The Student Health and Psychological Services at Rio Hondo have started a free weekly class focusing around stress reduction for students on Oct. 14 in room LR105.

The introduction class began with introductions and information on what the class would cover. It changes every week and each time will delve more into topics such as how stress and anxiety are different, what causes stress, and methods on how to safely deal with it.

The classes are set up to be open to students’ busy schedules and do not hold the same requirements as a normal class. Students may come to as many or as few sessions as they like. These sessions are held by psychotherapy interns Dawn Glover and Ryan Witherspoon.

Each class is held to a promise of confidentiality as they work as a discussion between the instructors and the students present.

If willing, students can reveal personal things that are currently stressing them out at home or school or anywhere else and discuss with the instructors or fellow class members about why it stresses them.

One exercise that started off the first class was focused on “open mindedness,” a Buddhist idea of being aware of thoughts that one has but trying to focus in on a specific object to not lose oneself in those thoughts. Participants were instructed to stare at their hand for ten whole minutes and simply focus on the features.

After ten minutes of silence, participants were asked if they felt anything noteworthy after the exercise. The point of it was to show that ten minutes can seem like an eternity when one is focusing intensely or doing something mundane.

The take-away from this is to show that even when life seems to be sprinting past us and we feel like we don’t have a moment, just being silent for ten minutes can “make” space in the day to breathe and try to de-stress.

“Stress is a part of our lives,” Said student Jenny Pham who attended the stress reduction class on Oct. 14. “People are enduring stress and have to cope with it concerning working, studying, money, family, or friends’ relationships. A lot of things cause stress. [This class] helps cope with stress so I highly recommend it.”

Breathing exercises provided by UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center at marc.ucla.edu were used to conclude the first class.

This exercise was seen positively by Alyssa Rios. “I learned the stress exercises to help me with my breathing and meditation,” Rios said. “It’s a really good class to take…because next Wednesday we’re going to be talking about stress and how [the class] is going to help. I know a lot of people have a lot of stress with midterms and finals.”

Classes are held every Wednesday from five to five-fifty p.m. and will continue until the end of the semester with the hopes of continuing into the spring semester.

The class is open to all students at Rio Hondo and welcomes walk-ins every week. The idea is to use it whenever students might feel overwhelmed and would like a little help.