Physical health is one of the most important things in our life for numerous reasons, but in recent years, people have shifted their focus to mental and emotional health. Whether that be anxiety or stress, there has been a rise in mental and psychological struggles. In the news we have heard several celebrities come out about having anxiety, like Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, David Beckham, Oprah, Chris Evans and so many more. It isn’t just celebrities that struggle with this though; many of the people at BHS struggle with mental health issues.

Harrison Interactive conducted a study in 2010 involving people ages 8-17 and found that 44% of participants have seen an increase in their stress. They reported that an average of 71% of people suffer from their intense workloads. The scariest thing though is that 25% have stress from nothing. The Zen Den will try to help students with their stress.

Stress and other emotional health issues should not be something to embarrassed about. Every single person can suffer. Nobody is immune to this  just because they are popular, bullied, in shape, out of shape, male, female, gay, straight, etc. we can all struggle. One of the worst things for this is to hide or stuff it down. Think of this as a balloon and each time you push it down or avoid this you blow into the ballon sit will get bigger and bigger until it pops. Now as a human we can’t literally pop from holding and stuffing, but what can happen is we snap we can yell and get angry at the people who did nothing and nobody wants that. This will allow us to not pop now imagine the ballon again when you do mindfulness things you can let out the air until its empty.

Stress has been proven to cause low energy, headaches, and lack of motivation or focus, says the Mayo Clinic. When you’re not feeling stressed out, it is much easier for you to function throughout the day.  We can’t hide from the fact that we all suffer from stress sometimes, but there are ways to help relieve it.

The Zen Den will be starting at the beginning of February in room 517 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at lunch. There will be many options to choose from, including a mindfulness class and a way to calm your head and relax. They will also offer yoga classes and will have special guests leading mindfulness sessions. The creators of the Zen Den recommend at least going once and if you don’t enjoy it then you don’t have to return, but if you do you could’ve just stumbled upon one of the best things for yourself and others. This is a very good opportunity for everyone to get into a good headspace. It should be taken advantage of because if successful, it will be getting its own permanent room in the new building.

The amount of stress that we have in our lives is catastrophic, 36% of teens suffer from stress reported by the APA. To help reduce the amount of stress in your life, come to room 517 at lunch Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Make this the best semester for you and your mental health!

If you don’t have the time to visit at lunch that’s okay or if you don’t want to go I have some great exercises to practice. Download the Headspace app and try out the first lesson this is the best way of this it was created by a monk who studied this topic and created this. The other one I have is tapping tap your hands switching every tap on your left or right you can use either your shoulders, knees, and feet this is a really great way to help test anxiety as well. The last tip that I have is do get a peace of paper and put it horizontal put a dot in the middle and when stresses draw an infinity sign and where the two part meet use that circle and just trace over the same line as best you can till you feel calm. These are all very helpful tools to try and I’m you like them you should see the Zen Den.