Spiritual Well-Being | Rackham Graduate School: University of Michigan

April 16, 2025 | GradWell

Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think! Follow GradWell and join us on our journey to greater well-being for graduate students at the University of Michigan.

Guests

Christine Modey

Director of the Michigan Community Scholars Program

Prior to becoming the director of the Michigan Community Scholars Program in June of 2020, Christine was the faculty director of the Sweetland Peer Writing Consultant Program, where she taught courses in peer writing consultation theory and practice and supported an outstanding staff of undergrad peer writing consultants. She is the co-editor, with David Schoem and Ed St. John, of Teaching The Whole Student: Engaged Learning With Heart, Mind, and Spirit. For more than twenty years, she has been a member of an Episcopal church sharing a building with a Reform Jewish synagogue. She currently chairs the board of the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County.

Kelly Dunlop

Spiritual, Secular, Religious, and Interfaith Engagement Lead

With a focus on fostering inclusive communities and promoting programs, dialogue and training across diverse belief systems, Kelly continues her tenure on campus from her previous role as Associate Director for the Center for Campus Involvement in Student Life, in which she served since 2016. Prior to her work in Student Life, Kelly leveraged her passion for building bridges and nurturing understanding among individuals of diverse worldviews as a campus minister and community organizer. Kelly knows well what it takes to meet people where they are in the best and worst of times, to listen deeply and to create meaningful collaborations for systemic change.

Resources

Something small to do right now for your spiritual well-being: Give yourself some well-deserved space for prayer, meditation, or reflection while you’re on campus and stop at a reflection room.

Transcript

Sam Hobson

Hey, welcome to GradWell, a limited series podcast that explores various ways the University of Michigan can support its graduate students in their journey to greater well-being in our everyday lives. Brought to you by Rackham Graduate School. Each episode will explore a different dimension of well-being by interviewing a resource on campus that can help you thrive a little better. I’m Sam Hobson, a PhD candidate and a GSSA in Rackham’s Professional Development and Engagement office. My fellow grad students, it’s time we start placing as much importance on ourselves as we do our work. You’re worth the effort.

Kelly Dunlop

It’s often spiritual practices that get me back into alignment again.

Sam Hobson

Hello, hello. On today’s episode, we’re going to be talking about spiritual well-being with two guests from the university. Christine Modey, the director of the Michigan Community Scholars Program, and Kelly Dunlop, the Spiritual, Secular, Religious, and Interfaith Engagement Lead. I’m excited to have y’all with Christine and Kelly and me today. Okay, we’re going to dive in.

Christine Modey is the Director of the Michigan Community Scholars Program. And before this role, she was the faculty director of The Sweetland Peer Writing Consultant Program. She is the co-editor of Teaching The Whole Student: Engaged Learning with Heart, Mind, and Spirit. And for more than 20 years, she has been a mentor of the Episcopal Church sharing a building of reformed Jewish synagogue. And she currently chairs the board of the Interfaith Roundtable of Washtenaw County.

Kelly Dunlop is a Spiritual, Secular, Religious and Interfaith Engagement Lead at Michigan. In this role, she focuses on fostering inclusive communities and promoting programs, dialogue and training across diverse belief systems, which is an extension of her previous role as associate director for the Center for Campus Involvement in Student Life. Prior to her work in Student Life, Kelly was a campus minister and a community organizer. Hi, Kelly. Hi, Christine. Thank you for being here with me today.

Christine Modey

Hi, Sam. Thanks for the invitation. This is Christine.

Kelly Dunlop

And this is Kelly. So grateful to get to know you, Sam, and have this conversation with my colleague and friend, Christine.

Sam Hobson

Yay. Okay, so to start, can you share with us how you wound up doing spiritual work in an academic institution?

Christine Modey

When I think about my answer to this question, I think that all work is spiritual work. And I think that is something that’s been with me since maybe college or maybe graduate school for sure. Thinking about the moral, ethical, spiritual, transcendent aspects of the work has always been really important. And I’m choosing my work because of those things, the things that really matter to me. So I think I chose to move from chemistry to English as an undergrad because of the ability of literature to engage more directly in big questions.

