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Cura in Mind: Campus Rec Helps Billikens Live Well Beyond the Gym

03/27/2020

Maybe it’s a need to beat stress by working up a sweat in a spin class. Or a deeper yen to learn yoga and mindfulness techniques. Or it could be a desire to get answers about health and wellness questions.

Students lift weights and social distance at the Simon Recreation Center.

Students lift weights and social distance at the Simon Recreation Center. SLU photo

When it comes to helping Billikens live balanced, health-focused lives while on campus and after as alumni, Saint Louis University’s Department of Campus Recreation and Wellness (Campus Rec) is committed to caring for student needs inside the walls of SLU’s Simon Recreation Center and beyond the gym.

As wellness – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual – becomes an increasingly visible issue on campuses across the country, the SLU community has stepped in and stepped up to care for their fellow students, faculty and staff members with new programs, resources and opportunities to connect in the spirit of cura personalis.

Nationally, the incidence and awareness of mental health and wellness issues has increased on college campuses.  The Chronicle of Higher Education, among others, has highlighted the rise in student mental health needs in recent years.

Event as the University community has adapted to meet the challenge of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, its facilities, classes and resources are still helping Billikens say well.

"As we know, the Novel Coronavirus brings many unknowns into the college experience, and, as a result, mental health support for students, faculty and staff is of utmost importance," Jodi Seals, assistant director of campus recreation and wellness, said. 

As semester continues, Campus Rec will be offer its usual array of events and programs, but event and class formats and locations will look a little different this semester.

Group fitness classes will be offered in person, with safeguards in place, and virtually to give students many opportunities to participate. Planned events and programs include virtual step challenges, "Ask Listen Refer" training, Mental Health First Aid training, and more.

"Physical distancing does not mean social isolation, so our wellness efforts will be focused on finding ways to keep students connected this semester while keeping everyone safe," Tori Harwood, the University's wellness coordinator, explained. "Our Billiken Wellness Ambassadors are really excited to try new and innovative programs to support students’ mind, body and spirit." 

The Mission is Wellness

Cura personalis centers all of the programming provided by Campus Rec, and recently, the department has invested new resources to supporting student well-being. Mental wellness and stress management are two newer priority areas Campus Rec has honed in on, Seals said.

The department hired a new wellness coordinator, Tori Harwood, in 2019, whose focus is on expanding SLU’s wellness programs.

“Mental health and well-being is core to our strategic plan and has been for several years,” Seals explained. “Our data consistently points to the mental health struggles of our students, which is not unlike most other higher education institutions. But we have cura personalis as part of our mission, and that means we have an even more important obligation to support our students and to meet their needs.”

A Host of Programs to Support Student Needs

Students spin and whirl in a zumba class in the Simon Recreation Center.

Students spin and whirl as part of a Zumba class at the Simon Recreation Center before the social distancing measures necessary to protect the campus community from 2020's COVID-19 pandemic. SLU file photo

Learn About SLU’s Wellness Programs

Campus Rec offers a wide array of fitness, wellness and stress-busting options. From jogging to pottery painting classes to rock-climbing, the department aims to offer students a myriad of ways to make attending to their health and well-being part of their daily routines.

While college life can be stressful, Seals and her fellow Campus Rec staff members, emphasize a multi-faceted approach to fitness – one that takes place beyond the walls of the Simon Recreation Center.

We want to support students’ holistic health and not just be a facility where they strengthen their physical bodies."

Jodi Seals, assistant director of campus recreation and wellness

To that end, Campus Rec has teamed up with partners from across the University to offer stress-busting events like its pre-finals De-Stress Fest and Post-Secret U project.

“We try to offer opportunities for students to free their minds for a brief few minutes and to tap into some creative energy and engage in other methods of stress management and mindfulness,” Seals said. “We want to support students’ holistic health and not just be a facility where they strengthen their physical bodies. We want to offer facilities and options where every dimension of health can be improved.”

A view of a socially distanced spin class at Simon Recreation Center.

A view of a socially distanced spin class at the Simon Recreation Center. SLU photo

Empowering the SLU Community to Offer Care, Connections

Education is a critical component of Campus Rec’s mission and programming. Campus Rec offers a number of educational resources including courses on topics ranging from education about drug and alcohol abuse, mental health crisis management and suicide prevention resources.

“We want to empower our whole community to take a role in helping those who are struggling,” Seals said. “It is critical because, unfortunately, when crises happen and students are harmed, we are not a whole community and we suffer right along with the person and their loved ones”

A group yoga class in the Simon Recreation Center.

Campus Recreation offers a host of programs from yoga to de-stress fests to help students find balance in life prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yoga and other programs moved online in the summer of 2020 as part of the social distancing necessary to protecting the campus community from the pandemic. SLU file photo

“Ultimately, if we can’t help each other, we lose valuable members of the community who may have taken drastic measures to end their pain,” she continued. “Those are true tragedies and young lives that we don’t want to lose.”

Throughout its programs, including in its formal volunteer Peer Educator Program, Campus Rec works to help peers reach out to peers as a means of educating the SLU community about health and wellness issues.

By drawing on the power of community and connection, Campus Rec works to ensure all SLU students know they matter to their fellow students, staff and faculty members.

“We have two protective factors we can offer students who might be struggling,” Seals said. “We know the value of exercise in improving mental health. But, more than that, most often in recreation, it’s not exercise but a connection to community that can make a difference.”

In Jodi’s Words

Jodi Seals near the indoor track in the Simon Recreation Center

Question: What draws you to help students live in a spirit of cura personalis - living well in mind, body and spirit?

What fuels my passion working with college students is seeing them develop into thriving, resilient and successful adults. They can only do that if we empower them with the skills to support all dimensions of their well-being. So I do my best to try to find what each individual student is motivated by and then use that to develop them in any ways that I can.

Each unique student has different priorities for their wellness so I use different approaches informed by the social ecological model of health promotion to really identify how best to help each student. When we do larger scale programming we try to combine several different approaches so all students will get something out of it.

The great part of student wellness is that all students share it! That commonality really levels the playing field so students can engage in many different areas of health behavior and well-being. 

Our Jesuit mission is so closely tied to the work we do with student wellness and we build our health promotion and education strategic plan closely around those principles of mind, body and spirit. We use evidence-based and data-informed practices to make sure we provide the optimal support for students to gain control of their health and improve and/or develop health outcomes that they will carry into adulthood.

We have such a unique opportunity to do this but the success depends heavily on our partners across the division and the greater SLU community. I am grateful to work every day with colleagues who value our students as much as I do!  We are all working towards to same goals to empower our students to make the best decisions possible for their health and well-being!

Nationally and at home here at SLU, mental health and wellness issues have become increasingly visible. In the spirit of cura personalis, the University community's call to  “care for the individual person” and to respect the dignity of each person as a child of God, Cura in Mind, a limited series, is shining a light on the ways that Billikens are helping students cope, manage and thrive mentally and emotionally on campus.

The series aims to give those working on mental health issues on campus a chance to reach out to let Billikens know that there are friends, faculty and staff members who are here to help.

Story by Amelia Flood, University Marketing and Communications.