I sat down with the president and founder of Mind Over Matter club, Molly Dickerson, to discuss her fine club. Keep reading to learn all the secrets of mindful living.

What is the goal of Mind Over Matter?

The goal of the club is to help students in stressful environments, like Magnet, learn mindfulness and practices to help manage their stress, anxiety, and any physical manifestations of that stress, like pain. A large population of Magnet students suffer from conditions like anxiety, depression, and physical illness, so I just wanted to have a place where everyone can get together and learn coping mechanisms to deal with whatever they’re going through. We also have discussions about topics surrounding mental health because I think it’s often pushed to the side when it needs to be talked about.

What inspired you to create this club?

I started having some health related issues after my freshman year, and traditional remedies were not effective for me. Because of this, I decided to take things into my own hands to find some alternative solutions to the struggles I was having. Even if I couldn’t find anything, I just wanted to manage the stress that came along with these problems a little bit better, so I started reading articles and finding holistic approaches like meditating. I wanted to share my findings and what it’s like to have a chronic illness with my friends, but I noticed there was no place to do something like that at Magnet. I knew a few of my of my friends were going through similar things and also wanted to share what was happening to them, thus Mind Over Matter was born.

What do you do in a typical meeting?

It’s different every time, but we usually do a five minute meditation followed by a fun, interactive activity or a personal reflection. We then come together and talk about the exercise and how we’re doing. Mrs. Galizia, who’s the club sponsor and comes to meetings, also shares messages on living mindfully and life in general, which are really awesome.

What is something unique about your club?

Something unique about Mind Over Matter is that it can apply to everyone; it’s not just for people with a specific interest. It’s a place where everyone can find something to appreciate and incorporate into their own life, and it’s just been really nice seeing a bunch of different people come together to make this big community.

What do you aim to do in the school community through Mind Over Matter?

I want to reach a lot of the students at Magnet because it’s such a high stress environment. I want to give them an outlet where they can alleviate and learn how to manage their stress because I see a lot of students struggling with the issues I’ve had. We’re encouraged to take the hardest courses and schedule, so sometimes we just push our wellbeing aside, which is why I want the club to continue being a resource for students to help with their struggles and mental health.

What are some good techniques for mitigating anxiety?

I would definitely say mediation, but it needs to be a repeated action everyday for it to help. You can’t just meditate once for two minutes and expect it to do anything. Also the five senses exercise is great where you notice five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste. Anything that brings back your awareness to the moment from the future or whatever you’re stressing about is really helpful.

What does it mean to live mindfully?

Living mindfully is not forcing away the thoughts that are giving you stress, but rather accepting them as they come to mind. It’s realizing that worrying about events in the future is not going to help you, but there are going to be times when you can’t stop worrying about these things. Therefore, accepting that’s where you are right now, and then focusing on things going on in the present will help you come out of that spiral of thoughts.

What do you see for the club in the future?

I want everyone in the club to take the things we’ve learned into their future and college, and I hope the juniors and sophomores will continue the club because I think it’s had a really beneficial effect on the student body. Once college applications are over, I want to have the club do more events for the school and create programs with more lasting effects to make Magnet a more understating place and better for mental health.

Any final advice for the Raptors reading this article?

Treat your mind and body with respect. And try your best to just appreciate wherever you are in the moment. We had a meeting a few weeks ago where Mrs. Galizia shared that every event in your life is just a dot, and thus your life is a string of dots, which is really powerful and really puts things in perspective. Think about that: today is just a dot. Ask yourself if what’s upsetting you is going to affect you in six months, a year, five years, and then remember that everything may not be as important and overwhelming as it appears now.

Mind Over Matter meets weekly, either Tuesday or Thursday in Mrs. Galizia’s old room (Mr. Garris’ room), and you can join the remind @mindoverma and follow @mollydickerson4 and @mindovermatter_amhs on Instagram for meeting updates.