And I think I’ve been fascinated by the big questions ever since. And being part of a learning community like Michigan Community Scholars Program in a secular university still gives you opportunities to think with students about. What the big questions are, how we live our lives, how we interact with other people, how we work together to make the world a better place. What we even think would make a better world, what are our biggest commitments and our highest values. So I think doing all that work, even in a secular public institution is really important work and it’s deeply meaningful to me. And I feel privileged to be able to get to do it with so many first-year students.

Sam Hobson

Christine, the idea that all work is spiritual work is so warming, I love that perspective. It really resonates with me and how I try to remind myself to lead my life, but even if I may not always achieve it.

Christine Modey

Well, day-to-day, it’s harder, right? Sometimes.

Kelly Dunlop

Much like Christine was talking about asking students those big questions, I’m reflecting on how it was really in college for me that I see much of my own spiritual transformation. Beginning after I graduated undergrad, was asking those questions of what is mine to do in the world? And wanting to make a difference and being a part of that change. And I spent a year abroad with a Quaker organization that was bringing folks together across religious and political divides in Northern Ireland. And that modeling for me, working with a community that was based in nonviolent action, being with folks in the best and the worst of times, and doing the really hard work of bridging across deep difference was truly inspiring and really transformative to my commitment to be in this type of work.

That led me to pursue a master’s in social work, and starting my career in community organizing of trying to bring folks together to impact change. So I spent 10 years in faith-based institutions and organizations, and then since 2016 I’ve worked in the Division for Student Life where really at my core I continue to desire to cultivate spaces for belonging, for religious inclusion, particularly the voices that are often not at the table or forgotten about.

Sam Hobson

What would you say spiritual well-being means for the two of you

Kelly Dunlop

Beyond all else, in the simplest form, I think spirituality is about meaning and purpose outside of ourselves. So for some that might look like divinity in some way, but for many others that can show up in various other forms as well. But that connectedness, that meaning and purpose, the values, the questions, the why that undergirds all that we do in the world.

Christine Modey

There’s a really handy model maybe to use also that suggests that for spiritual wellbeing or for spirituality, there’s a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension and an inner dimension. And so the vertical dimension is about the divine or the transcendent, whatever you want to call that. And then maybe also including nature, something bigger than yourself. And then the horizontal dimension is connectedness. And again, that could be to nature, but that could also be to other human beings. That can also be to a greater purpose in the world to some sort of work that you’re doing, something outside yourself, but that operates on this plane. And then the inner work is another thing that I often think about, which is integrity. Feeling like you are connected to yourself in important ways, that you are aware of your body and sensitive to your body and attuned to it.

Sometimes when we engage in a mindful breathing exercise, really what we’re doing when we do that is paying attention with our minds to our bodies. And that kind of reconnection of the mind-body is part of that inner integrity and wholeness that we have inside of ourselves, and a sense that we’re valuable and whole and healthy and healed, I guess. I would say healed maybe instead of healthy.

Sam Hobson

From those dimensions, what I’m hearing is that it requires a connection to more, a connection to others, and a connection to yourself. And I think that reflects a really astute metric. That’s easy to apply I think in our day-to-day lives because I think spiritual wellbeing can often feel amorphous or perhaps unattainable. What does that look like? I don’t know. What does that feel like? I don’t know. But this very, I feel like deliberate and it feels simple, it feels easeful, it feels applicable, it feels accessible. It feels like an accessible metric of my connection to more, to others, and to self. And then I know more about myself as a result.

Christine Modey

I also don’t want it to become like the rubric. How am I doing? Is it a checklist? I think the integrity of the whole thing feels important to me as well, that we are in different spaces at different times. And sometimes maybe we’re doing more interior work. The guru on the mountaintop, sitting cross-legged and being in touch with the transcendent. And sometimes we also need to be in community. I think about an experience I had when I took a bunch of teenagers to South Dakota for a retreat, a pilgrimage, a spiritual pilgrimage. And one of the phrases we learned was a Lakota phrase, Mitakuye Oyasin, which means we’re all connected. And that is such an important spiritual principle, right? You’re not ever yourself without your community, without your people.

