As the campus begins to wake up with a heap of students hurrying to finish tests and write final papers and projects, there comes the stressed, tired eyes of those same students. With finals around the corner, students find themselves struggling to keep calm. Reaching for coffee and and other uppers can be detrimental to one’s health, as most students can tell hours later when their bodies feel like crashing. There was a surplus of students Nov. 28 awaiting the chance to hopefully calm their nerves and take a breather at Houston Hall. Guest speaker Dr. Susan Becker came to teach students how to easily de-stress themselves.

“Dr. Becker does an exceptional job with guided imagery and muscle relaxation, which is a great way to calm down,” President of Psychology Club Brittnee Smith said.

At the event, everyone was asked to lie on the floor and get comfortable, and Dr. Becker asked each student to find their “happy place.” Deep breathing overtook the room as Dr. Becker spoke in a soothing voice, leading everyone in and then out of the guided imagery.

“A few deep breaths can really lower my heart rate and allow me to focus on what I need to do,” Smith said.

As finals approach, students find that simply concentrating on breathing can result in a calmer and clearer mindset.

As the evening continued, so did the new information about how a simple headache can be the result of uneasy breathing, or how taking a short walk can minimize stress.

“People come out of the session feeling one of the two ways, like they want to take a nap or like they can take on the rest of the day with no problem,” Deni Taylor said.

As the session came to an end, there was a sense of relief and calmness that seemed to have overcome mostly everyone.

“My favorite part was seeing everyone just zonk out and lay on the floor during the guided imagery,” Taylor said. “It allows you to take your mind off of everything and concentrate on yourself.”

With new feelings of ease, it appeared that the biggest lesson learned on Wednesday evening was that sometimes we all need to just take a deep breath and relax.