Students find stress relief in ‘Leadership Lab’

Meditation offers an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety.(Flickr / Hartwig HKD / Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC 2.0)

With the fall semester finally starting to settle in students may start to feel the adverse effects of trying to keep a balanced work and school life. Often times this can lead to emotions of stress and anxiety. Luckily, Saddleback College has a solution for that.

“Anxiety and Stress Relief Monday’s” is a 30-minute session that is meant to help student’s, employees and community members cope with any anxious or stressful emotions that they may be going through. The workshop also offers attendees with effective techniques and strategies to relieve stress in their lives.

The workshop was created based on Long’s experience helping people cope with stress and anxiety. The ultimate goal of the workshop is to help people develop effective techniques to calm down and relax. This is one of the reasons why the workshop was chosen to take place in ‘The Leadership Lab’.

“I’m currently working on my license for marriage and family therapy; so I  n often work with people who have stress and anxiety induced issues going on in their life,” said Erin Long, Inter-Club Council Advisor and the Senior Administrative assistant of the Student Development office.

‘The Leadership Lab’ is a designated spot on campus that promotes personal and professional development for Saddleback students. Some the lab’s core goals is to encourage self-awareness,  personal development  and life skills.

“One thing we decided when we started this leadership lab was to have a place to relax, so I came up with the idea of ‘Anxiety and Stress Relief Monday’s’ based of the criteria for the leadership lab,” said Long.

Each week has a new topic regarding stress and anxiety. This last week was focused on breathing techniques and clearing the mind. The workshop maintains a small turnout but it helps keep the atmosphere quiet and relaxed for the students.

“I wanted to come because I have a lot of stress in my life; this lab actually helps me balance everything—I actually took a class on meditation, so I really wanted to continue that,” Junior psychology major Jessica Malfavon said.

“Anxiety and Stress Relief Monday’s” takes place every Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at ‘The Leadership Lab’, in room SSC 211.

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