And so I think sometimes that’s where you need to lean, especially in hard times. And then there might be times when you’re feeling just out of joint, and you need to think, how am I connecting to myself? And is my outer life and my inner life in alignment? Do I know where my values are? Am I living into my values? If I’m not, what’s preventing me from having that integrity? So yeah, I think it’s usable for sure. And it’s also holistic

Kelly Dunlop

Alignment was the word that I was hearing. So looking for places of flow, of deep connection, of that maybe part of the reason you’re struggling with language, Sam is because sometimes I don’t think there is language for some of this. But you know it, you feel it. That energy in a room or that inspiration or the spirit that’s created from, maybe it’s a really inspirational speaker, or the awe that’s experienced at the first turn of spring coming, or that mountain top experience either literally or figuratively. There’s not always words for it, but you feel it. It also is where I can feel physically when I’m spiritually unwell, where things are not in alignment. Where there’s moral distress or my values feel questioned, or my meaning feels very shaky, or I’m questioning why or how I’m going to continue on. And so seeking those also physical markers for me can be a place where I can see something is out of line.

And then to turn to what Christine was talking about, what is most needed now? Is it seeking connection and deep meaningful relationship where I can let down, and be my true self or really speak to what’s the matters of my heart in a really vulnerable, safe way. Is it that I need more quiet in my life, and I just need to disconnect for a bit, or just to have some time to even reflect on what is going on and what feels out of line? Because sometimes the physical markers just become my first signals to then take some time to know what’s going on here. Something doesn’t feel right. And to me it’s often spiritual practices that get me back into alignment again.

Sam Hobson

I really, really want to honor the point you made that oftentimes our language cannot capture our spiritual experience. And so what does that mean for us as academics who rely so heavily on language to communicate our profession, our purpose? And Christine, I want to thank you for reminding us that there is no absolute in all the dimensions of ourselves. I spoke with two folks from campus Mindworks, Aaron and Taylor, about emotional well-being, and we talked about how if we could achieve 45% in each of the dimensions, that we would be in harmony, is the way Aaron put it.

And so sometimes one part of us needs to be filled more than others in this, and I think we often fall into the trap or can fall into the trap of thinking that we are not whole or full or complete unless it’s at a 100% in each dimension. And I don’t think that’s attainable or achievable or even our purpose. I don’t even think that’s really what we’re supposed to do. And so I thank you for reminding us of that. Now that we’ve spoken about what spiritual well-being looks like, feels like, smells like, what do you think spiritual well-being for graduate students might look like?

Christine Modey

I had some thoughts about this and I was mainly going back to my own grad school experience. Not because I think it’s a model for anybody, but I was thinking about how beautiful undergrad was. And it was like this time away and I never watched TV, and I was just totally in my life. I did not live with social media or cell phones. This is a long time ago. And so it really was this time set apart. I was privileged enough to have this be a time set apart where I was immersed in my college community. And that was really lovely. And it’s not easy to recapture. In fact, I don’t know if it can be recaptured those four years of undergrad.

Graduate students are just dealing with a lot of other things. Many of them. They are maintaining their own households. They may be married or partnered, they may have children, they may have left a lucrative career or not lucrative career to go back to school. They’re just dealing with all the stuff of life. Maybe aging parents and additional responsibilities and complexities, that makes spiritual well-being maybe even more challenging because you’re just managing a lot, including studies, including advisors, including other, maybe you’re on committees or have a job. You’re doing that and studying and having a family. So I just want to acknowledge the complexity of graduate student lives, and say that’s part of the mix when you’re talking about spiritual well-being in graduate school, is that you’re showing a different part of yourself in a number of places.

And that can be a little tricky for the integrity that we were just talking about and that sort of alignment. I guess I would say my first stab at answering the question after all that preamble would be that it’s really, at least for me as a graduate student, I thought that it was about meaning and purpose, knowing why I was in graduate school, and what I hope to get out of it, and what I loved, why I was doing it, because I love to read and write. That’s why I was doing it. And then being connected, thinking about the horizontal dimension, and being connected with people outside of graduate school.

