Spring term should be filled with sunshine, lounging out on the Green and occasionally skipping class in favor of mid-day naps and river dips. But with the constant flow of April and May showers, the ever-relentless workload and the overall mental exhaustion that accompanies the end of the school year, sometimes the rest and relaxation promised by spring does not come until much later in the term. Still, activities other than lounging on the Green can provide springtime serenity. One such space is the weekly Monday morning meditation sessions hosted at Rollins Chapel. Held from 8 to 8:45 a.m., these sessions offer a quieter, more intentional kind of calm.
Before attending, my only experience with meditation was in high school gym class. We did yoga once a week and played a meditation video at the end of class to “cool down.” In reality, most students dozed off into a quick power nap on the plush-purple foam yoga mats sprawled across the hardwood floor.
I could never fall asleep, nor could I ever truly meditate. My brain was always racing on a constant search for answers in a spiral of intense curiosity. Daydreaming about my future, imagining what it would be like to travel the world while going over past questions on homework assignments that I definitely got wrong. No matter how hard I tried to free my mind and concentrate on deep breathing, meditation always led to a state of restless thought.
That was six years ago. Now older, maybe wiser and in desperate need of a mental vacation, even if it is just for 45 minutes, I decided to give meditation another go.
Walking into Rollins Chapel for the first time, I was struck by the beauty of the space: kaleidoscopes of stained glass glowing softly in the morning light, stone walls echoing with stillness. I immediately knew that forcing my eyes shut and staying still in this space for an extended period would be challenging.
Inside the meditation area, floor cushions formed a circle. At the head sat technology director for the Economics Department James Graham. Graham has been leading Monday morning meditations sessions since he took “Mindfulness for Emerging Adults,” a course offered by the Student Wellness Center. Graham’s personal meditation journey, however, began following the birth of his daughter.
“I was always interested in Eastern philosophy, and I would just read about it from time to time,” Graham said. “But I didn’t actually start meditating regularly until about 16 years ago, when my daughter was born.”
Graham credits the famous book “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” by Shunryū Suzuki as his “teacher” for the practice. Since then, meditation has become part of his daily routine.
“It’s changed my life a lot,” Graham said. “One famous teacher says it’s like when you go out in the fog, and you’re there for a while, you get wet, but you don’t notice it right away. And that’s kind of what practicing meditation is like. Your life very slowly changes, and you start to look at it a lot differently.”
I came to the session hoping to quiet my mind and slip blissfully into that fog. When Graham rang the singing bell and the room fell silent, I closed my eyes and followed his instructions: focus on your breathing, observe your body and be present.
For the first ten minutes, I felt calm — collected even. But then my leg fell asleep, and the tingling pins and needles snapped me out of it. I shifted quietly, trying not to disturb the peace, but I’d already lost my focus. My thoughts wandered, and I found myself just as restless as I had been in high school. But, as is the case with most things in life, I couldn’t expect to become a master meditator in a day. Good things take time. I decided to give it another try and returned the following Monday.
This time, I wasn’t the only newcomer. I met Fatemah Ebrahim ’26 and Janel Sharman ’27, who were attending the meditation as part of their class requirements.
Ebrahim “really enjoyed” the meditation. According to her, it was especially nice on a Monday, when the week’s stress is just beginning. She also appreciated the community formed by the session.
“I think it’s really great to see faculty and different parts of the Dartmouth community that I think I don't interact with as much,” Ebrahim said.
Having a little meditation experience under her belt, Ebrahim found it easier to follow the guided meditation but still appreciated how beginner-friendly the session was.
“The person who’s guiding the meditation will say ‘If you’re having any thoughts kind of let them fade away,’ and then I can lock back into meditating. So I think it’s always nice to have someone who’s talking through it a little bit,” Ebrahim said.
Sharman, who previously attended one of the meditations led by the Plum Village monasteries, is still very new to the practice. She found it difficult to fully disconnect from her mind.
“I think I always have a lot of things to think about, so when I have free time, my mind is always racing,” Sharman said. “It’s good for me to sit and try to be calm. I definitely want to get better at pushing my thoughts away during the meditation, because I feel like I haven’t quite gotten there yet.”
Like Sharman, I struggle with mental stillness. However, during my second session, I noticed subtle progres. I sat taller, breathed more deliberately and emerged at the end of the session with the slightest smile on my face. I had not reached complete zen, but I achieved a few moments of peace. And honestly, I can’t remember the last time I opened my eyes on a Monday morning feeling relieved instead of dreading the week ahead.
Trekking over to Rollins at 8 a.m. on a Monday may feel like a challenge in and of itself. But there’s something deeply satisfying about starting the week with intention. The temptations to drift into a nap and zone out during the session can be strong, especially as an exhausted college student, but the reward of overcoming a challenge and remaining present is greater.
