Stress Less Day Offers Students Free Massages

Midterms roll in halfway through the semester, leaving students overwhelmed with little time for themselves.

To demonstrate a few ways for students to relax, Health Promotion Services (HPS) held Stress Less Day on Oct. 20. The annual event, held in Harney Plaza, brought together multiple departments on campus along with a few outside organizations, to offer different solutions for better health.

One of the services included the Koret Center, which gave free massages and lessons in basic yoga to relieve muscle strains. Slots filled quickly as many people scheduled massages. Although some people were unable to get a massage, people signed up for the Massage VIP List, which emails participants discounts for massages at the Koret Center.

The Nursing Student Association (NSA) offered a variety of activities, such as molding figures from play dough and coloring in coloring books. The group also offered to check blood pressures for free.

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA), an outside organization based worldwide, were also at the event. FA assists individuals who turn to food to cope with their problems.

Mandy, an FA volunteer, said, “People who may deal with this issue should allow themselves to express what they’re feeling. Honesty is the best policy and that is the first step in recovering.” Another volunteer, Farron, said, “I have gone through these issues myself. I felt awful about it, but looking at the journey I’ve taken it has become very rewarding.”

Other Stress Less activities included one where students got to make their own potpourri, with pine cones, rosemary, and eucalyptus. For a more wood-like scent, people had the option of breaking the pine cones apart. The purpose was for students to enjoy the fresh aroma of herbs throughout their day.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) offered twelve free counseling sessions to students.

CAPS counselor Daniela Maddern said, “There are many issues our clients deal with, but our goal is to let them hope again.”

HPS gave away bookmarks with 15 ways to deal with stress. Some of the ways include meditating and reading for pleasure.

Mariel De Guia, a senior majoring in sociology, said her favorite way to deal with stress was talking and hanging out with friends.

Christine Shawyetes, a Health Educator at HPS, said “We have been planning this event for months. At some points it was challenging, but everything worked out.”

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