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When one thinks about a campus recreation facility, they probably pictures rows of treadmills, girls racing on ellipticals and men pumping iron in the weight room. While you can find these clichés in Ohio University’s Charles J. Ping Recreation Center, it is not all it has to offer. While physical fitness is important for one’s day-to-day routine and to stay happy and healthy, one class helps you focus on both bodily and mental health: the age-old practice of Yoga, offered weekly at the center and free of charge to its members.
Ping Center, located on OU’s South Green, is the perfect place to find bliss for those who need a little instruction. No one ever claimed that learning to relax was easy, and the trainers at Ping are fully prepared to instruct students on how to do just that. The Yoga programs are open and available for students and members to take full advantage of the mental and body benefits.
According to the class schedule, Yoga is offered every day this quarter except Saturday and are taught in the Group Fitness Room, ranging from beginner Yoga classes to more intense, vigorous and sweat-inducing classes. People of all skill levels are sure to find something to suit them. Even if you aren’t quite sure what it is or are not hip to the Yoga-lifestyle, you are welcomed to the classes with opened arms, even if your goal isn’t reaching Kaivalya (ultimate freedom, the definitive objective of traditional Yoga).
The physical benefits of Yoga are immense and well known; with the help of an instructor, a participant can expect to gain strength, flexibility, better posture and a lower heart-rate leading to decreased risk of heart disease. It has even been known to relieve symptoms of asthma, back pain and insomnia.
The mental benefits are just as rewarding. Those who routinely practice their best downward-dog can expect to learn mindful breathing, which stimulates relaxation responses; calming effects, created by lowering hormone neurotransmitters such as dopamine and epinephrine; and a boost of oxygen levels to the brain, which leads to a lessening of depression, elevation of mood and a clearer mind.
While the schedule of classes offered changes with each quarter, seeing Yoga on that list will not. It is a staple of the institution and are some of the most popular classes being offered at Ping. If the larger classes aren’t to your liking, you can try out the private Yoga lessons for a fee to really focus on your postures and have one-on-one training that can’t be replicated with a Yoga DVD. If you are a member of Ping, or know someone who is and want to come as a guest, you are doing yourself a great disservice by not trying one of these classes.
If you want to calm your mind, elevate your mood and learn hot to strecth your legs over your head (and you’ve always wanted to learn, admit it!) then the Yoga instructors at Ping are available and are more than willing to help you with your mental and body health goals.
Stress is certainly a part of my life as a college student, as I know it is for many others. Obviously, if you look back on past posts, I am a fan of stress-relieving relaxation methods; it helps part the clouds that muddy up my mind, allowing me to fully appreciate who I am and where I am. That is why I recommend the Relaxation period offered by Counseling and Psychological Services held each week at Baker Center.
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Every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., the members of Students Overcoming Stigma hold a relaxation technique practice free to students. Held in a conference room at Baker (the room may change from week to week, but the room number is posted on the Center’s electronic bulletin boards), a Counselor-in-Residence hosts a relaxation period for anyone who needs to forget about their stresses for the day and learn new ways to relieve stress, both in the mind and body.
Students Overcoming Stigma is a group on campus whose sole purpose is to better the student community in mental health. They “aims to transform the campus culture surrounding mental health issues” by increasing awareness to mental health issues, showing students what programs are available for their needs and developing advocacy for these issues. Their Relaxation period is only one of their programs helping to achieve this goal.
For the Relaxation group, participants move any furniture from the middle of the room to make space for everyone to sit on the floor. The shades are drawn and everyone is told to remove their shoes, glasses, hats and any other constricting clothing or accessories. Even if your pants are a little tight, they recommend that you let them loose to experience your relaxation time to the fullest. Constriction just gets in the way of the main goal for the meditation process.
Each week, a new type of relaxation is practiced. Sometimes, the group is lead through visualizations, where commands from a CD encourage participants to visualize certain scenes and images to move them towards a more relaxed state of mind. There is also muscle relaxation, where participants are told by commands when to tighten and relax muscles, group by group, in order to obtain a more relaxed and less tense body in the end. Everyone lies on the floor and journeys together towards relaxation.
When the session, which usually lasts 15-20 minutes, completes, the group is encouraged to discuss the methods and how they worked, or didn’t work, for them. It is not a therapy session where everyone puts their problems on a pedestal for everyone to see; it is a time to let your worries leave your mind and focus on bettering your spirit and finding the best way to achieve that goal.
If you are feeling stressed, the Relaxation group may be just what you need. I find that, with the burdens and pressures that I carry on my shoulders every day, taking the time to address your stress and relieve it from your body and mind is vital, and this group’s main purpose is to help in that endeavor.
A new psychological study on meditation being conducted by the Department of Psychology comes with two benefits for those who participate: they are helping progress studies on this 5,000 year-old practice and they will learn how to use the practice for themselves. The free study is open to female OU students and will be starting within the next week while the programmers wait on filling the study to capacity.
meditationguidance.com
Instead of giving you a fish, they teach you to fish for yourself. Participants won’t just be given a meditation session but instead will learn how to meditate, a powerful tool that is capable of many things from producing self-awareness to relieving allergies and pangs of anxiety.
According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation is a “mind-body complementary medicine, produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind.” For anxiety and depression sufferers, meditation is the ideal form of medication without the chemicals. Meditation can offer you a way to manage your stress and help push out distracted and unorganized thoughts. It is also used to treat a variety of ailments (cancer, heart disease and chronic pain? Believe it!) including sleep problems, high blood-pressure and fatigue: all of those pesky conditions that take the bliss out of your life and replace it with negative energy.
The meditation study at OU will surely benefit participants if they can take away what they learn in the study and apply it to their daily lives. The program comprises of a 4-week study where participants selected for the mediation group will meet once a week to give a saliva sample, answer a questionnaire and learn meditation techniques. They also provide two free meditation sessions led by an experienced trainer and will receive meditation CDs for participants to practice at home.
While not everyone can participate in the actual study (you must be an OU student and a female, along with other stipulations), anyone can learn easy ways to meditate and use the practice to benefit their lives. Allow yourself time to be in a quiet place as you learn to focus and block out the outside world. There are a variety of Web sites that offer free tutorials and sound clips to help aid in the meditation.
Where the hard part comes in is actually setting aside time for yourself to do it. Set aside a mere ten minutes each day to focus of uplifting your spirit and committing to meditation. Or, if you can’t do it for yourself, participating in the meditation study may help get the spiritual ball rolling.