So when we went to grad school, my husband was in medical school and I was in grad school, and we made an explicit and conscious decision not to live in either place, but to live between them. And that was partly for commuting, but it also put us into a different community, so that we had friends and older friends, and younger friends, people who are our age that we were connected to in this place. And so there was always something outside of graduate school, and I thought that was actually really useful for us to have. Connections that were beyond our programs and beyond other students to give us a little perspective.

Kelly Dunlop

I really appreciate you noting, Christine, the difference of your experience in undergrad and graduate school and the complexities involved. Because I think too, that also informs the type of, and ways that spiritual wellbeing might show up. The amount of students that I’ve met who maybe felt like this was the part that they did pretty well when they were in undergrad, with greater freedom. They were really active in religious community perhaps, or a small group. And they also had time for yoga classes, and to go on these weekend adventures, whatever it might’ve been that filled their bucket spiritually. And so we can then enter into graduate school and feel like we’re failing in some way because it doesn’t look the same. That alignment is off.

And so giving yourself the permission and the grace for it to look different, and to evolve differently, maybe it doesn’t look like it did when you were home. Maybe it doesn’t look like it did when you were an undergrad. And that’s okay, and there’s a lot of freedom in that. And it might open up some new awareness, some greater connection to self, to new community if you allow yourself that permission for it to look different. Spiritual practices don’t always have to look like a pilgrimage or the most elaborate chapel or temple, or whatever it might be. And sometimes I think that’s another thing that we set our sights on. It has to be this 40 day something, or a 30-minute contemplative sit every day or something. These really lofty goals for ourselves, and then we can be left feeling like we failed in something. And I think that’s the opposite of what we want to do with spiritual practice, and pursuing spiritual wellbeing.

So looking for those pause moments I think would be my encouragement to graduate students for spiritual wellbeing right now. So whether it’s a moment of prayer or meditation, or the end of the day reflection question that you can ask yourself daily, just give yourself two minutes. As I was talking about before, to really soak in those moments of awe and wonder, to really fill your bucket. There’s something about nature that speaks to our spiritual core. Or holding an infant or the wisdom of an elder, there’s such sacredness in those connections to the bookends of life. People feel that connection to pets and animals too. Thinking about where are those moments? It doesn’t have to be a pilgrimage or a retreat, or starting a 30-minute daily meditation practice, but give yourself permission to carve out those pause points during the day.

So that allows you too to stay really connected to that why, and to the values and the reason that you are pursuing this degree to begin with. Because Lord knows times get shaky, and you’re questioning all of that, and it gets really hard and tiring. And so being able to stay connected to who you are and why you’re doing the work, I think is one of the best things you can do for your spiritual well-being.

Sam Hobson

What I’m hearing is that our lives are spiritual ones. And that as our lives evolve, so too does the spiritual aspect of them and how that manifests. And so what our spiritual lives look like in undergrad looks very different than what our spiritual lives will probably look like in graduate school, because our lives are different. And that often we might fall into the trap of thinking that these grand gestures are required in order to express our spirituality, but from the perspective that our lives are spiritual experiences. Then every moment, that conversation that you had with a stranger on the street, the tree that you see every day that greets you as you walk into your department, it can be if we see them as such, spiritual experiences that allow us to fill our spiritual well-being cup.

Christine Modey

I agree. It’s really attentional and intentional. Yes, it’s where you direct your attention and with what intention. Is it to celebrate and appreciate, take joy or pleasure or quiet? I think both of those things.

Kelly Dunlop

Which makes me think about even the daily rituals of our lives to speak to Christine’s point, using that language of intention and attention. Having your morning warm beverage can be a spiritual practice and a ritual. If you are thoughtful and aware as you fill up that cup or sit with it in your hands for one minute even just to feel its warmth, and take some deep breaths before you jump your calendar for the day. Even how we greet the day can be a spiritual practice. How many of us, the first thing we do is to grab our phone off the bedside and then start to scroll? That sets a certain intention or lack thereof distraction as we start our day.

