When senior Jared Zirkes attended the first Mindfulness Monday, set up and run by Chemistry teacher and IB coordinator Jenny Magdal, he felt prepared for the week ahead of him.

“I decided to show up (to Mindfulness Monday) because senior year gets pretty hectic and Ms. Magdal is always a nice person to go to among all the chaos,” Zirkes said.

According to Magdal, Mindfulness Mondays consist of a variety of activities to help students balance their lives and stress levels by being focused in the present moment.

“I wanted to provide a space and techniques to help students to live a more balanced life,” Magdal said. “I saw a need for students to be more aware of their perceptions in life as a means to work on their stress level.”

Magdal said the first group meeting involved practicing mindful eating.

“So far, we practiced mindful eating, paying attention to the flavor, texture (and) feeling, by eating a Hershey’s Kiss,” Magdal said.

Magdal said she hopes Mindfulness Mondays prepare students for struggles they may encounter in their coming week.

“My hope is that students go away from the experience each Monday ready for their week,” Madgal said.

Zirkes said he likes the aspect of getting away from the struggles of school through mindfulness.

“In general, I think especially at the beginning of the week, sitting down and talking and being mindful is a good way to comb through the chaos of the week. No matter what grade you’re in, high school gets pretty chaotic and being able to step away from that for a little bit is pretty helpful,” Zirkes said.

According to Magdal, Mindfulness Mondays are open to IB Diploma candidates and her chemistry students at the moment. She said an announcement will be made if the group is opened up to a larger body of students.

Mindfulness Mondays occur between 8 and 8:15 a.m. every Monday.