Meditation At Ocean Campus
By Barbara Muniz
“You can’t control everything that happens on your day to day so you just have to mindfully observe what is going on.“ -Liam Azulay
The Student Council of City College Ocean Campus recently approved a Mindfulness Meditation Club. Classes will be on Tuesday from 1:15 to 2:15 P.M., at the MUB 230.
Liam Azulay, a business major at Ocean Campus, is the leader of the Club. With him, Michael and Javier _Treasurer and ICC Member, respectively. Liam knew about self-awareness at an early age through his mother’s approach to Buddhist practice, and he wants to share it.
“My main focus is to create a community based meditation club”. He said, “Meditating together with your community is a much nicer experience.” Explaining the benefits of training your conscious by providing mental clarity, Liam emphasizes the rewards, because ‘even researchers have shown that it improves patients who had brain injury”.
He is not alone.
Shakla Joseph a City College psychology major said “it helped me with my anger, anxiety and as a result, it strengthened my spiritual belief’. He understands the different aspects of his self. “Psychology helps me to be aware of the different parts and function of my brain. Meditation allows me to focus on.” Said the 63 year old student.
Liam started noticing the benefits in the last year as he was meditating in the morning to distress from the hectic time with school and work activities. Now, he wants to help students and faculty staff to release their blocks and invites the community to relax. “A safe place for those with different anxieties and a busy lifestyle. We will have some breathing technique and Yoga too.”
In a moment where students’ budgets are tight and money counts, his club brings an exception to the rule.
So, let’s breathe…
“It’s completely free and if people… you know, is that excited to give a donation, that will be amazing… it will go directly to the Club,” Liam said.
Time Magazine published a study from the *Psychiatry Research early this year wherein anxious adults took part in an 8-week course for Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR). According to Dr. Elizabeth Hoge, an associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center, despite the lack of solid scientific evidence, it does work.
“There’s been some real skepticism in the medical community about meditation and mindfulness meditation.” Doctor Hoge said, but ‘the holy grail is to show that patients can do better under stress.”
Liam has a website so that students can learn through it too.
“I just actually added to the website a 40-minute mindfulness meditation… so, what they can do, when they leave the meeting, they go home and practice meditation for at least 20 minutes…” said Liam.