What would it look like if you just let it be for a minute, or had a glass of water, or stretched your body first, or open to a morning meditation, or something that filled your cup more, then immediately going to your email, or calendar, or scrolling, or whatever it might be? So thinking about those daily practices that can be those cup fillers as you both referenced, and to set that intention for your day. And give the attention to something that’s going to fill you versus continue to distract you or be numbing in some way.

Sam Hobson

I love that because I feel that it makes the cultivation of a spiritual practice feel quite exciting, and where can I find the things that fill my cup that feel the best, fill my cup the yummiest? But because I feel like at times, spiritual practice can feel very important and big and serious, finding such joy of feeling the ground underneath you as you get out of bed every morning can feel so just full of giddy. And do you know what I mean?

Kelly Dunlop

Yes.

Sam Hobson

And I’m just thinking about all the ways, aspects of my day where I could just imbue the small little spiritual practice and I feel quite excited about finding this.

Kelly Dunlop

Oh, good.

Sam Hobson

So religion is the primary way that folks tend to engage in their spirituality, but there are spaces where the inclusion of religious identities, particularly non-Christian religious identities seem to be forgotten. Where does that tend to occur and what do you think are the consequences of that?

Kelly Dunlop

Yeah, thanks Sam. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about how religious identity is showing up on campus and how we can do better as well. I want to start by sharing that annually, since 2022, we’ve completed a scorecard. It’s part of a research project called Inspires. It’s essentially a institutional self-assessment of how welcoming a campus is to diverse worldview identities. And so our scorecard has shown that clearly we’re strong as an institution in a number of different areas, including certain accommodations like dietary accommodations, spaces like access to reflection rooms, and opportunities for students to connect with over 100 student organizations across religious difference. And there’s an area that we need to improve, one of the major areas we need to improve and it is around academics.

We know that one in five undergrad students identifies as religious non-Christian. I think it’s a little bit less for graduate students. So it’s a significant portion of our student population. And it’s also clear that our academic calendar favors a Christian calendar. So what do we do about that? For one, there’s an academic accommodation policy that strongly encourages faculty to include it in their syllabus, and invite students who have a religious holiday conflict to connect with their faculty, to determine a reasonable accommodation.

So whether as a graduate student, that’s something that you would be seeking, or you’re a TA, or you’re facilitating a group in some way where you’re working with other students, to name that at the beginning of a course or a faculty member to name even just acknowledge that there are religious holidays coming up, and/or to include the academic accommodations’ policy in your syllabus goes a long way. Both for students who want to pursue that accommodation, but also for those, their holidays might not fall in that same semester, but it signals to them that this is important and it creates a greater sense of belonging and inclusion. We’re preparing leaders to go out into the world who are going to engage religious difference, and so we really want to build up opportunities for graduates of U of M to be religiously literate, to engage in this difference, and create more inclusive communities wherever they go.

Sam Hobson

I love this concept of religious literacy. It’s not a perspective I’ve ever had before. And I think that’s so important. And I think that your suggestion of having simply the acknowledgement of religious holidays that are coming up during the class that we will have is yes, very important for those who practice those holidays, but also for those who don’t. And to help expand their religious literacy. Wow, this is something that should be acknowledged. This is something that affects literally the person that’s sitting next to me. And a conversation that could be had growth that is possible simply from this acknowledgement, I think it really opens the space for us to grow our literacy as a campus. And so yeah, I love that.

Christine Modey

Good, good. I would add a couple of things to what Kelly said, and part of it is just lifting up some resources that are available. In terms of religious literacy. There’s a religious holidays calendar that any instructor, graduate student instructor faculty can add to their Google Calendar and see all the religious holidays, at least the ones we’ve got on there. Super handy from the provost’s office. And then there’s also an accompanying set of resources that give you a bite-sized understanding of what Nowruz, which was celebrated a couple of weeks ago. What is that holiday? What does it mean? How do you wish somebody a good holiday if you know they’re celebrating that? And the same info sheets for a ton of other religious holidays, which are really helpful, and teach you how to pronounce the word, and all that stuff. Also, available on the Provost website. So I think those two things are a great tool for starting religious literacy on our campus.

