Foundations of Mindfulness (Coursera)

Offered by Rice University,
Foundations of Mindfulness (Coursera)

This course provides a broad overview of the fundamental concepts, principles, and practices of mindfulness. With interactive exercises to help students explore their own attitudes, mental habits and behaviors, Foundations of Mindfulness offers a pathway for living with more freedom, authenticity and ease. Featured components of the course include experiential exercises, guided meditations, personal reflection and interactive discussions.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

What You Will Learn

  • Key mindfulness concepts and practices that support the ability to use attention in an enhanced way.
  • Concepts and practices that deepen the understanding of the mind/body connection, and highlights ways that the body is a direct portal to presence.
  • Guidance for enhancing resilience, with specific regard to opening to and accepting a wide range of emotion.
  • How to take the benefits that come from regular meditation and integrate them into daily life, as well as establishing a regular meditation routine.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Welcome to the Course
Learning to Pay Attention
WEEK 2: Understanding the Mind/Body Connection
WEEK 3: Exploring Your Inner Landscape
WEEK 4: The Nuts and Bolts of Establishing a Practice

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences - Unit 1: Historical Foundations (Coursera) Coursera
Rutgers University

Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences - Unit 1: Historical Foundations (Coursera)

Throughout history, the vast majority of people around the globe have believed they have, however defined, a “soul.” While the question of whether the soul exists cannot be answered by science, what we can study are the causes and consequences of various beliefs about the soul and its prospects of surviving the death of the body. Why are soul and afterlife beliefs so common in human history? Are there adaptive advantages to assuming souls exist?

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
De-Mystifying Mindfulness (Coursera) Coursera
Leiden University

De-Mystifying Mindfulness (Coursera)

Interest in meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation has grown exponentially in recent years. Rather than being seen as mystical practices from ancient Buddhism or esoteric philosophy, they are increasingly seen as technologies rooted in evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Mindfulness has become the basis for numerous therapeutic interventions, both as a treatment in healthcare and as a means of enhancing well-being and happiness. For millions around the world, mindfulness has become a life-style choice, enhancing and enriching everyday experience. Mindfulness is big business.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Children Acquiring Literacy Naturally (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Santa Cruz

Children Acquiring Literacy Naturally (Coursera)

In this short course you will explore the possibility that children might acquire written language in a way that is similar to how they acquire spoken language—without instruction. You will encounter various aspects of behavioral science and technology that are relevant to this proposition. You will have the opportunity to learn the the perceptual, cognitive, and neurological capacities of children during their first years of life. You will advance your understanding of children and how they learn language. You will also be more attuned to current advances in the technology of human machine interactions, and what these phenomena imply for learning to read at an early age.

Nov 23rd 2026
3 Weeks
Know Thyself - The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Unconscious (Coursera) Coursera
University of Edinburgh

Know Thyself - The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Unconscious (Coursera)

A challenging but fascinating topic on the way to achieving self-knowledge is the unconscious. For well over a century, psychologists, philosophers, and many others have posited a level of mentality that is not immediately open to introspection; some would even say that certain unconscious elements cannot be known through introspection. This course will examine some of the most influential ideas about the unconscious starting with the work of Sigmund Freud, and follow the development of theories of the unconscious all the way to present research in experimental psychology.

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks
Principles of fMRI 2 (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University,University of Colorado Boulder

Principles of fMRI 2 (Coursera)

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is the most widely used technique for investigating the living, functioning human brain as people perform tasks and experience mental states. It is a convergence point for multidisciplinary work from many disciplines. Psychologists, statisticians, physicists, computer scientists, neuroscientists, medical researchers, behavioral scientists, engineers, public health researchers, biologists, and others are coming together to advance our understanding of the human mind and brain. This course covers the analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data.

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks
Questionnaire Design for Social Surveys (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Questionnaire Design for Social Surveys (Coursera)

This course will cover the basic elements of designing and evaluating questionnaires. We will review the process of responding to questions, challenges and options for asking questions about behavioral frequencies, practical techniques for evaluating questions, mode specific questionnaire characteristics, and review methods of standardized and conversational interviewing.

Nov 16th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Know Thyself - The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life (Coursera) Coursera
University of Edinburgh

Know Thyself - The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life (Coursera)

According to legend, inscribed on walls of the temple on the sacred site of Delphi in Ancient Greece were two premier injunctions: NOTHING IN EXCESS, and KNOW THYSELF. This course will be an examination of the latter injunction in an effort to discover what self-knowledge is, why it might be valuable, and what, if any, limitations it might face.

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks
#talkmentalillness (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

#talkmentalillness (Coursera)

I am a professor and mental health researcher and educator, and I’ve been working in the field for over 15 years. Like so many of my colleagues, however, I was unprepared for the wave of mental health challenges that would face our society in 2020. From COVID-19 and the devastating economic impacts of the pandemic to racial justice protests, widespread natural disasters, our current cultural moment presents unprecedented mental health concerns, and particularly for marginalized communities. For this reason, I led a field-wide call to action for mental health research and treatment that resulted in this #TalkMentalIllness course.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Gamification (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Gamification (Coursera)

Gamification is the application of game elements and digital game design techniques to non-game problems, such as business and social impact challenges. This course will teach you the mechanisms of gamification, why it has such tremendous potential, and how to use it effectively.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Learning, Knowledge, and Human Development (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Learning, Knowledge, and Human Development (Coursera)

This course sets out to provide an understanding of theories of learning and development and how these theories relate to educational technology. It has two components. The first is theoretical, in which we attempt to develop an overall frame of reference, locating approaches to the psychology of learning in terms of large paradigm shifts, from ‘behaviorism’ to ‘brain developmentalism’ to ‘social cognitivism’. The second component is practical, in which we will use these theoretical concepts to ‘parse’ a technology-mediated learning environment for its underlying presuppositions.

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks