This semester Bakersfield College added a new club, Fit Mind Body, to its growing list of student organizations. Fit Mind Body desires to inspire people and create an easily accessible and safe environment to students and faculty from all walks of life.

Founder and club president Pablo Cervantes has had hopes of creating an organization on campus like this for a while now.

“I’ve been wanting to start an organization that is accessible to all of our college community that will provide tools and resources that will empower their daily lives,” said Cervantes.

Cervantes notes his upbringing as one of the inspirations for making this club. He, like many of the student population, grew up without many resources.

He did not know much about mental health or physical health, which ultimately led him to battle with depression.

“I struggled with depression and anxiety throughout my adolescent years. As a young adult I continued to occasionally suffer from depression, but one day I stumbled upon this article that spoke about meditation,” Cervantes said.

This article about meditation would end up changing his life for the better. It improved his mood, lowered his anxiety and just kept him all around stable. He credits meditation and yoga for helping him remove his negative self-talk that he had suffered from throughout his whole life.

He also credits gaining knowledge about physical health, mental health, meditation and yoga has helped him lose 50 pounds, dramatically lowered his depression and improved his life for the better.

“I’m so much happier than I was. I was in a dark place, and meditation came just in time to save me.

“When I meditate, man, you just get so free. I feel like I connect with the world around me. I suggest everyone try it out. It’s probably one of the best feelings someone can ever feel,” Cervantes said.

“Meditation helps me focus more, and gives me a sense of clarity that I don’t think I would be able to have otherwise.”

The club is still in its beginning stages, and is still trying to gain students’ interest and grow. Since the beginning of this semester to now they have gained 90 members and are eager to gain more.

This club is meant to help all students be more successful in their education. “We know that having a positive education begins with being positive towards one’s self first,” said Cervantes.

Cervantes and his team, including faculty member Kimberly Chen and Danny Trejo, just to name a few, want to share the tools they have learned by way of meditation, yoga, physical health and mental health to create a climate of success all around BC.

“I want to help those individuals that are suffering with similar situations because I understand exactly what they are going through. I want to be that light in the tunnel they’re in.” said Cervantes.

Cervantes has done just that with his bi-weekly yoga classes instructed by Inner BodyWorks Yoga in the dance room, and also by his beginning meditation every Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. in the Fireside Room.

Fit Mind Body also provides HIIT interval training instructed by personal trainer Eryn on Thursdays.

These events are welcome for all the Bakersfield college community to attend. By the end of the semester, they hope to have a health coach come and give speeches to students about mental health.

Koeth