Meditative practices are bringing the Kent State community together, even from the comfort of their own home.
Kent State of Wellness has moved its Meditation Across Campus sessions online, in an effort to continue the sessions despite the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The Meditation Across Campus sessions were introduced by Kent State of Wellness in fall 2018 to help relieve stress and anxiety.
Melissa Celko, the director of Kent State of Wellness, has been practicing meditation for decades and knows the benefits it can provide for individuals, especially during this time.
“Meditation can help in many ways,” Celko said. “It can help reduce levels of stress and boost your immune system, which are two really important things right now considering the coronavirus pandemic across the globe.”
The sessions are now held online through Zoom, in effort to create a sense of community.
“Zoom is a great tool because you get to see other faces and hear other voices,” Celko said. “We keep everyone muted and then at the end of the video call people can ask questions or share their experiences.”
Additionally, the online sessions give people an opportunity to continue their practice and come together to meditate in a group.
“Community meditation is a very different experience than meditating on your own,” Celko said. “It helps to have it guided by someone, so you can really be present in the moment.”
The sessions may be able to give people a sense of peacefulness during this time.
“I hope people are able to get that sense of connection and reminder that they are part of a bigger community: Kent State University, and that there are others in the community who are feeling the same things that they are,” Celko said. “This is Flashes Taking Care of Flashes, and this is giving us an opportunity to live what that means.”
Celko understands that it can be hard for students to participate because of having schoolwork and other pressing issues but expressed that the sessions can be very beneficial, and she would love to have more students involved.
“You don’t need to have a video, you don’t have to speak, you can just listen and experience for yourself,” Celko said “It’s an easy and comfortable environment where everyone can be themselves.”
The sessions take place Mondays and Friday at noon, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and Wednesday’s at 4:30 p.m.; however, these sessions are only scheduled to go through the week of May 18th. The summer schedule will be different.
The classes are between 15 and 30 minutes, but an hour is set aside on zoom if people have questions.
“Every session is different based on a lot of things, but mostly it's the facilitators opportunity,” Celko said. “If I am not facilitating a session, I am usually there to control the session, answer questions, hear about people's experiences and help if people need additional resources.”
To join a session visit www.kent.edu/stateofwellness/meditation, or Google ‘Kent State University Meditation.’