De-Stress Tip of the Week: Get out your crayons!

When I was a kid, my mother would sit and color with me on many occasions, even when it was obvious that she was a very busy person.  Of course, I was thrilled to share this activity with her and always admired how skilled she was at it.  When she finished a page, she'd go back to whatever it was she was doing.  In my 7-year-old understanding of the world, I thought she just wanted to do something fun together, and in part, that was true.  However, a surge of interest in coloring books for adults has emerged, and there's a very good reason why...because it feels good.

Drew this myself!

One of the first psychologists to apply coloring as a relaxation technique was Carl G. Jüng in the early 20th century. He did this through drawing and colorizing mandalas: circular designs with concentric shapes similar to the Gothic churches’ rose windows.

Image Source

The act of coloring utilizes both sides of our brain, and calms it at the same time, says psychologist Gloria Martínez Ayala. "The action involves both logic, by which we color forms, and creativity, when mixing and matching colors. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills...The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress."

Get 'em out, I tell you!

In simplest terms, coloring has a de-stressing effect because our focus is directed on a pleasurable and creative activity, and as a result provides temporary relief from our worries. The repetitive action of drawing a mandala or the back-and-forth movements when we color produces a rhythmic and soothing effect.  It also momentarily transports us to our childhood, which we often remember as a simpler and less stressful time.

So, apparently Mom knew what she was doing, and used that special time with me in a shared creative activity to take care of herself.  So whaddya waitin' for?  Grab your crayons, markers, colored pencils and coloring book.  You'll feel better when you do.

To learn more about the many benefits of coloring, visit here.

"FURRI" Friends on Campus

Kittens for All First-Year Students

1st year student Emily Hobbes and Lucy Lou

This fall, Schenectady County Community College students will get more than their textbooks and ID's on their first day. They’ll get kittens.


SCCC is proud to announce the Feline-Undergraduate Relationship for Retention Initiative, or FURRI. This innovative approach – the first of its kind in the nation – seeks to help each first-year student adjust to college life with the help of a furry friend.


“We encourage our incoming students to care about our campus, the community around us, and each other. Adding cats to the mix will simply enhance the expectation of civility, a sense of community and shared responsibility,” says Robyn King, Acting Director of Wellness and Support Services. 

“Also, research has shown that caring for an animal helps to reduce blood-pressure, stress how often one gets sick and increases focus and concentration."  All positive benefits for a college student.


King says she is excited to implement FURRI alongside the existing slate of new-student support programs.


"We seek to start our new students off strong at SCCC," King says."We have programs in place to ease the transition into college life, and the FURRI program provides a strong complement to those programs."


Kitten distribution will be seamlessly integrated into New Student Orientation. First-years will choose their new kittens in the Activity Forum in Elston Hall, which will be fully converted into the permanent home for the FURRI Program.

2nd year student Caitlin Garfield 

with Mister Wuffles

Students will select among a variety of kitten options, such as tabbies, torties and tigers. Thanks to a generous collaboration with the Animal Protective Foundation in Scotia, kittens as young as 8 weeks old will be available, as well as older cats for students who wish for a more mature feline companion.


For students unable to pick up their kittens during the FURRI office hours, the College store has graciously offered to combine kitten distribution with their textbook pick-up service.

For first-years who are allergic to cats or otherwise averse to kitten ownership, FURRI will offer hedgehogs, geckos and teacup pigs as pet alternatives.

“Whatever a student’s kitten or small-animal-related need, we'll meet it,” says Tom Katzen, volunteer FURRI program coordinator. “Our staff is prepared to answer questions, offer support and seek solutions.”


In conjunction with the FURRI program, staff from the SCCC Institutional Research office have spent the past year studying the effects of cat ownership on well-being, positive social behaviors and civility on campus. Their results so far indicate that kittens rank extremely high on the happiness to civility matrix .

To prepare for the full FURRI launch, a select group of SCCC students has been testing the kitten-ownership plan since Fall 2014.


“Having Mister Wuffles in my life has dramatically enhanced my college experience,” says Caitlin Garfield, a second year Paralegal student from Albany who lives in the Stockade. “I take him to basketball games, we hang out in the main lounge, we do everything together. Except for chemistry lab.”

Spader
(photo by Heathcliff Mew)

Heathcliff Meo of the Bronx, says caring for his grey tiger, Spader, has made his first year at the SCCC a success.


“Leaving home was a huge deal for me, and I had to leave my cat Sylvester behind. I wasn’t sure I was ready and was homesick from the first day here,” Meo says. “But once I got Spader, everything changed. SCCC feels more like home now.  I think this program is really great.”

Robyn King is eager to use the next few Fall semesters to gather more data regarding the well-being of student cat owners and their graduation rates compared to previous students who did not own a pet.  She plans to write a book based on her findings.

"I'm so excited about this venture.  The working title for my book is April Fools!" 



Gotcha.

 

 

Source:  http://www.uidaho.edu/newsevents/features/kittens-for-all
(c) Copyright 2015 Robyn M. King. All Rights Reserved.