Adelphi University Mindfulness Hike Brings Meditation to the Trail

Adelphi University turned meditation into a trail walk on April 25, sending students and campus community members to Cold Spring Harbor State Park for a guided hike that traded the cushion for moving attention. Instead of a quiet classroom or Zoom session, the outing asked participants to disconnect from daily stress, walk in step with one another, and use nature as the setting for a reset of mind and body.

The format made the practice feel immediate and practical. Transportation was provided from CRS, lowering a common hurdle for students who might have skipped an off-campus event if logistics were left to chance. Spots were limited, which gave the hike the feel of a deliberately shaped group experience rather than an open-ended drop-in. The university framed the afternoon as a chance to step outside and recharge, a clear signal that mindfulness at Adelphi can be active, communal, and place-based.

The setting did a lot of the work. Cold Spring Harbor State Park spans 40 acres of hilly terrain with scenic views of Cold Spring Harbor, mixed hardwood forest, mountain laurel, and birdlife that includes great horned owls and red-tailed hawks. As the northern trailhead of the Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail, the park offered a route where scenery, footing, and pace all become part of the practice. New York State Parks says the park and parking field are open year-round from sunrise to sunset, and no fees are collected.

That landscape suits walking meditation better than a static room for students who settle more easily through motion than stillness. The experience also fit neatly into Adelphi’s broader mindfulness effort. The university opened its Mindfulness Center in 2022 on the third floor of the Ruth S. Harley University Center, next to the Interfaith Center, after students requested a dedicated place to support mindful practices. Adelphi describes the center as a space for meditation, personal reflection, and self-awareness, and it is part of the university’s wider commitment to student mental health and well-being.

The hike also followed earlier campus programming, including Adelphi’s 2025 Mindfulness Meditation Walk during National Public Health Week. Michael Hoffner, the coordinator of the Interfaith Center and Mindfulness Center, has been central to that work, and the university’s Mindfulness Living-Learning Community and Student Counseling Center extend the same message: mindfulness does not have to stay indoors to work. At Cold Spring Harbor, the trail itself became the meditation.