About The Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults
We help young adults handle stress and build a mindfulness practice that actually lasts.
Who We Are
Transforming Stress Into Strength
We partner with colleges, organizations, and professionals to teach mindfulness in a way that resonates with 18–30-year-olds, and truly sticks.
Pronounced mee-uh
The Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults (formerly Koru Mindfulness) delivers an evidence-based curriculum designed specifically for 18–30-year-olds.
Our curriculum is tested and refined against real feedback from the students who’ve actually taken it. We train the teachers, and we keep the classes small, because that’s what the research says actually works.
Why MIEA Works
The mindfulness training that meets young adults where they are.
Built on Decades of Experience
Our co-founders spent over 20 years in Duke University’s student counseling services before creating MIEA.
Photo: Students practicing mindfulness with MIEA co-founder Holly Rogers while waiting for tickets to a Duke Basketball game.
Technology Tailored to Student and Teacher Needs
MIEA’s teacher dashboard and student app exist for one reason: to make one-on-one mentorship easier to keep up with, not to replace it.
Proven Results, Backed by Research
Our curriculum is grounded in science and refined through years of implementation. Students report feeling more calm, sleeping better, cultivating self-compassion, and developing stronger mindfulness skills.
A Mindfulness Program Designed for Emerging Adults
Unlike generic wellness programs, MIEA was designed specifically for 18–30-year-olds. Our curriculum meets them where they are, using small-group learning, practical tools, and relatable metaphors.
Building Connection & Community
We believe mindfulness is best learned with other people in the room, even a virtual one. Our model is built around real connection between teachers and participants, not just content delivered at someone.
Our approach aligns with the American Council on Education’s recommendation for small-group, supervised mindfulness—one of the most effective strategies for supporting student mental health.
Who We Serve
Teachers
Professionals seeking practical, science-backed mindfulness skills
Higher Ed
College campuses building resilience and retention
Business
Organizations supporting early-career talent
Our Story
Teaching Mindfulness to Young Adults Since 2003
MIEA’s roots run deep in higher education. Our curriculum was developed at Duke University by psychiatrists Dr. Holly Rogers and Dr. Margaret Maytan, who spent decades supporting college students through stress, transition, and uncertainty.
What started as a small mindfulness class at Duke’s student counseling center quickly evolved. They wanted something practical enough for a busy 20-year-old to actually use, so that’s what they built. In 2012, they published Mindfulness for the Next Generation, a guide to the curriculum itself, why it’s built the way it is, and how to actually teach it.
In 2013, Dr. Rogers and Libby Webb co-founded the Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults (originally the Center for Koru Mindfulness) to train others to teach this work.
A year later, a randomized controlled trial confirmed what students had been saying all along: the program works. The results—reduced stress, better sleep, and increased self-compassion—were published in the Journal of American College Health and became the journal’s most downloaded article of 2014.
Holly and Margaret later wrote Mindfulness for the Next Generation, a practical guide to the curriculum itself, why it’s built the way it is, the strategies, and how to actually run the course. See all our books.
Today, MIEA’s curriculum is taught by thousands of certified teachers around the world, supporting college students, early-career professionals, and the educators who guide them.
Our Dedicated Team
Our team includes experienced educators, therapists, and mindfulness professionals who are all committed to supporting young adults.
Co-Founder, Trainer & Author
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Director of Brand & Digital Technology
Outreach & Teacher Development Coordinator
Asia Pacific Regional Rep & Trainer
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Global Reach & Trusted Partnerships
Transforming Mindfulness Education on Campus
The Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults MIEA works with hundreds of campuses and organizations worldwide, including Duke, Harvard, and the University of Iowa.
MIEA in Action
How Dartmouth Built a Campus-Wide Mindfulness Culture
See how Dartmouth partnered with MIEA to bring mindfulness into classrooms, labs, and campus life. Through short-format, research-backed programming, students and staff found new ways to regulate stress, build community, and thrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults (MIEA)?
MIEA is the organization behind the Intro to Mindfulness curriculum (formerly Koru Mindfulness), and we train and certify people to teach it. Our curriculum is built specifically for 18-30 year olds, known as emerging adults, and it’s backed by r randomized controlled trials showing real benefits in sleep, stress, and self-compassion.
