John LaPierre

He/Him

Staff Writer

10/25/23

Have you ever felt stressed about schoolwork, athletics, or personal problems? Mindful Inquiry with Professor Mark Fischler might be a solution to your problems. Promoted as a thoughtful meditation group to help relax, reflect, and recenter the mind, Fischler describes it as “a great way of exploring what happiness truly is.” What I got from the meditation session was being able to decompress from school and the personal problems I’ve been dealing with.

We started off with a ten-minute guided meditation with our eyes closed, breathing in and out, which felt so calming and relaxing. Then we went into the discussion of different people on Earth. Fischler asked me and another attendee, David Woltag, “What is the most valuable gift a person can receive?” Woltag answered “kindness”, and I followed up with “happiness.” Fischler said, “As human beings, we always look for happiness and kindness in individuals or we as humans want the ability to give everyone happiness because that should be a task by humans every day.”

I mentioned that I was heavily stressed this week, especially with different tasks thrown at me. “Try to attack bigger assignments first and then do the smaller assignments,” said Woltag. Fischler added, “Maybe when you’re working on an assignment, take a break from it and go outside, if it’s nice out, and take a walk. Relax your mind then come back to it.” He emphasized that when we are stressed, our mind goes in many different directions, and nature can always make us calm and less stressed.I would recommend this seminar to anyone. It alleviated my stress from school and personal problems, and Fischler was a great help to me.

“We all want to experience happiness, and mindful inquiry is a great way of exploring what happiness truly is.” according to Fischler. Sessions take place every Thursday from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in HUB room 119. Try it at least once because it had such a great impact on me.