Many physics students struggle to connect abstract theories with daily life. Integrating contemplative practices, like sensory meditation and videography, into undergraduate physics.ed-ph courses dramatically improves this. Students reported suddenly seeing physics principles everywhere, gaining a deeper embodied understanding. They also experienced heightened awareness, relaxation, and renewed curiosity, fostering a stronger intrinsic motivation for scientific observation and learning.
Two contemplative practices—a sensory meditation and a contemplative videography—helped undergraduate physics students connect formal theory to their personal, embodied experience. In written reflections, students reported suddenly noticing countless manifestations of physics principles in their surroundings, experiencing physical embodiment, heightened sensory awareness, somatic relaxation, and mental stillness. They also described insights about the role of observation in science, reawakened curiosity, intrinsic motivation to understand physical phenomena, and deepened awareness of their cognitive and emotional processes. This is the first analysis of contemplative practices' effects on learning in undergraduate physics courses.