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Meet Barbara Schmidt

Meet

 

College of Nursing donor and expert on mindful living, Barbara Schmidt, believes in creating well-being for all, and in turn a better world, from the inside out. Her personal philosophy of helping individuals achieve personal peace and greater mindfulness aligns closely with the College’s holistic, caring-centric approach to nursing.

 

She said, “The College is a cornerstone of this community. I am most proud of the way this College teaches, educates and models the caring essence of nursing. You can teach the mechanics of nursing, but if the caring is not there, it will, in the end, fall short of what is needed in healthcare. This is truly what is important for health and healing. I just feel good when I walk through the doors!”

 

A businesswoman, philanthropist and author of the best-selling book, “The Practice: Simple Tools for Managing Stress, Finding Inner Peace and Uncovering Happiness,” Schmidt founded a nonprofit organization, Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, through which she teaches “The Practice,” a three-part guide to practical spirituality in the modern world. The organization reaches more than 4.6 million people, helping them attain more healthy, peaceful lives. Schmidt said, “If you ask most people what they want in life, they will say, ‘I want to be happy.’ In order to be happy we must be healthy in body, and in order to be truly healthy in body we absolutely must be healthy in mind and spirit.”

 

In addition to providing financial support, Schmidt has partnered with FAU to foster well-being in the University and its greater community, offering workshops in the Peace, Justice and Human Rights initiative since 2005. In 2016, she began a similar partnership with the Boca Raton Regional Hospital. In its inaugural year, more than 3,500 people attended the workshops and lectures. “Everywhere I go, people tell me that meditation, mindfulness and these programs in the community have changed their lives,” she said.

 

She is proud to be affiliated with the College of Nursing and to be able to “honor the commitment and love that Dean Marlaine Smith and Christine E. Lynn have for this profession and all beings in our country,” she said. “Nurses are incredibly important to our lives with regard to wellness, happiness, and living the best life we can. We rely on them, we need them, and I so respect their dedication to the work and their selfless service.”

 

Barb Schmidt lives in Boca Raton with her husband, Dick. For more information on her work, visit www.barbschmidt.com and http://www.peacefulmindpeacefullife.org.