Guided meditations relax stressed-out students

Close your eyes. Breathe. Feel the tension fade away. That’s the power of meditation, and that was the goal of Campus Recreation’s 15-minute meditation sessions on campus Tuesday.

Organizers dimmed lights, played calming music and offered free tea. The meditations were led by Carly Hopper, the fitness and wellness program coordinator in campus recreation.

“I think it is important for students to take time to meditate, even if it’s just a few moments to bring a little mindfulness to just pay attention to what they’re doing,” Hopper said. “We live in a society that it’s so busy. We’re hurrying up and we get somewhere and then we wait and there’s so much anxiety and so much that is happening all the time that we’re stimulated all the time, that I think it’s really helpful to just take a few moments just to sit.”

With midterms and spring break on the horizon, it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself and ignore your mind and body’s wishes. By taking a moment to meditate, in whichever form you choose, you can come back refreshed and ready to take on the next big thing.

Campus Recreation has a group exercise schedule that includes yoga, pilates, fitness, exercise and cycling-based classes. 

“Are you gonna get the meditation part in a cycling class? No,” she said. “I’m gonna tell you to breathe, so it’s different in that way, but I would guess something similar to this that anyone can attend at any time would be the 9 a.m. yoga class that I teach Friday mornings.

Hopper said they  usually spend time at the beginning or the end of classes on meditation-like “awareness” breathing.  They also offer a couple of other yoga classes that are more strenuous and utilize more weights.

“I’m not saying it’s not relaxing, because at the end we’re just going tolay there and relax at the end of any kind of yoga class, but I would say that the Friday morning one is a little bit more all levels or more beginner friendly,” Hopper said.

Yoga classes are held at the Otto Recreation Center as well as an assortment of other exercises and classes.

Write to Ellie Meschke at eleanor.meschke@my.normandale.edu

Header Photo: Campus Recreation hosted 15 minute guided meditation sessions with calming music and free tea in the Centennial Student Union Wednesday. (Davis Jensen/The Reporter)