Tenth grade history teacher Wayne Perkins and English teacher Jill Rusignuolo are hosting a 9 week mindfulness club that is offered for free by a renowned mindfulness expert John Kabat Zinn every Thursday after school. 

The mindfulness club was created to practice meditation/yoga and allow students to learn how to cope with their thoughts and feelings.

“To start to grow now and start to grasp on how to live a healthy life both mentally and physically,” Wayne Perkins said.

Clubs offer a way to connect with others and make friends along the way. They create a safe space for everyone to relax and unwind. Meditation is known to relax and ease/stretch the muscles in the body. 

“The ability for support, you know in a group or one on one with people,” junior Hailee Krumwiede said.

The practice of yoga and meditation originated in India during the period between 500-800 BC and is still known to be used today. Although yoga and meditation has been changed over the years due to the impacts of other cultures, the main idea of it all is still used today. Meditation was designed to create a new perspective on life. Meditation and yoga produces a deep state of relaxation throughout the body and allows one to focus attention on feelings and thoughts. 

 “It’s a good way for young people to settle down and to understand their thoughts, how their thoughts work,”  Perkins said.

 Many students struggle with mental health challenges. Junior Zenith Layni explained how this can “affect how you do academically”.

These challenges may affect one’s energy level which ties to their level of concentration and performance. Mindfulness club has created a space for all students to find a different way to approach mental health in order to be successful. Many mental health problems come from severe or long term stressors. Sitting with these feelings without the tools causes people to self isolate and disconnect from the world. 

“It’s like a blanket statement at our school,” Krumwiede said.

Several surveys were conducted with students, those who were surveyed stated that yoga and meditation has helped them stay organized and helped maintain stress. The hiding of mental health and bringing awareness to it has been a challenge for decades. 

 “Many students struggle with mental health problems and a lot of them choose not to express them,” Layni added.

More than 50% of the world population are diagnosed with some kind of mental illness. The mindfulness club is an additional space and support for those who do not like to directly discuss their feelings, but want to cope and understand them through another tool. 

The transition to the use of yoga and meditation has positively affected 78.6% of the population.

“As a person, meditation has changed my life,” Perkins said. 

Many people who use this relaxing method report that regular uses of yoga and meditation creates calmness, increases the body awareness, and relieves chronic stress and anger patterns. 

If students are looking for a space where “everyone is welcome” and to improve their mental health, come check out the mindfulness club. It is hosted every Thursday after school from 2:30-3:15 p.m.  in room E108.