University of Miami Libraries launch spring mindfulness series for campus community

The University of Miami Libraries are making mindfulness a weekly appointment, not a one-time workshop. Their Mindfulness for Inner Resilience series runs online every Wednesday from 4 to 4:45 p.m., giving students, staff, faculty and researchers a free, introductory way to practice meditation and movement on a steady schedule.

That cadence is the point. The spring 2026 lineup moves methodically from Awareness of Feelings and Awareness of Breath into Self-Compassion, Difficult Emotions, Awareness of Speech, Cultivating Gratitude, Caring for the Earth and Cultivating Daily Practice. The April 8 session focused on Awareness of Speech, and the final stretch of April turns the series toward habits people can keep using after the semester ends. A spring break pause on March 11 breaks the run, but it also makes the weekly rhythm easier to follow when the series resumes.

The Libraries have been building toward this model for years. The program began in 2016 after a 2015 planning process for the Learning Commons, when students asked for stress-management skills and meditation. Richter Library opened a Meditation Room in 2020, Gisele Rocha began offering mindful movement and yoga sessions in 2021, and the Mindfulness and Well-Being Programs were formalized in 2024 as part of the Learning Commons service suite. That history shows a campus effort that has shifted from separate offerings into a fuller resilience program.

Kelly Miller, a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and the Libraries’ director of mindfulness and well-being programs, leads the series with Scott Rogers, who founded and directs the University of Miami School of Law’s Mindfulness in Law Program. Rogers began teaching Jurisight classes for Miami Law students in 2008 and integrated mindfulness into the core curriculum in 2009, which gives the spring series a direct link between campus wellness and professional training. The structure also makes room for variety, with guest teachers occasionally invited and a separate yoga track offered by Gisele Rocha.

The April 1 session, Mindfulness and Dance, was led with Carol Kaminsky, showing how the Libraries are widening the definition of mindful practice without losing the core format of guided practice, reflection and questions. The setup is simple, but the message is clear: repeated sessions build more than awareness. They build a routine.