It is widely acknowledged that as college students and professors it is in our nature to live a fast-paced life, because our daily routines are typically packed with lectures, meetings, emails, homework, and studying. As the days pass by, college students and sometimes faculty can be inadvertently negligent in tending to their physical and or mental well-being. The prerequisites of the lifestyles in college are impactful to our daily routines, and we must have options to help maintain or find balance.
Luckily, the Ping Recreation Center on campus, located in the back South Green, is soon introducing a wing dedicated to helping manage these impacts. The Wellbeing Wing offers many new and exciting serene rooms, objects, activities, and equipment to enhance overall well-being and foster a more diverse environment surrounding mental and physical health.
Undoubtedly, I work with a very creative and loving group of people at the Women’s Center in Baker Center, and have amazing bosses who organize incredible events for their staff. We were lucky to be given an exclusive, private tour of the Wellbeing Wing by the genius, kind staff of Ping as a welcome back-to-school staff kick-off! The tour began in the lobby and proceeded to the second floor; then, we walked past the lockers into this secret room full of other smaller rooms with a plethora of stimuli and decompressors. Each room is carefully tailored to ensure that students can prioritize and assess their well-being by offering their own intricate, unique, synergistic interventions.
The most interesting, in my opinion, was the light therapy room, which used a light therapy box that mimicked natural outdoor light and was almost like a smaller room inside the main room of the wing. It is the middle of September, and winter is near, the seasonal depression can sneak up on us just like those deadlines. This room’s cubicle-like chairs are designed to increase serotonin and, in most cases, melatonin in the brain, promoting an improved mood and better sleep. I anticipate that this room will reinforce the importance of taking time to improve our state of mind, mood, and even physical health to flourish in this sometimes demanding learning environment.
Another key point to note is this wing is for all of those eligible to attend Ping; but, this paragraph specifically is for the chronic Morton and Jeff Hill users. Of course, all us Bobbies know the pain of waking up every day and having to face our huge campus while carrying a backpack with books, computers, and more. Smile and release a sigh of relief. There will be no more stiffness or discomfort for Ping Wellbeing Wing attendees with the introduction of another innovative machine named the CryoLounge chair, which offers a balanced and more holistic approach to massage therapy. The chair provides combinations of heat, cold, and pressure to relieve specific areas of the body from aching without having to rely only on physical exercise, maximizing the ideal post-campus trudge.
Undoubtedly, you will find this fun fact quite surprising (well, at least I did when we toured the last room of the wing that I would never assume a gym would provide). The last room contained private reservable study spaces that also served as a place for counseling services with really cool marble sand tables. Yes, Ping offers a reservable space to study and do school oriented tasks, not just spaces for pickleball or tennis! I know the gym does not seem like the typical place to settle and study or hang out in your leisure time, but Ping is not your typical gym. Besides the spaces in the wing with massage and lounge chairs and light therapy, the entire space is a safe resource in the gym to help encourage and continue a culture of openness and support.
Overall, Ping Recreation Center can have the presumed impression that it is exclusively for exercise, gym bros, or sweating away on the Stairmaster, but this new wing is the reconditioning of those previous assumptions. The wing offers a myriad of recreational and mental stimuli to ensure students have access to resources for managing stress levels, moods, sleep, muscle aches, and support. Next time you find yourself seeking a new place to get away on campus and reset, do not count out the Ping Recreation Center and consider taking advantage of the restoring light therapy, or get cozy and relieve your nerves of the weekend pains, all at the Wellbeing Wing coming soon to Ping!