By Joan Lowe / The Jambar
Clinical counselors Emily Scott and Brittney Koren, on behalf of Student Counseling Services at Youngstown State University, led the 30-minute Campus Calm “Being in the moment” workshop Oct. 1 in DeBartolo Hall.
Being a college student can be stressful. Student Counseling Services put together a workshop to combat it by teaching attendees several stress-management skills in a judgement-free environment guided by professionals.
With a focus on mindfulness, attendees learned skills that required nothing except themselves and the space around them. The workshop taught exercises including mindful breathing, the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique, guided meditation among other techniques for mindfulness.
Scott said students that face stress can become overwhelmed and overlook simple stress-management skills.
“Even when things are out of our control, we still have a lot that’s in our control, and that looks to me like skills, knowing your resources and your supports,” Scott said. “When we’re in that state of stress, sometimes that brings on anxiety, maybe panic. It can cause some freeze, and we forget what we have … that could really help us through it. It’s really easy to overlook those things. But once we can get to a state of even just a notch calmer, we can begin to look at, ‘What can I do in this situation?’”
In addition to its staff of counselors, Scott said Student Counseling Services provides other relaxing amenities that students can take advantage of.
“We have three nap pods. We have a salt cabin and light therapy room. You don’t have to be a client to utilize those things,” Scott said. “All you have to do is walk in and say, ‘Hey, I want to use the nap pod’ or ‘Hey, I want to check out the light therapy.’”
For those interested in attending another Campus Calm event, the next workshop, “Art as a path to peace,” set for noon Nov. 5, will be open to all students.