The Virginia Military Institute: ‘You’re a wuss if you don’t meditate’ – IOTW Report

The Virginia Military Institute: ‘You’re a wuss if you don’t meditate’

WFB: The Virginia Military Institute, which caused controversy for offering coloring books to cadets for stress, now has mindfulness meditation courses the school calls “Modern Warriorship.”

Agreeing with the argument that “you’re a wuss if you don’t meditate,” VMI assistant psychology professor Dr. Matthew Jarman told ABC News that the new age meditation technique mindfulness is effective for cadets to “lean in” to their stress.

Along with Dr. Holly Richardson, a physical education teacher at VMI, Jarman has slowly introduced mindfulness courses to the famed military academy. Jarman said he has received little resistance from the cadets, who do not fear that meditating would make them “soft.”

“Meditation is not this kind of soft, fluffy thing,” Jarman said. “You’re facing your fears, you’re facing your stresses head-on, you’re kind of leaning into them, and it’s giving you the tools to do that more effectively and to not be swept away by them.”

Jarman told the Washington Free Beacon he currently has 19 cadets enrolled in his “Modern Warriorship” course, where cadets meditate every morning for 15 minutes, and for 5 minutes before homework. He also holds twice-a-week meditation sessions with Richardson in the VMI library.  more

 

21 Comments on The Virginia Military Institute: ‘You’re a wuss if you don’t meditate’

  1. If I ain’t got time to bleed I sure as hell don’t have time to meditate.

    OT, if you haven’t seen Trump and Merkel’s press event it was a classic. The meetings a frosty affair. Trump wouldn’t shake her hand. At the press conference somebody ask Trump if he had anything in common with Merkel. His reply, “Yes, we’ve both been wire tapped by the previous administration”.

  2. I couldn’t ever get into the whole meditation bit, at least the official way of doing it. My mind wanders when doing nothing, I start fidgeting and thinking of things to do rather than sitting around like a lump on a log. Rather, I hit the local forest preserve and start walking. I can go several miles without realizing it, just mindlessly enjoying nature. 2 to 3 hours pass in a snap and not a bit of stress around.

  3. Another term for meditation = “Mental Masturbation.”

    My Navy Chief used to yell at us to get it done and stop mentally masterbatin’ – what were we some of them injun yogi’s?

    Apologies to the frail ears – I should have yelled “Trigger Warning”

  4. My son went to VIN and just graduated. His class started with over 500 people. In the first week they lost 30%. This is one of the toughest colleges in the world, not just the US. They will try anything to keep the kids going. Also there isn’t any grades inflation.

  5. David 7134, you’re right as Stonewall Jackson was an ardent Christian. However that didn’t stop him from being a killer. Just like David who meditated a lot but was also a killer and an adulterer. I can’t figure out at times how God used such men as these except for grace.

  6. From joe6pak:”They have plenty of time to meditate on a 20 mile run.”

    Indeed. If you have the slightest training in centering your mind you can mitigate the hell your body is inflicting on you
    during a long run. It was only the last year I was in when you could wear running shoes instead of combat boots. Then again, they weren’t 20 miles. Just 12 or 13.

  7. Abbe, it depends on who you read. Besides what is wrong with rattlesnake easing your mind, try it, you will enjoy the experience.

    As to twenty mile runs, mostly 10. The sweat parties and straining was what he hated.

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