Campus workshop concentrates on stress management

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    By KATIE CHRISTENSEN

    In an effort to help alleviate the stress experienced by college students, BYU’s Women’s Services and Resources is coordinating a series of lectures which include teaching the practices of meditation and yoga.

    The series, “Soulful Journey,” begins today in the Wilkinson Student Center.

    “We got the idea to do these series, because we noticed that a lot of students were stressed, frazzled, and frenzied,” said LaNae Valentine, coordinator of women’s services and resources.

    Valentine said the college years are a hard time for students with school, work and social life.

    “There’s so much demand on their lives,” she said.

    Valentine said it is important for students to realize what they really feel, want or need. They need to take time out of their high stress lifestyle and catch their breath, she said.

    Kari Baardson and Kristin Crockett said they just returned from their missions and they are having a hard time adjusting back to the stresses of college life.

    “I feel like I am in a foreign country and everyone seems like they know exactly what they are doing, but it’s just a big act,” said Crockett, 22, a junior from Sandy, Utah majoring in business management.

    “For me a lot of things have changed. Being home from a mission is extremely awkward and I am experiencing a lot of stress just trying to make decisions,” said Baardson, 22, a junior from Ann Arbor, Mich. majoring in civil engineering.

    In the spiritual perspective, Valentine said it is also important to clear the mind. She said people with high stress lifestyles have a harder time listening to spiritual promptings.

    Valentine said she often gets preoccupied with stress.

    “Sometimes I find myself walking around campus and am not aware of the surroundings, someone might be talking to me and I don’t even pay attention to what they are saying or I will be driving to Salt Lake City in a trance,” Valentine said.

    Valentine said she thinks it is highly important to be awake and mindful of things around us.

    “I think it is so important to slow down and be centered, not just running on an auto pilot,” Valentine said. “We need to be really listening to ourselves and the signals we are getting in order to do what we need and to let go of the clutter in our lives.”

    Valentine said getting rid of the clutter that overcomes lives is a long process.

    “It’s a journey, it doesn’t happen overnight,” she said.

    The series starts Thursday and continues on Nov. 11, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9 from 11:00 a.m. to noon in room 3223 WSC.

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