One TCU professor is working to establish a SKY meditation club in hopes of reducing stress and enhancing brain function among students.
Dr. Shweta Reddy, an associate professor in the fashion merchandising department, said she learned how to manage her stress through SKY meditation.
SKY stands for Sudarshan Kriya yoga, which is a breathing practice resulting in a variety of health benefits.
“Establishing a meditation club on campus is essential because students experience so much stress these days, resulting in anxiety and depression,” Reddy said.
Reddy first experienced SKY meditation while participating in the SKY Campus Happiness Program at the University of Texas at Arlington, a weekend program that was held for 12 hours over three days.
“I found great value in it, so I want to bring it to TCU,” Reddy said. “My health had taken a beating, [now] I am in the best shape I have ever been, and I feel so much more energetic and zealous.”
Forty universities nationwide have a SKY meditation club, including Harvard and Cornell.
Reddy believes that students lack teaching on how to cope with their workload, and she hopes this program will help them as much as it helped her.
“Kids put so much pressure on themselves, they want to be perfectionists,” said Reddy.
The data supports Reddy’s desire — SKY meditation increases well-being and positive emotions, according to the International Association for Human Values.
Tallon Endicott, the student director for TCU contemplative studies, also says meditation has helped him.
“Meditation has enhanced my ability to focus, and it has also helped me feel more present in my body and in the world around me,” Endicott said. “I believe that these things not only make me a better student but a better person.”
Reddy has organized a three-day workshop in Rees-Jones Hall from March 27-29 where students and faculty can experience the benefits of meditation for about four hours each day.
She hopes both students and faculty will benefit from a meditation club to make TCU “a happy campus.”
