The ancient art of meditation has recently reached GZAAT. As the academic workload increases, students turn to different ways of relaxation and stress relief. To gain additional insight into the club, an interview was conducted with the club’s founder and fellow GZAAT student, Nika Saakashvili.
What is the purpose of the Meditation Club?
(N) The meditation club greatly focuses on mental health. We watch and discuss videos that include tips for sleeping, eating, and general tips for well-being. After that, we do some meditation. I tell them to do some 5-minute morning yoga breathing exercises. You practice this every morning; the more you practice, the deeper it will be. It will definitely bring some mental well-being.
Why did you want to create this club?
(N) I did this course called Inner Engineering at the beginning of the year, somewhere in January. It really changed my life. It’s a meditation course by Sadhguru – he’s a meditation teacher. I was like, “I definitely want to share it with other people”, so that’s why I published this.
How are the meetings held?
(N) The meetings are every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. They usually last 20 minutes or less – they’re really short. We watch 1 or 2 videos and then do a small meditation practice (5-10 minutes). I also encourage the members to try meditating at home. This week, I made a journal prompt. For example, one of the mental health tips was to connect with the nature around you. I give them sort of a homework assignment, a journal prompt, and one of them is ‘How well did you connect with nature today’. That’s all we basically do.
What effect should this club have on its members?
(N) Well, there are two things. One is obviously the improvement of mental well-being. Another one is just to start a meditation practice. The goal is to ignite the practice within people and get momentum going: people want to do meditation by themselves and it stays a part of their lives.
Meditation is a skill that anybody can utilize: by simply investing several minutes of a day in it, one can improve one's life dramatically. Students and teachers of GZAAT are greatly encouraged to join this club; hopefully, everyone will manage to find inner peace even during stressful times!
Edited By: Ana Kharabadze
