Student Union Facilities and Event Services has created a meditation room for students to relax and release stress located on the second floor of the Russell Union room 2040.

The meditation room provides students a space to minimize their stress through meditation, and embrace tranquility.

“It truly feels like a place to relax and hangout,” David Lloyd, senior technology major, said. “Anywhere else I go, I have the underlying feeling that I’m in a classroom.”

The mediation room exuberats a cozy intamite aura. Electric blue lights, giant bean bags, fluffy pillows and an aqua colored tapestry accents the room.

The room features a projector displaying a wood hot fire and an aromatic essential oil diffuser to complete the peaceful ambiance of the room.

“I’ve associated the only other ‘quiet place’ on campus, the Henderson library, with hours of frustrating studying,” Lloyd  said. “ So it’s nice to have a place that is only associated with relaxation.”

Kyndra Thompson, Reservations Coordinator for Student Union Facilities and Event Services, believes students undergo various forms of stress, and the meditation room can be a harmonious escape from the rowdy Union commons.

“I think everybody deals with their own kind of personal stress,” Thompson said. “I can’t pinpoint how many students have anxiety, but I would assume it would be those that probably stay away from the middle of the Union, and all the loudness of the commons.”  

Each university department is required to follow Georgia Southern’s strategic plan which focuses on leadership, diversity, wellness and learning.

“I’m assuming each department on campus was tasked to bring those ideas to life in their own department,” Thompson said.“ So the way that we brought wellness to life was through the meditation room.”

Thompson isn’t certain yet of how many students use the meditation room.

“I’ve gotten unofficial feedback, nothing in survey form,” Thompson said. “People that utilize the space says the space is relatively quiet, it’s not overwhelming, say like if you were sitting in the middle of the union.”

The meditation room is available during the Union’s normal hours of operation.

Tori Collins, The George-Anne Daily Reporter, ganewsed@georgiasouthern.