In preparation for some of his NBA games, DeAndre Jordan, a center on the New Orleans Pelicans and a current student at Brown, meditates for 10 to 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat time, when I\u2019m able to take a pause, kind of helps me regulate my system,\u201d Jordan said in a Monday Q&A event hosted by the contemplative studies initiative.<\/p>\n
During the event, which had around 60 students in attendance, Jordan discussed his relationship with meditation, from his personal practice to how he incorporates mindfulness in his basketball career.<\/p>\n
Jordan attended Texas A&M University for one year before entering the 2008 NBA draft, where he was selected as a second-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Clippers. He has played in the NBA ever since.<\/p>\n
While the NBA season was suspended during the pandemic, Jordan decided to go back to school.<\/p>\n
Jordan said he \u201cfell in love\u201d with meditation prior to the pandemic. \u201cManaging sports and family and personal life, it\u2019s a roller coaster of emotions,\u201d he said. \u201cI needed to have something outside of sports, where I was able to take a break from DeAndre Jordan, and meditation really helped me with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he discovered the contemplative studies program at Brown, he thought, \u201cthis is exactly what I\u2019m doing in my life already. Why not learn about it from the best people and peers that I possibly can?\u201d<\/p>\n
Harold Roth, a professor of religious studies and East Asian studies and the founding director of the contemplative studies initiative, first met Jordan after the academic advisor for the National Basketball Players Association put them in touch. After meeting Jordan, \u201cI decided this guy\u2019s really got something,\u201d Roth said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBrown is a tough school to be able to balance with my job and then family life,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cIt can be a roller coaster at times, but I do think that being able to \u2026 have meditation practice and take a pause when I feel overwhelmed really helps.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many students, including members of the men\u2019s basketball team, asked Jordan questions related to his basketball career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jerrell Barron \u201928, a guard on the men\u2019s basketball team, is taking COST 0100: \u201cIntroduction to Contemplative Studies\u201d this semester. During the event, Barron \u2014 who is currently recovering from a tumor removal surgery on his shoulder, as well as a foot injury \u2014 asked Jordan how contemplative studies can be utilized to help him find a sense of self during times he hasn\u2019t been able to play basketball due to his injury.<\/p>\n
Jordan shared how he uses meditation and spiritual practice while dealing with his own injuries. He tries to \u201cfocus all (of his) breath and energy\u201d to his injured area to \u201cvisualize and manifest those ligaments healing themselves faster,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jordan also acknowledged that it may be difficult to begin meditation for some people, and hopes \u201cto be able to give everyone easier access and (a) bridge to meditation\u201d in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barron said he found Jordan to be \u201cvery vulnerable and open to sharing his thoughts and his experiences with the contemplative studies\u201d program, adding that he found the Q&A to be \u201creally informative\u201d and \u201ca great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take what he said to heart and try to apply it,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charles Kohl \u201929, who attended the event, is planning on concentrating in contemplative studies partly because of his \u201cstruggles\u201d with high school basketball, he told The Herald. He said it was interesting to see how meditation and the practice of mindfulness are \u201capplicable to any field.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Joshua Gerber \u201926, a Departmental Undergraduate Group leader for contemplative studies, the DUG has aimed to create events \u2014 such as the Q&A \u2014 to increase awareness about the contemplative studies program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur community is strong, and it doesn\u2019t matter how small we are,\u201d said Kento Suzuki \u201926, who is also a DUG leader for contemplative studies. \u201cI think what matters is that our hearts are here and connected, and that we\u2019re passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Attending Brown is a chance for students to \u201cfigure out your sense of your potential, your sense of how to live a life worth living \u2026 and a life in which you give to others and support others,\u201d Roth said.<\/p>\n
Rachel Wicker<\/p>\n
Rachel Wicker is a senior staff writer covering affinity and identity. She is from Athens, Georgia and plans on concentrating in English on the nonfiction track and International and Public Affairs. Outside of writing, she enjoys reading books of any genre and doing yoga.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jeremiah Farr<\/p>\n
Jeremiah Farr is a senior staff writer covering university hall and higher education. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In preparation for some of his NBA games, DeAndre Jordan, a center on the New Orleans Pelicans and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-502718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}