Get your ‘Ommm’ on

Let’s face it: The days are painfully long, classes are increasingly yawn-worthy, and there is hardly enough time in the day to chug a Strawberry Sunshine with a Go-Girl Booster, let alone find time to unwind.

Well, for all you frazzled students living off caffeine and calling the Eng-Caf your dinner table, your relaxation prayers have been answered. Welcome to meditation at Memorial. Dr. Lynda Younghusband has been a counsellor at the MUN Counselling Centre for four years, and has been counselling for a total of 20 years.

“I was looking for a quiet time for students everyday to just clear their minds and avoid the rush-rush of getting to class, getting assignments done, getting lunch, getting back to class, to maybe a job – the back and forth of the everyday.”

Yvonne Collette, who works at the International Student Advising office, is a veteran of the discipline. After returning from three months at an ashram in India, she demonstrated meditation to a group of international students with whom Younghusband works twice a week.

“I thought, this is exactly what we need to do here at the Counselling Centre,” said Younghusband. “Just a quiet time for students to get away and lessen their stress. So I asked her if she might do something and we got together and started this term.”

The program takes place Monday to Friday at 12:00 pm in the Counselling Centre, UC 5000, for no cost, and is a fairly simple, time-effective process.

Students simply show up for their first class and watch a PowerPoint presentation Collette created that introduces the concept of meditation and provides some background on its technique and benefits.

Following that, students meditate for 20 minutes, leaving plenty of time to make a 1:00 class. Younghusband and Collette light a candle and help students focus and release any negative energy from their bodies and minds.

“Most people would do meditation sitting on the floor, cross-legged with their hands up towards the sky on their thighs and just close their eyes. Some people meditate with their eyes open and just clear their mind,” explained Younghusband.

“We have little mats for you to sit on, or if you aren’t comfortable on the floor you can sit in a chair. And then we just say it’s time for everyone to be quiet and we start using our own way to clear our mind. We have a candle in front because fire is pure, and we look out the windows.”

Younghusband is quick to point out that proper relaxation doesn’t just happen after one session. She suggests trying it daily, but acknowledges that it’s sometimes difficult to do so with a student schedule.

“We say after 45 days on a regular basis, you will be able to meditate for 20 minutes with no thoughts coming into your mind. But if they do, you just switch back again to clearing your mind.”

At the end of the 20 minutes, a bell will ring and students will take their time leaving the room. The PowerPoint presentation is only necessary for first-timers, so for those returning to the class, they only need to show up at 12:30 for the 20 minute meditation.

Since the first session offered this semester, the class has grown to at least 10 people, and the gender is evenly mixed, according to Younghusband. Attendance represents a diverse sampling of the university community.

Stress is a huge factor for diseases, and impacts everyday student life, but meditation can help ease some of those stresses.

“[Meditation is] good for people physically, mentally, and emotionally; it helps with arthritis and diabetes because it is a positive outlook on life, and is stress free,” added Younghusband.

“Come and see if it fits your lifestyle and see if it is something you might like to explore…probably more than once. Try it two or three times. Students leave saying this was nice, this was so quiet, this was so refreshing.”

If the meditation classes are as successful as they have been in the first few weeks, it will become a regular occurrence at the Counselling Centre. Younghusband says that participation is booming, and hopes that students will try something positive for themselves.

“Now we are getting requests from faculty and staff as well. There is a real awareness out there that you need more than just work or study; you need a balance. That’s the key.”