Healthy Minds Innovations Launches Badger Well-Being Challenge with UW-Madison

The 30 Day Meditation Program Will Support First Year, Second Year and Transfer Student Well-Being During the Fall Semester.

It’s no secret that last year was tough for college students. Beginning a new life phase like starting college can raise anxiety about making new friends, doing well in classes, and finding the time to get everything done between busy weekends, jobs, and studying. Add in a worldwide pandemic that fundamentally alters the way college students socialize and learn and student mental health has been at a crisis point. In high stress situations like this, even finding time for “self-care” can feel like just another task to get done. That’s why this year, Healthy Minds Innovations (HMI), a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has partnered with UW-Madison to provide an easy and preventative approach to mental health for students. 

Thanks to the collaboration of both HMI and the university, students will have access to a meditation program, the Badger Well-Being Challenge, and access to student-focused meditations throughout the semester and beyond. If you are a UW-Madison student, you can sign up any time during September, and on-campus promotion will be focused during September 1 – 15 to encourage as much sign up early in the semester as possible.

The program uses HMI’s meditation app, the Healthy Minds Program, featuring podcast-style lessons from UW Faculty Members and Center Scientists including Dr. Richard J. Davidson, and meditation practices from a diverse set of teachers from around the world like Dr. Ronné Wingate-Sims, Jay Vidyarthi, Daniela Labra Cardero, and Center for Healthy Minds Research Scientist, Dr. Cortland Dahl. No personal information or data will be shared with the university, however this anonymized data will go forward to help HMI’s program benefit other college students.

The meditations are as short as 5 minutes and can be done on-the-go, while you head to class for example. Many staff members from UW-Madison have also used the Healthy Minds Program app and participated in similar programs. 

HMI and UW-Madison are also pleased to announce an incentive for student participation in the Badger Well-Being Challenge! If you are a student who completes the Badger Well-Being Challenge before October 31, 2021 – you are eligible to be entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card! [See rules.]

If you don’t want to participate in the Badger Well-Being Challenge in the mobile app, but would still be interested in helping the researchers at the Center for Healthy Minds learn more about well-being in college students, you can participate in our research study by signing up via the same link.

Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. (HMI) was started in 2014 by world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Richard J. Davidson. We are a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, driven by a mission to translate science into tools to cultivate and measure well-being.