Busting Stress

From M, fall 2005

It's estimated that 60 to 90 percent of visits to the doctor involve complaints related to stress. Stress can impair your memory, give you high blood pressure, ulcers, and digestive difficulties. It can also dangerously impair your immune system, leading to a whole host of problems. Stress can kill and we ignore it at our peril. But students, faculty, and staff on the Twin Cities campus have a chance, in the middle of their work or school day, to quiet their thoughts, pay attention to their breath, and learn to deal with stress.

The Center for Spirituality and Healing offers "Stress Busters," an hour of informal meditation, light yoga, and stretching every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 12:15-1:15 p.m., in the Meditation Room in the Mayo Building. People come as they are, with perhaps no experience with meditation, and instructors guide them through exercises that leave them feeling physically, emotionally, and intellectually rejuvenated. And the benefits stretch far beyond lunchtime. Along with the new on-campus farmers market, Stress Busters is a way that the University is turning its attention to the health and well-being of the people who work and study here.

Go to the Center for Spirituality and Healing and the calendar of events for more information on Stress Busters and the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program. Or call 612-624-9459.