The Center for Inclusion and Belonging hosted an Unwind & Thrive event on Tuesday for students to learn about different ways to manage stress management.
The event was led by two mental health interns at Cosumnes River College, Sarah Bondy and Reyna Bazikian, who spoke about stress and led two mindfulness activities. Bondy started by explaining what stress is, what can cause it and how students can work to respond to it. Bazikian followed by explaining the different ways students can physically and mentally react to stressors.
“Stress is your reaction to something happening in the world. It’s like your body’s 911 system,” Bondy said.
The first activity required participants to stand in a circle and toss a ball between each other in the same order, adding a different ball each round. The aim of the activity was to show students can only focus on so many things at a time.
Bazikian said students most often feel episodic acute stress, stress that reoccurs on a regular basis. She said that students feel the weight of this stress immensely during finals.
Bazikian went over a list of different methods students can use to cope with stress. Deep breathing, listening to music and physical activity were a few on the list.
The second activity required participants to create a schedule throughout a day and note their energy levels through the day. The aim of this activity was to try and see when a student has more or less energy to exert on their daily activities.
While the event was going on, students were also welcomed to eat a donut, paint or make bracelets and pins.
Akaysia Hill, a 26-year-old mental health advocate, said the event helped her learn to manage her stress with the multiple different stressors in her life.
“I think I gained the tactic of prioritizing when I feel like my best self, so that I can actually tackle the things that stress me the most,” Hill said.
Concluding the presentation, Bondy and Bazikian reminded students that CRC offers around the clock, free mental health services in order to help students and destigmatize mental health.
“Taking control when we can is a really proactive way of handling our stress,” Bondy said.