The Gender and Sexuality Center hosts yoga and mindfulness sessions to destress students during midterms. PHOTO CREDIT: Maddie Bataille | Photo Editor
To give students an outlet before midterms, the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Rhode Island hosted a yoga session on March 4.
The session, led by sophomore Emma Rousseau, the wellness and mindfulness coordinator of the center, was two sessions long, one from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and another from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Students were guided through a basic sun salutation, a beginner yoga skill and a guided meditation.
While she is not a certified yoga instructor, Rousseau said that she has always had a deep appreciation for yoga and meditation because of the therapeutic effects it can have.
“Ever since high school, I’ve loved yoga and been into mindfulness because I feel like mindfulness brings happiness,” Rousseau said. “I know that people tend to get stressed out before midterms so I figured that a yoga and meditation event would be really good.”
The auditorium of the Gender and Sexuality Center, located on Upper College Road, was set up with about 10 yoga mats for participants to use. During “golden hour,” the sun shone through the windows at the far end of the room, providing a calming aspect for students participating.
To continue the calm energy, rain sounds and other soothing noises played out of a speaker in the far corner of the room.
Students were led through different basic yoga skills, such as child’s pose, warrior I, warrior II and downward dog. The poses were juvenile enough for students with little-to-no yoga experience to participate in effortlessly.
To follow, students were led through a guided meditation experience provided by the app “Calm”, an app used for meditation sounds and sleep stories.
After meditation, students ended off the event with another round of yoga.
In addition to being held right before midterms, Rousseau said that she chose to have the event on a Friday so that students could release the stress of the week going into the weekend.
“During the week, it can be really stressful for people to get here,” Rousseau said. “I know that I have a lot of homework during the week, so I felt like Friday was a really good time. I also had it right after most classes end, so students could stop in on their way out of campus.”
Billy Surdyk, a junior data science major at the University, said that he “really enjoyed” the yoga session led by Rousseau.
“I haven’t done yoga in a while, and I thought it felt really good. I thought that the meditation helped break up the yoga portion, which was good, because I haven’t done it in a while and I was hurting,” Surdyk said.
Surdyk said that he visits the Gender and Sexuality Center often, calling it a “safe space” for LGBTQIA+ students at URI.
Rousseau said that her favorite part of yoga is the “loose, relaxed feeling” in her muscles after finishing a session. She also mentioned that meditation is something she does often.
“I really like meditation because it puts me in such a relaxed state that when I’m done with it, I sit up and am really ready to take on my work,” Rousseau said. “People are always stimulated and meditation really gives you a break to be at peace with your thoughts.”
For more information on Gender and Sexuality Center events, check out their Instagram, @urigenderandsexualitycenter.