The first time University of Virginia alumnus Jeff Walker meditated, it was on Grounds.
More than four decades later, the site of his first meditation is home to the Contemplative Sciences Center, dedicated to the study and practice of contemplation. Walker now chairs the center’s advisory board and continues to meditate regularly.
“I was interested in everything around these questions from day 1 at UVA, as a minor in psychology,” Walker said. “Even though I went to the McIntire School (of Commerce) eventually and was in computer science and accounting, it’s been something I’ve kept up ever since.”
Advisory board chair Jeff Walker leads event attendees through a guided meditation Friday during his remarks. Walker first meditated while he was a UVA student. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
The Contemplative Sciences Center is hosting a weekend of events celebrating the center’s opening, including a guided “Meditation From the Dell”; yoga sessions; panel discussions on diverse topics including mental health, athletics and our place in the cosmos; and a benefit concert Saturday featuring the Zac Brown Band and opener Maggie Rogers at John Paul Jones Arena.
The weekend opened Friday with remarks from University President Jim Ryan, founders Paul and Sonia Jones and associate professor of leadership and public policy Tim Davis. Walker led event attendees through a guided meditation.
When Paul Tudor Jones II was a UVA student, he found few places on Grounds where he and his fellow students could escape from academic pressure and a sometimes chaotic social scene. That is why he, along with his wife Sonia, founded the Contemplative Sciences Center.
Paul Tudor Jones II and his wife Sonia said they hope the Contemplative Sciences Center becomes a refuge on Grounds. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
“We didn’t have cell phones or the internet or daily bombardment through TikTok and everything else, but we still had a highly active life where you’re constantly under stress,” Tudor Jones said before the weekend’s events, “and the Contemplative Sciences Center seems to be a great place of respite, where someone has a chance to stop and reflect and to detox, so to speak, from all the pressures of everyday life.”
He described his wife as the “OG” behind the center. Sonia Jones found a love for yoga and mindfulness practices early in life and wanted to share the benefits with others, especially young people.
“I was bringing mindful practices to schools. But I thought, ‘We’re not thinking about our 18- to 21-year-olds who go to college, who are often away from home for the first time and they’re under a lot of stress,” she said.
University President Jim Ryan knows the value of contemplation and reflection. He says it's part of what he gets out of running. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Ryan said he has experienced firsthand how setting aside time for reflection and connection can relieve stress – it’s part of why he loves running. Reflection and connection are also part of fulfilling the University’s educational mission, he added.
“Contemplation and connection are foundational to preparing our students for the world ahead,” Ryan said during the event. “UVA’s mission, from our founding until today, is to prepare students to be citizen leaders. I believe that in order to prepare our students to lead, we need to take a holistic approach. We need to focus on their minds, their bodies and their spirits.”
Located near Central Grounds, the Contemplative Commons is a rare quiet place at a bustling university.
“This is place where you can take stock of the path that you’re on, because you’re not going to find it on a GPS. You’re going to have to find a quiet time to stop and think,” Paul said.
The center’s executive director, Kelly Crace, hopes the center will be a refuge from a busy and often chaotic world.
“My hope is that … the Contemplative Sciences Center can be seen as a loving disruption to the relentless pace and pressure and uncertainty of our current world, not only for our students, but faculty and staff and even our parents and alumni,” Crace said.
To provide that “loving disruption,” the center offers programs, hosted in the Contemplative Commons.
