Managing Stress Through Meditation

There's usually a point in time throughout semesters where everything piles up. The homework, work, and projects all become too much to handle all at once. There are simple steps one can take to ensure that all of this gets done while maintaining positive energy and a lower stress level. Stress Management and Meditation workshops are held in Plymouth State University's Counseling Center lead by Regina Kelly PhD, APRN. These workshops are held in both the fall and spring semesters and include a full curriculum for a six-week period in learning how to manage one's stress via meditation. The classes are held in a homely environment of soothing music and burning incense. 

To start the session, Kelly introduced herself as well as those weeks' new comers to get all attendees acquainted and comfortable. Handouts and activities are used to express individual's stressors and thought process to better comprehend how one deals with a stressful situation.

A focal point in Kelly's session touches upon changing your thought strategy and rewriting self-talk. Negative stress indicators within language can be reciprocated to reduce stress by changing your outlook on a specific situation. Some tips including learning to schedule ones time, learning high and low energy times throughout a day, prioritizing activities during these energy times, and controlling interruptions were all given as stress relievers while dealing with the hardships of busy schedule.

Personal levels of stress are also evaluated and discussed while being broken down into intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social emotional stressors. This helps to expose daily occurrences, which causes stress as well as activities and forms of meditation that can help alleviate these stressors. 

Kelly spent time on one of her favorite aspects of this session, meditation. A little over five minutes was spent on closing your eyes and channeling energy in and out of your body. Flexing and relaxing muscles from the toes to the face was one of many practices of mindfulness meditation (also known as Vipassana or insight meditation). 

Not only is meditation a beneficial activity for students with or without a specific stress level, but Kelly also touched upon the importance of her connection to the student body via these meditation and stress management workshops "it's a way of seeing a difference in student's lives, it is a radical change of slowing down ones breathing and thoughts and is something that students can use daily and carry throughout life". 

These sessions are a great way to reconnect with yourself and your thought process as well as some of your peers. The group usually meets on Mondays and takes place at the Counseling Center in the Hagedorn library, located between Hyde Hall and Centre Lodge, from 1:15-2:25. Students should call (603) 535-2461 to make sure the session is being offered and to sign up!