Sam Hobson

Spirituality can be a scary thing to even bring up in academic spaces. Why do you think that it’s so off-putting?

Christine Modey

A great question. I think that spirituality is easier to bring up in academic spaces than religion is. That would be my take on it. There are a bunch of reasons why religion is hard. We are a public institution and people can interpret from public institution, and a kind of expectation that we have that there would be a separation of church and state, whatever that means. And there’s lots of stuff to say about that. That we would just keep silent about religion in public spaces. But that is not what the law says. That doesn’t seem like a very academic approach because you know what? Religion is everywhere. And it has impacts in the real world, and it has impacts on people’s lives. And so not to talk about it just seems like we’re turning our back on human culture, which we should be very deeply interested actually as academics.

I would say religion is harder in some ways than spirituality, but spirituality is hard, I think because it might feel deeply connected to emotions, to the non-rational, and to other things that feel hard to document, like to study. What’s the empirical analysis of spirituality when we can’t find words for it and we can’t put our fingers on it? How do you study that as an academic? And yet there are people who do that. There are some wonderful programs here at U of M, the Contemplative Studies Program that’s housed in SMTD, for example, with Ed Serrath, is a program studying these spiritual experiences. What does it mean when your brain is contemplating things? How do you cultivate that? How does music play in?

There’s wonderful stuff happening in the academic sphere. We have lots of social science research about mindfulness, for example. And the impact on spiritual well-being on graduate students in their programs. But I think it feels deeply personal, and it feels emotional, and it feels non-rational. And therefore a little bit hard to talk about in highly rational, highly verbal spaces that we inhabit at the University of Michigan. So that’s maybe the challenge.

Kelly Dunlop

Yeah, I totally agree with everything that you shared, Christine. I was just only thinking more about what happens if we don’t, and if we continue to keep it separate, if we don’t encourage spiritual flourishing and spiritual wellness? And there is a lot of research being done around that, and I think we’re seeing obvious trends. As religious communities are going down in membership, but still 7/10 folks across the US do identify as spiritual, but we need opportunities and different ways of gathering and inviting that in for that attunement, for that integration that we’ve talked about, to learn these practices, to encourage them.

And so if we don’t, I think we’re seeing higher rates of depression and anxiety. This is not the only reason why, but studies will show that a deeper engagement with spiritual practice does help to counter some of that. Helps with addiction and recovery as well, the resilience. So I think to not continue to pursue, to integrate spiritual well-being into our approach, and supports for graduate students would just not be as well of a campus. I think there’s rates of depression and anxiety, loneliness, certainly we have a loneliness epidemic in the United States, and so I think spirituality has something that can really offer to counter some of that, that deeper connection, that integrity, that attunement, that alignment, that really allows us to connect and push against that loneliness. So the consequences are significant to not pursue spiritual wellness.

Sam Hobson

And so how can graduate students pursue greater spiritual wellness in an environment that doesn’t necessarily support that dimension of their well-being as heavily as others?

Christine Modey

I think one of the things is community. And community of maybe a particular kind. And I often think religious communities provide this, congregations, temples, songas, gurdwaras, they all provide some sense of community and belonging that is outside of the campus. And so that can be a great start. But I think communities of purpose and meaning and belonging can happen outside of religious traditions as well. I think that’s one approach that graduate students can pursue through relationships with others. Sometimes it’s helpful for those to be intergenerational as well, but there are some elders there who can provide some perspective on life. Recognizing that for most of us, life is long and graduate school is temporary. I don’t know, Kelly, what would you add?

Kelly Dunlop

Yeah, a couple of resources I wanted to name in addition to seeking community. We also work closely with what’s called The Association of Religious Counselors. So this is a group of affiliate faith, community leaders. Jewish rabbi and Hillel staff, our Muslim chaplain, a number of Christian ministers, and Catholic lay staff and priests who work with college students. Their vocations are to be here in a college community, to work alongside of students and faith communities. And so we look to bridge often, whether it’s a community that you grew up in, and so you would want to talk to someone that aligns with your faith tradition, or you’re looking to explore, or you just want to a safe person to say, “I’m really grappling with this. I don’t think I believe this anymore.” You have those existential questions that you want to explore with someone. Then would certainly recommend connecting with one of our campus chaplains in that way.

