IndigenousMIND

What is IndigenousMIND?

IndigenousMIND is a community-led framework for adapting mindfulness practices within Indigenous communities in ways that honor local culture, language, ceremony, movement, storytelling, ecological relationships, and traditional knowledge systems. Rooted in the 8-week structure of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), IndigenousMIND explores how Indigenous cultural practices can be meaningfully integrated into mindfulness programming so that culture itself becomes part of the healing process and a source of medicine within the mindfulness experience.

The IndigenousMIND approach recognizes that many Indigenous cultural practices already cultivate mindfulness through present-moment awareness, relationship, movement, creativity, ceremony, and connection to the Earth. Rather than imposing a fixed model, IndigenousMIND works collaboratively with Tribal Nations, elders, cultural leaders, and community members to co-create programs that reflect the unique histories, strengths, teachings, and priorities of each community.

IndigenousMIND has increasingly focused on the integration of mindfulness and public health, particularly around health behavior change and chronic disease outcomes such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Multiple culturally adapted 8-week IndigenousMIND protocols have been developed to support these goals through approaches that blend contemplative practice, Indigenous knowledge, behavioral medicine, and community wellness.

The IndigenousMIND framework has also expanded into intergenerational and arts-based programming through IndigenousMIND-ARTS, where youth and elders engage together in cultural arts practices as mindfulness experiences that strengthen identity, community connection, storytelling, and cultural continuity.

For more information on the development of IndigenousMIND, see this article:

Proulx, J., Cooley, C., Wagle, S., O'Brien, K., Croff, R., Bergen-Cico, D., Ukpik, A., Turner, C., Super, M., Warren, M., Cramblit, A., Cousin, J., Feil, K., Koerbel, L., Jones, E., McCage, S., Brooks, J. L., Bryer, C. M., Bird, M. Y., Loucks, E. B., … Oken, B. (2026). The Evolution of an Indigenous Mindfulness Program: Qualitative Findings from the IndigenousMIND Study. Mindfulness, 17(2), 423–437.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-025-02755-w

And soon to published hot on the press:

Breyer, C., Okawa, M., Harris, S., Dove, D., O’Brien, K., & Proulx, J. (In Press). Examining Psychological Openness Through an Intergenerational Arts-Based Mindfulness Intervention Grounded in Indigenous Cultural Strengths: Results from the IndigenousMIND Project in a Northeast Tribal Community Introduction. Clinical Social Work Journal.

Coming Soon!

Proulx, J., Bryer, C.M., Harris, S., Dove, D., Okawa, M., Archarya, A., Koerbel, L., Woo, E., & Eric B. Loucks (In Review). Designing a Culturally Responsive Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Program: The IndigenousMIND/MB-BP Supplemental Teaching Guide. Frontiers in Public Health.

Over nearly a decade, the development of IndigenousMIND has been supported through collaborations and funding from the National Institutes of Health, The Mind & Life Institutes, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the BESS Family Foundation, Brown University School of Public Health, and numerous additional community and research partnerships dedicated to Indigenous health, contemplative science, and culturally grounded healing. Among the communities IndigenousMIND has been introduced to and influenced by nations and individuals across Turtle Island from Rhode Island to California to Oklahoma to Oregon and places in-between..

Help Expand IndigenousMIND (and related programs, like IndigenousMIND-ARTS and IndigenousMIND/MB-BP

Every contribution helps us work alongside Indigenous commuities to develop culturally grounded mindfulness programs, train local teachers, preserve language and cultural knowledge, and expand access to wellness programming

Support this work —> DONATE