Psychology interns for the Counseling and Testing Center Kim Horn and Ellen Greenwald met with faculty and students Thursday to discuss mindfulness techniques and how they can help cope with daily stresses.
The brownbag series called “I Will Survive: Coping Strategies for Life” took place in the Memorial Health Center at 12 p.m and focused on breathing exercises that can be used to relieve stress everyone faces in their daily lives.
Both interns, who are almost finished with their doctoral programs, said mindfulness techniques are a unique method for dealing with stress management.
Unlike other stress relieving activities such as exercise, said Horn, mindfulness techniques focus on breathing and meditation that help to calm one’s anxieties and silence emotional and physical symptoms.
Instead of just describing such exercises, Horn and Greenwald asked their audience to get comfortable in their chairs and close their eyes with their feet flat on the floor.
“As you start to get comfortable just start by noticing your breathing,” Horn said. “Notice how your stomach is feeling and how each breath is filling up into your lungs.”
During the first breathing exercise, Horn asked the audience to concentrate on their breathing as they relaxed. Assistant Director of Residential Life Dave Roberts said he felt like he was in a dream.
“All my thoughts of stress were free and I felt like I had nothing to stress about,” Roberts said.
Greenwald’s exercise was different from Horn’s in that she asked the audience to notice any smells and to try not to judge anything they may become aware of around themselves.
This breathing exercise was more focused on the body and tuning into what physically hurts and the emotions felt by the participatants.
After such an exercise, Greenwald said she usually feels very heavy and relaxed. Sometimes, she said, she feels so relaxed that afterwards she just wants to fall onto the floor.
While Roberts said it is difficult for him to do these kind of exercises on his own, he has done mindfulness techniques with tapes since he was in college.
Demonstrated by a council center aide, Roberts said the primary focus was to concentrate on his breathing and not his problems. Given a cassette tape, Robert said he practiced the exercise frequently as a study break.
“I used it a lot when I would have a take home test or exam and I felt frustrated with what I was doing,” Roberts said. “I could just plug it in and relax. It was nice.”
Horn said what makes mindfulness techniques so helpful is that they give a physical sense of awareness and allow one to identify with their thoughts and emotions in a clear manner.
“I do mindfulness techniques all the time and as I open up time for them I find that I can use this to manage the stress in my life,” Horn said. “It’s not just a practice I do now, but a way I live.”
