hours during the academic year; staff and faculty can visit the center during those times for tea and/or silent practice (meditation, journaling, for example). Conversation or group meetings are not encouraged during these times. Check the Daily Flyer or our blog for announcements regarding the semester’s hours.

Since Fall 2021, we have hosted regular workshops and events related to mindfulness, nonviolent communication and compassionate practice in the center. Information on upcoming events is distributed through the Daily Flyer and posted on our blog.

The ACCP coordinators maintain a blog! There, you can learn more about recent offerings and contemplative practices. You can find access to our monthly live-streamed meditation sessions there too!

If you’re staff or faculty who want to stay up-to-date and participate in events away from campus, we would love to have you join our Canvas Module – email Cheri and Paul for access to the shared site!