Mridula discusses the transformative impact of meditation on her life, emphasizing how it has strengthened her sense of agency, making her more resilient to negative thoughts and better equipped for challenging situations, like studying or having difficult conversations. Meditation has also helped her feel joy in simply being alive and helped her appreciate the importance of wonder and awe. She credits the BPMH program for supporting these habits, in the face of an academic environment that typically diminishes them.
Mridula Sathyanarayanan is a fourth-year undergraduate student with an interest in contemplative science. Her degree aims to triangulate studies of the mind by combining a major in Neuroscience with double minors in Philosophy and BPMH. Mridula’s core academic interests center around fostering greater understanding of how meditation inspires wholesome mental states. Equipped with this knowledge, she aims to make meditation accessible to scientific and lay communities. As a Laidlaw Scholar, Mridula led a fully-funded qualitative research study with longtime Buddhist meditators in Toronto. She has since also independently designed and delivered an introductory meditation course at Mind-BWW, a mental health charity in London, UK. In hopes of connecting with her local community, Mridula has recorded guided meditations for students at Victoria College. This year, Mridula has developed her own research into a meditative museum experience now launching at the Royal Ontario Museum. #bpmh #contemplativescience #mindfulness #uoft
