Look around. The warm glow of amber-stained glass envelops the circle of strangers and friends \u2014 Colgate students and faculty and staff members \u2014 gathered for an early morning meditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Chapel House, just grab a cushion and engage in a practice that allows student meditation leader Chris Vanderhoef \u201927 to settle down, breathe, and reflect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs serious as I am about my studies, meditation allows me to step back and say, OK, maybe you don\u2019t have to be a student right now,\u201d says Vanderhoef. \u201cMaybe you can just simply be<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Vanderhoef\u2019s day starts just before 8:30 a.m., when he heads up to Chapel House to lead a 15-minute session. As an employee of Colgate\u2019s work- study program, Vanderhoef was trained by Chapel House staff. They encouraged him to attend a variety of their meditation programs, such as guided outdoor walks and their sound-bowl series, to build his knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese practices have improved my quality of life,\u201d he says, \u201cso I want to help the campus community by spreading them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Vanderhoef took Professor of Religion Georgia Frank\u2019s FSEM class called Belonging, Becoming, and Beyond, he has continued to question the beyond<\/em>. \u201cMeditation is a type of belonging,\u201d he says, as he is often joined in his sessions by returning students. \u201cBut there\u2019s certainly a higher level to it, a beyond. It\u2019s really a mysterious practice, with elements you can\u2019t explain.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Student meditation leaders hail from all disciplines, such as peace and conflict studies major Gillian Lustenberger \u201927. Lustenberger, who also took her FSEM with Frank, fills the 5 p.m. slot. Her sessions adopt a Zen Buddhist style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe focus on the body to improve the participants\u2019 ability to be in the present moment,\u201d says Lustenberger, who has found anxiety relief in the process. \u201cI don\u2019t get panic attacks anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each of her sessions ends with a group debriefing, where participants are called upon to share their experience. \u201cTo hear that the meditation helped someone relax or be in a better head space for the day is so rewarding,\u201d says Lustenberger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love being a part of Chapel House,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt is such an uplifting, welcoming space where people can take a break from their busy lives and just exist.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Student meditation leaders help others on campus to take a break from their hectic lives. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":14810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[479,2250,660,1574,2248,210,2249],"coauthors":[1451],"class_list":["post-14809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scene","tag-chapel-house","tag-fsem","tag-meditation","tag-peace-and-conflict-studies","tag-relaxation","tag-religion","tag-work-study-program"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-3QR","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/04\/030424_meditation_MDD_0098.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14886,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14809\/revisions\/14886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14809"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}