The Meditation Club provides the opportunity to become mindfully aware of oneself through meditation. The club was established this year by senior Julian Martinez  and is moderated by social sciences teacher Michael Porterfield. The club meets not only on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7:30 but also during lunch on Wednesday.

Martinez started the Meditation Club to give people a break from their hectic lives. The club stresses the ideals they search for in meditation, the awareness of the situation around them in both big and ordinary things in life.

“The club’s purpose is to raise awareness through mindfulness, to cultivate this mindfulness and to create an outlet for others,” said senior Vice President Alex Villalpando.

Certified by UCLA’s Mindful Research Center, Porterfield practices mindful meditation.

“I am here to make sure things go in the right direction and to share experiences,” said Porterfield. “It’s what I do. It’s a way of being and living.”

Within each meeting, the club explains its purpose and goal for meditation.

“Every meeting starts with a check in on the practice of meditation and its effects, how it helps to cultivate mindfulness,” said Villalpando. “We openly discuss current events, provide an outlet [for stress]and end the meeting with a 15-minute meditation.”

“Meditations not only reflect on current events in the world but also the small things that happen in the day-to-day lives to help students become more mindful,” said Martinez.

“The club plans to host two retreats, one on campus that emphasizes mindfulness and one at the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA,” said Martinez. “In order to go on these retreats, the club requires funding through the campus.”

One way the club plans on funding their retreats is through the profit generated from selling their t-shirts.

“The t-shirts are unparalleled in design and are the only club shirt that is tye dye,”  said Villalpando.

Villalpando said that there are many ways in which a person can meditate.

“We are also learning new mediums such as sitting, standing, walking and mindful eating practices.” said Villalpando.

The club has just started and students are always welcomed to participate in the meditations.

“The club is open to anyone who is interested,” said Martinez. “Students can still join or just show up for a single meeting if they are interested.”