There are also CAPS counselors who do focus on spirituality and have that as a focus area in their purview. So if that’s something, if it’s at the integration of some mental health concerns, and moral or spiritual distress, a CAPS counselor who specializes in religious or spiritual care might also be somebody that you want to seek out, who shares that part of your identity with you. So that’s one area for another way to connect and pursue spiritual well-being.

I also want to lift up in terms of spaces or reflection rooms across campus. Sometimes there’s misunderstanding that reflection rooms are only for particular group of folks. They’re for everyone to be able to access. So if you just need that quiet space in your day, either just to be silent, or to pray, or meditate, or listen to a meditation, the reflection rooms are available across campus. We have a link on our website to where they all are. They differ in terms of accessibility. Many spaces on campus have at least a reflection room. I think there’s some favorites across campus, certainly that were built with great intention, but pursue a reflection room space or somewhere outside if it’s not a reflection room.

The Wolverine Wellness can also offer, it’s I think it’s called Naturex. It names 100 spaces across campus to be out in nature that folks might engage with on a beautiful day like today, and just want to take a breather. And certainly being out in nature has great spiritual positive effects as well. So just taking a deep breath, sitting at a bench, walking through the arb, whatever it might be, it’s amazing to see even just 15 minutes outside the positive impacts that can have on your spiritual.

Christine Modey

I was going to add from these studies that The Fetzer Institute, which is I feel very proud that they’re in Michigan, but they study American spirituality, they do research. And a study that they published a couple of years ago listed a whole host of activities as spiritual. And some of them, I think the nice thing is there’s a variety and they speak to different people. So some people will write down that reading is a spiritual activity, and I think it absolutely can be if it’s helping you reconnect with yourself, and also connect with the larger world in ways.

For me, some of the things that feel really meaningful, especially because I spend so much time in my head, are things that are not in my head. So bread making, for example, the physicality of kneading and shaping dough, I feel like that is like me connecting with a thing physically. Dance, I’m not saying that for me, I’m not a dancer, but I think physically that reconnects you with your body in important ways. I think anything that’s creative, drawing, painting, sculpting, or shaping clay, any of those things that help you build that mind-body connection can be deeply spiritual. And a good way to get away from the desk and the computer, and connect tactilely with the world. So that might work for some people. Running is also a good one for people who like to run. Again, mind-body, connection, alignment.

Sam Hobson

What are some small things, any tips or tricks that we as graduate students can do to enhance our spiritual well-being in the everyday?

Kelly Dunlop

Thanks, Sam. I know we’ve named some throughout. One that I wanted to name is coming out of research out of Columbia and Dr. Lisa Miller with the Awakened Brain Research. And one thing that she talks about that I really appreciate is looking for moments of synchronicities in our day. So this understanding that there is connectedness throughout all of life. And so the way synchronicities might show up are you’re thinking about someone, and then they send you a text or call, or you bump into them on your way to class, or you’re having a question, you’re wondering about something and what those next steps might be, and then you read something, or you get this email, or learn some form of an answer. So some might cast that off as coincidental, but as we learn more and more about spirituality and the neuroscience underneath it, that there really is this connectedness.

And so paying attention, goes back again to that attention piece that attunement, to what are those synchronicities that are happening in your life? And just noticing them I think can be exciting and begin to point you towards that connectedness, and paying attention to what is this pointing me towards? And so that can be a good starting practice, I think to just be attuned. Another piece I want to name is gratitude practices have also are seen as a spiritual practice for many. Just naming maybe at the end of the day, whether you write it down or you just name it before you go to sleep. Three things that you’re grateful for can be super simple things, but to go into your sleep or to begin your day in a spirit of gratitude can be a really foundational spiritual practice.

I’ve heard some research come out recently as well that in addition to gratitude, which can be very much still about myself and my experience, to also think about a contribution list. So three things I’m grateful for, and three ways that I contributed. Maybe it’s to my purpose, to my family, to my friends, to my fellow graduate students are research. So that really brings it holistically into that circle. That connectedness of not only am I receiving and in the spirit of gratitude, but I’m also contributing to this greater good. So it can be a simple take one minute at the end of the day to list those three things you’re grateful for, and three ways that you’ve contributed can be a very simple spiritual practice to begin today.

