Meditative exercises condition while lowering stress
Patty Cottingham
leads a Sunday
afternoon yoga
class at Roseberry's
martial arts center,
1811N St. During
the two-hour class,
Cottingham directs
her students
through a series of
muscle strengthen
ing positions.
Sharon Kolbet/DN
YOGA from page 1
benefit her in perform
ances.
Cottingham said
many people find yoga
techniques transfer to
their everyday lives.
“You don’t have to
be a vegetarian or go to
mountain tops,” she
said. “What ends up
happening is you start
to do it and it feels so
good, it then starts to
filter into your life. It
makes you more body
aware.”
Amy Leising,
another UNL graduate,
began practicing yoga
in March and has kept
coming back for simi
lar reasons.
“It's very relaxing
for me to come do
this,” she said. “It’s a big
help with stress reduc
tion. I don’t want to
leave when we’re
done.”
Roseberry’s offers a
variety of martial arts,
and can be reached for
session dates and fees
at (402) 474-K3CK. The
YWCA, Prairie Life
Center and the
Campus Recreation
Center also offer yoga
classes for nominal
fees.
Good nutrition on the college menu
BY LAUREN ADAMS
The food of choice for college
students usually consists of cereal,
Ramen noodles and the dessert
bar in the cafeteria.
No wonder the “Freshmen 15"
is a looming threat for so many
students.
While good nutrition and col
lege don’t always go together,
some students said it is possible to
live a healthy college lifestyle.
Most students have their own
theories on eating right Freshman
general education major Joe
Hulsebusch said he believes in
moderation.
“I don’t usually watch what I
eat, I just watch how much I eat,”
Hulsebusch said.
Sophomore art major Audrey
Sayer said it is important not to let
healthy ideals to run your life.
“There needs to be a balance,”
Sayer said “A lot of college women
are obsessed with their body
image and eating or exercising. It’s
good to be healthy, but it’s not
something I think you should
stress about”
The University Health Center
offers several services concerning
students’ nutrition.
Nutrition counseling includes
education and therapy to help
guide students to a healthier
lifestyle.
Karen Miller, a registered dieti
tian at the Health Center, said
while a lot of students wouldn’t
consider their eating habits
healthy, many students may be
too hard on themselves.
“Most students are doing bet
ter than they think,” Miller said.
“There are usually just a few areas
that need work.”
Miller said while she only sees
a segment of the college popula
tion, trends are still obvious.
“The main things lacking in
student diets are usually fruits,
vegetables and dairy products,”
Miller said. “But after a few adjust
ments, they can get back on track.
I try to make it very student
focused.”
One of the goals of the pro
gram is to help students learn to
make healthy decisions, she said.
“Students are bombarded
with lots of information and don’t
have a basic knowledge of nutri
tion,” Miller said. “They need to
know how to interpret informa
tion and make it applicable to
their own lives.”
In addition to nutrition coun
seling, Miller also leads a weight
regulation class called “Another
Weigh.” The 6-week-long class
teaches skills in regulating weight.
The class begins Oct. 5 and costs
$20.
Stress management
possible with practice
BY MARGARET BEHM
You’re 10 minutes late for
class, your dog ate your home
work and some old woman in a
Volvo just stole your parking
spot.
Sounds like you’re stressed.
Stress is an everyday part of
our lives. Sometimes it can be
overwhelming. But with some
practice, it can get easier to
deal with.
Mary bwoboda, a clinical
social worker at the University
Health Center, said it’s com
mon for people to go through
times when they’re stressed.
“I think everybody has peri
ods of life when they're over
whelmed,” Swoboda said.
Symptoms of stress range
from anxiety, sleeplessness and
not eating properly.
If someone is under over
whelming stress for a longer
period of time, it may lead to
depression, Luis Diaz
Perdomo, a psychologist at the
University Health Center said.
Not dealing with stress
properly is what makes people
not feel well, he said.
“It’s not the stress that
makes these signs appear, it’s
you not managing your stress,”
Diaz-Perdomo said.
To help students learn how
to deal with stress, the
University Health Center has
the Relaxation Hour.
The program takes place
Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:20
p.m. It is free for students and
no reservation is necessary.
The program features a new
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relaxation exercise such as
muscle relaxation, visualiza
tion or breathing exercises
each week.
Students can determine
which exercise works best for
them.
It is important to train
yourself to deal with stress like
you would train yourself for
other things, Diaz-Perdomo
said.
"The idea of any kind of
training is practice,” he said.
“You have to do it like you
would physical conditioning.”
Sometimes people use
stress relievers that are damag
ing, Diaz-Perdomo said.
"Stress relievers can be
damaging if the only thing they
know how to do is go and drink
to relieve stress,” he said.
“Pretty soon that one beer
doesn’t do it anymore. Then it’s
two, then three.”
Students can also go to the
University Health Center for
biofeedback training, which is
when a machine measures how
much stress a person's body is
under.
inis is important Decause
you may not even know that
your body is stressed, Swoboda
said.
“A lot of people don’t realize
when they’re stressed,” she
said. “Your body gets to think
ing it’s normal. So you should
recondition yourself to be
relaxed instead of being
stressed.”
Students also get three free
counseling sessions at the
University Health Center.
Students should take
advantage of the sessions,
Diaz-Perdomo said.
“It’s not like you have to be
crazy to go to a counselor,” he
said. “If you have some doubts
or concerns, come see a coun
selor.”
College students can be
stressed by a variety of things.
Many college students feel
overwhelmed from the burden
of classes, Swoboda said.
“A lot of people talk about
that when you’re in school,
you’re never really done with
it,” she said. “You can’t just go
home and say ‘OK, I’m done
with it for today.’”
College students also often
work too many hours, Diaz
Perdomo said.
“Sometimes I have to ask a
student to take a step back and
ask themselves, ‘Am I a student
or a worker that’s taking class
es?”’