The curriculum itself has three components: Intro to Mindfulness, Intro to Mindfulness 2.0, and a half-day Retreat. Intro to Mindfulness spans four 75-minute classes and is detailed in the book Mindfulness for the Next Generation.
Are you Koru Mindfulness? What happened to Koru?
Yes, we are the same organization that was previously known as the Center for Koru Mindfulness. We have recently changed our name to the Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults (MIEA). The change in name reflects our continued commitment to providing evidence-based mindfulness training, specifically tailored for emerging adults.
Our curriculum name has also updated to Intro to Mindfulness, Intro to Mindfulness 2.0, and MIEA Retreat.
Why did we change our name from Koru to MIEA?
We changed our name from Koru to MIEA for a few reasons.
The biggest one: Koru is a word and symbol from Māori culture, and it wasn’t ours to use. Once teachers and students raised that with us, it was clear, and we wanted a name that didn’t carry that weight.
It also just wasn’t doing its job. Koru didn’t tell anyone, especially the administrators we work with most, what we actually do, evidence-based mindfulness training for emerging adults. And as we’ve grown, we wanted a name people could understand right away, without needing it explained to them.
The Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults does both. It says exactly who we serve, and it’s ours.
Emerging adults and young adults: What’s the difference?
Emerging adulthood is the name of the developmental stage that young adults are in. It lasts from about age 18 through age 29. So essentially, emerging adults are the same as young adults, just like adolescents are the same as teenagers. Young adulthood is an exciting time of life but it also involves lots of change and lots of stress. Mindfulness is a great tool for optimizing this period of growth.
How is MIEA different from other mindfulness training programs?
MIEA’s curriculum was designed specifically for emerging adults and differs from mindfulness programs developed for more general populations of adults in several ways.
- Teaches mindfulness meditation as well as stress-management skills
- A brief model to accommodate the busy schedules of college-aged adults. Taught in four, weekly, 75-minute classes.
- Highly structured with daily homework of a mindfulness log and 10 minutes mindfulness practice
- Personal coaching paired with cutting-edge technology
- Taught in small, diverse groups
- Active teaching to address skepticism and build motivation
- Stories and metaphors relevant to the lives of college-aged adults
What’s the difference between Steady Minds, Intro to Mindfulness, Teaching Mindful Moments, and Teacher Certification?
MIEA offers a few different paths, depending on whether you want to build your own practice or teach others. Here’s how they break down.
To build your own practice:
- Steady Minds is self-guided: a 4-week course you move through on your own schedule, using the app and practice materials. No live sessions, no group.
- Intro to Mindfulness is the same core curriculum, but live: a small group taught in real time by a certified MIEA trainer, on a fixed schedule.
To teach mindfulness to others:
- Teaching Mindful Moments is a standalone 5-session course that prepares you to lead brief, 5-15 minute mindfulness practices, in a classroom, a meeting, a workshop. It’s not part of certification, and doesn’t require any prior experience.
- Teacher Certification is the full path to becoming certified to teach MIEA’s complete Intro to Mindfulness curriculum. It has two phases:
- Phase 1: Foundations is open to anyone, no application required. You experience the curriculum as a learner while building your own practice and start learning how to teach mindfulness.
- Phase 2: Training Workshop + Supported Teaching is by invitation. Once you meet the attendance and practice-log requirements in Foundations, we’ll invite you straight into Phase 2, no separate application, nothing extra to fill out. From there, it’s a 5-day training workshop, up to a year of supported teaching, and a portfolio review at the end.
Certification, and use of the MIEA name and logo, only comes after Phase 2 and your portfolio review. Once certified, teachers pay a $225/year license fee to keep teaching MIEA’s curriculum.
Note: if you completed Fundamentals it counts toward Phase 1, no need to redo it.
How much does becoming certified cost?
Our Teacher Certification Training is broken into two phases.
- Phase 1: Foundations is $395
- Phase 2: Workshop + Support starts at $1,495
The Annual License Fee, which provides access to our Teacher Dashboard and course-management system, as well as other benefits, is $225/year.
