Students and staff de-stressed last Wednesday as the school focused on mindfulness and letting go of anxiety.

For this “Wellness Wednesday,” Kelly Venezia, who started counseling this year, put together a meditation session held in the auditorium during lunch periods, allowing students and staff to relax and focus on the present moment.

Participants were allowed into the auditorium for 20 minutes at a time. Soothing music was played to create a calm atmosphere. Students were encouraged to close their eyes and listen to the music, focusing on being in the moment and not thinking. They focused on their breathing to eliminate any stresses or worries that they were feeling. 

Nicole Sandas, a school counselor who took charge of the meditation session, shared a website called Calm.com to help spread Venezia’s mindfulness and well-being initiative.

The website is centered around meditation and self-care. It has hundreds of guided meditations, with purposes ranging from managing anxiety and depression to sleeping better at night. All the guided meditations are intended to help calm users and encourage them to focus on themselves. There is yoga, soothing music, and meditation stories that users can participate in. The site also includes a setting that allows the meditation to be timed, so it does not run all night.

All students and staff can access the website through a username and password that Venezia created.

Sandas said that “meditating and being in the moment is very important because it allows for students to not worry about other thoughts.” She adds that “mediation can be for as little as ten minutes to an hour.  It’s about focusing on yourself and figuring out what your body needs.”

When asked about her experience, Sophomore Veronica Zanca said, “I liked it a lot; I felt very relaxed after meditating. It was nice that Ms. Venezia gave out the information for the website so we could use it for free. I would try meditating again.”