Sam Hobson

Thank you, Kelly. Yes, this idea of reflecting on what I contributed to my community, to society, to even myself. At the end of the day, I feel like is really powerful. And it’s not necessarily a perspective I’ve heard before, so I’m excited.

Christine Modey

Yeah, I love that too. Kelly. One thing I wanted to mention, and this goes back to the points that we were talking about earlier, about why spiritual well-being is important for grad students, and why its absence might be detrimental. And I just wanted to make sure that I brought up this strand of research that has recognized the ways in which spirituality, and religious identities are protective for students who are marginalized or underrepresented on campuses. So there have been some studies of graduate students, women, graduate students in STEM, so doubly minoritized, women in STEM, but also African-American. And evidence showing that their spirituality was a protective factor. That they integrated spirituality into their lives, and that it gave them a sense of meaning and purpose, and a way to survive the inevitable knocks of graduate school. The experiment that fails and the advisor doesn’t treat you right, and all that kind of stuff.

So I think that’s important to recognize that spirituality can be a factor that supports resilience, and helps to shape one’s perspective on the difficulties of graduate school. And similar things have been found for community college students who, especially for black males in community college, where their spirituality was really a crucial factor in their success also.

Sam Hobson

Yes, I really appreciate the recognition that spirituality provides us with strength, with power, with groundedness, with assurance that allows us to weather the storms a lot more smoothly, and gracefully, and with ease than otherwise. I don’t think we talk about that enough, when we talk about spiritual well-being. The resilience, the power, the strength that comes from even the small moments that we were talking about that we can incorporate into our day, what that does for us in the long run when it comes to all of the woes of graduate school. Thank you so much.

This has been a really fruitful and informative conversation, and I’m really grateful for all of the wisdom that you’ve shared with us and just being with us here today. I know that I will take a lot away with me and I look forward to incorporating it into my life moving forward. So thank you.

Kelly Dunlop

Thank you. Thanks again, Sam. Great to be with you, Christine.

Christine Modey

Yeah, it’s been a joy to be with you both. Thanks for the invitation, Sam, and thanks for being such a great partner in the work, Kelly.

Sam Hobson

Okay, here are three takeaways and something small that you can do towards your spiritual well-being right now. One, check out the University’s Association of Religious Counselors. They have representatives from a number of religious and spiritual communities that can help you explore those big questions that we all have about meaning, faith, and purpose. Two, if speaking to a spiritual leader isn’t your thing, but you’re still looking for guidance to help you process those big questions that make us human, check out the counselors at CAPS that focus on spirituality. And three, remember that a lot of the spiritual wellness in our lives can be activated by how we place our attention and our intention. So as you go about your day, start to just take notice of all your daily experiences that seem benign, but can actually be meaningful moments if you want them to be.

And for something small that you can do right now for your spiritual well-being, stop by a reflection room next time you’re on campus. They’re located throughout north and central campus and are spaces where you can meditate, pray, or just simply reflect. You don’t have to wait until you get home to give yourself a mindful moment. You deserve such moments all throughout your day. You can find all of these links and more at Rackham.umich.edu\gradwell. Please email us with any questions at RackhamPDEworkshops.umich.edu. And for those who want to stay connected with GradWell and its offerings, please join our MCommunity listserv at mcommunity.umich.edu, and search for GradWell Podcast Group. And that’s a wrap for our first season of GradWell.

I want to thank you so much for being on this journey with me. I hope that this season of GradWell has encouraged you to get to know yourself a little better, explore what you like, figure out what you don’t, and honor the time and space that it takes to get there. And even if that hasn’t happened just yet, don’t fret. We’ve been given the green light for season two, so I’ll see you in the fall.

Hey, hardworking grad student. Thank you for turning into GradWell. I hope you can take something away from this episode with you. If you like what you heard, be sure to write a review, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. For more information, check us out on social at Umich Grad School.