Since October, the Office of Health Promotion has been putting on Healthy Hangouts as a part of Wellness Wednesday sessions. These sessions are held in Snyder Hall to promote a healthy lifestyle of wellness and how to manage stress as a college student.
Healthy Hangouts focus primarily focus on how stress and anxiety play a part in student’s lives. Students are able to come together and talk about the things they are mutually struggling with. Sessions start with about eight to ten minutes of teaching about cognitive and behavioral science and then they transition to a discussion based session. At the end, students leave with one or two skills they can use during the week that can help them with stress and anxiety in their lives. The hangouts are led by Kate Kaufman Burns, Director of Health Promotion at the Office of Health Promotion.
On Feb. 6, 2019, in Snyder Hall, the latest Healthy Hangout was held with the theme “What We Say and What We Don’t Say.” This session highlighted how communication is vital to the important relationships in our lives and it’s important to know how to communicate effectively without being stressed out. There are many skills we can use in order to articulate what and how we’re feeling. This session is designed to help take the stress out of communication in important relationships whether its friendships, romantic relationships or even just talking to your professors.
“These sessions let students know that what they’re going through, they’re not going through alone. All themes are based off of what students are telling us they want to talk about and learn about and what to deal with better,” said Office of Health Promotion Communications Intern, Kelsey Baron ’21, on how these sessions benefit students. The whole message of the Office of Health Promotion is “to be well,” and often times it is easy as college students to accept stress as just a part of college life, but it is important to take care of yourself, make healthy decisions and positive lifestyle choices. One easy way to start is the ten-second breath. “You breath in for four seconds, and out for six, slowly and calmly,” Baron said of her favorite anti-stress technique.
You can find more of these tips and tricks at the Healthy Hangouts or visit the Office of Health Promotion in Snyder Hall.