UofGH Cool Classes: Stress Management, Meditation and Relaxation

Why is this course interesting?

Being stressed out and overwhelmed can feel like a way of life for many students, but University of Guelph-Humber Kinesiology instructor Dr. Noah Gentner is dedicated to showing students it doesn’t have to be that way. In his one-semester practicum course “Stress Management, Meditation and Relaxation,” Kinesiology students learn a wide variety of stress management tools and techniques for now and into the future.

“It’s rare to have a class that gives people a life skill they can not only use right now, but in the future. With this class they can start using the techniques immediately, and hopefully it will be an important part of their lives,” says Dr. Gentner. “This might be the only course you take that actually lowers your stress. It might be one that hopefully gives you more energy, and takes things off your plate instead of adding more to it.”

What will you learn?

Kinesiology students will learn about stress, its historical context, and the physical and psychological impacts it has on the body and mind. They then explore different stress management techniques – including breathing and relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness.

Students also research and present on a particular stress management technique; presentations are conducted at the Humber Residence, and are open to the entire UofGH and Humber communities. The schedule is posted on the Humber Centre for Healthy Living website. “The big part of the presentation is that the presenters lead us in an activity, so we can actually practice what the technique is,” says Dr. Gentner.

Students have presented many techniques over the years – including meditation, yoga, colouring, arts and crafts, making lava lamps and stress balls, origami, painting, walking in the arboretum, music, healthy eating, dance, and Zumba. “The presentations are a great opportunity for students to choose something they already do, and bring it to the rest of the class and community. It’s also your chance to explore something brand new that you’ve never heard of before, or have always been interested in – this is a safe place to explore that,” says Dr. Gentner. “It’s really fun, and students always come up with creative options to take us through.”

What will you take away from the course?

Students will build their repertoire of stress management techniques that they can use during their time at UofGH and beyond. “I tell students I’m going to throw a lot at them, and I don’t expect that they will like every technique, but I hope they’ll like one or two of them that they will make their go-to,” says Dr. Gentner. “I want them to walk out of the class and say I have something new I can do.”

Dr. Gentner also says that students become mindful of how important stress management is. “I also want them to be aware of the importance of taking care of ourselves, and managing our stress, and not getting to the point where it becomes all too much – I want them to come away with a general awareness that they don’t have to feel this way.”