The Mindfulness Club saw a successful year in 2023, attracting more than 100 members and more than 50 weekly members to explore various forms of mindfulness practices. The club was founded last year by Eric Deng, who is very passionate about mindfulness practises himself. He started the club because of the transformative power of meditation practices to improve one’s well-being and also because of the deterioration in youth mental health especially after the COVID pandemic.
Meditation is scientifically proven to reduce stress and improve focus, with some studies showing that practising meditation has led to improved academic and sports performance. For this reason, many famous athletes like Michael Jordan, Erling Haaland, and LeBron James implement meditation into their daily routines. And if you are not into sports, you can get the benefits of boosting your grades!
This year, the weekly lunchtime sessions include guided meditations from either recordings of mindfulness professionals or the executives guiding the member’s breathing. The Mindfulness Club received a lot of positive feedback from the members about how meditation has helped them with their well-being since it was founded last year in 2022.
However, the club had a lot of initial challenges, facing administration problems as well as gaining publicity in the school, but the club soon saw success. Helping the club members with mental health support was one of the most precious experiences that Eric had at Macleans College.
The club wouldn’t have been so successful without the teachers in charge – Mr Tsung for 2022 and Mrs Jackson for 2023. The club was also joined by the executive Nicholas Choi in 2023, and he will carry on the legacy of the club by being the club president next year after Eric’s departure. In 2024, new executives Katherine Wang, Behrad Etemadipour, Eddy Zheng, Tanisha Khan, and Zoey Milne will also join Nicholas to run the club. So if you are looking for a Co-curricular to join, come join the Mindfulness Club next year! The details will be up on daily notices.
Written by Eric Deng, edited by Shafquat Tabeeb
