Students are encouraged to lay motionless with their eyes closed during the new Wellness Course at Bexley High School. That’s because they are meditating.
“The course is guided for the students to achieve wellness,” Bexley High School teacher Sarah Flower said. “And that is the mind and the body interconnectivity, which is what the course is based off of.”
Along with learning about
the connection between the mind and body, student will examine mental health,
stress, and managing emotions. They will also do low-impact movements, like
yoga and meditation, two times a week.
“I created the class basically based on what I thought was a need for the students,” Flower said. “I had gotten a lot of feedback about them needing time to talk about mental health, to have a class where they're kind of dedicated to that, and give them space within their day to kind of rejuvenate but in a really effective way.”
Students in the course said it is a great idea, and they
are glad they are taking it.
“I think it's really beneficial, because I feel like a lot of people don't know a lot about mental health and how to like look at it and everything,” senior Camille Manring said.
“I feel like we hear a lot of stuff about mental health, but we don't really learn about it,” senior Quinn Kane said. “It’s good that we have a class so we can talk about it.”
Thirty-eight students are in two sections of Wellness during
the first semester. Flower said she hopes the students learn something they can
use for a lifetime.
“I want every student to have a greater understanding of themselves today and to have a set of skills for their mental and emotional health for the rest of their lives.”