Between school, work and home stress, students often struggle to find the time and space to pause, breathe and be mindful.
What if that place was available on the Pierce College campus?
Pierce should promote mindfulness and meditation through clubs and spaces, benefiting students in their daily lives and increasing their academic success.
“Meditation is believed to help relieve stress, lessen depression, lower blood pressure and improve sleep [while boosting] memory, mood and even social intelligence,” according to Aurora Reyes, director of Career Development and well-being at UCLA.
Pierce provides stress groups for students led by mental-health professionals with the goal of helping the participants manage their daily stress.
But Pierce can do more.
Other colleges offer mindfulness workshops, meditation rooms, and even clubs for students to de-stress and look inward.
Hamilton College has a meditation room in their Center for Religion and Spiritual Life. It’s open for students, faculty and staff throughout the week for quiet reflection and also hosts their Meditation Club and Yoga Club. It is equipped with yoga mats, meditation pillows and plants.
While the Botanical Garden at Pierce offers an environment for students to unwind, it is susceptible to weather, campus noise and foot traffic. An indoor space would block outdoor distractions.
Pierce should transform a room into a controlled space for students and faculty to meditate and reflect. Simple rules limiting the number of people in the room and the noise level would make it an ideal spot for people to de-stress. Students would sign-up in advance for 30-minute time slots and could walk-in if the space is unbooked.
The room should have comfortable seating, peaceful lighting and few distractions. By using an empty room on campus, the college would avoid any cost, making this an inexpensive transition.
