What’s Happening in Wellbeing
Be sure to check out Student Wellbeing In The Media too!
Breath, Rhythm & Music for Your Wellbeing – Spring 2025
Click here for Fall 2025 Workshop Information
Join CFA professor Dr. Igor Iwanek and live musicians in learning the practice of Rhythmic Breath Control (RBC). Imagine your body is the hardware and your mind is the software. How do we keep this machine charged? RBC teaches you to create a power station for your body and mind using breath guided by rhythms of North Indian Classical music. Studies have shown how we breathe relates to how healthy we are, and in this interactive session, we'll learn powerful ancient techniques of Naad Yog (yoga of sound) designed to promote emotional resilience and holistic wellbeing.
Check out this video in BU Today about Breath, Rhythm and Music!
Learning Objectives:
- Improve cognitive performance and self-management in stressful situations with RBC.
- Learn to recreate the profound relaxation of deep sleep, on demand.
- Understand the power of breath to overcome overwhelming thoughts, stabilize the mind and energize the body.
Throughout the semester, one hour workshops will be offered most Tuesdays at 5:30 pm in Room 209 at the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground.
Spring workshop dates: 2/11, 2/25, 3/4, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, 4/22, 4/29
Sponsored by:
- Student Wellbeing
- Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground
- BU Arts Initiative
- BU Center for the Study of Asia
- College of Fine Arts
- CFA School of Music
- CFA Department of Composition & Music Theory
- CFA Department of Musicology & Ethnomusicology
For an idea of what to expect, check out Dr. Iwanek's recent appearance at TedXBU:
Self-Defense Trainings
Safety Comes First!
Join us in fostering a safer campus environment through empowerment and awareness. Student Wellbeing, in partnership with BUPD, is excited to offer five self-defense training sessions designed to help students feel more confident and safer on and off campus. These 3 hour trainings provide skills and information around crime-prevention and awareness, including basic self-defense tactics that allow students to practice techniques in real-time. Sessions are open to all BU students.
Register here for CRC training sessions
- Saturday, February 8, 1-4pm
- Monday, March 17, 1-4pm (Spring Break)
- Friday, April 4, 5-8pm
Register here for MED training sessions
- Saturday, February 22, 12–3pm
- Saturday, April 19, 12-3pm
Background
Safety is a core need, fundamental for our wellbeing and survival. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety ranks just after physiological needs such as food and water. Self-defense aims to provide both security of body and of mind, equipping individuals with the skills to physically defend themselves, and also how to think clearly and take control in situations where one may be at risk. Trainings not only teach effective techniques for self-defense, but also empower individuals by boosting confidence and enhancing self-esteem. In any instance, when faced with a threat of harm, having a plan in place for how to handle dangerous situations can significantly reduce vulnerability and help protect oneself.
*Important to note that these self-defense trainings do not substitute for official R.A.D. training sessions. Only a portion of a full-length R.A.D. session is covered in these trainings.*
New this Spring: Become a Plantbassador with Rooted Together
Calling all plant enthusiasts!
Do you want to add some greenery to public indoor spaces at BU and care for a plant? Apply to be a Plantbassador through our new pilot program, Rooted Together!
Rooted Together is a program sponsored by Student Wellbeing, Campus Planning & Operations (CPO) and Sustainability that invites BU students to care for plants in public, common spaces located throughout the Charles River, Fenway and Medical campuses. The intention of the program is to engage students in promoting their environmental, social, emotional and physical wellbeing by serving as caretakers to plants that can make campus locations more tranquil, inviting and healthy for all visitors.
You can now find Rooted Together plants beautifying the following locations:
- BUMC Chequers
- BUMC Instructional Building Lobby
- BUMC Hiebert Lounge
- CRC Dean of Students Lounge
- CRC Photonics Student Lounge
- CRC FitRec, Second Floor
- CRC FitRec, Dance Studio
- CRC FitRec, Lobby
- CRC FitRec Pool
- More to come!
No prior experience is required. Fall Deadline to apply: Monday, September 15, 2025.
Background
According to the Society of Research Administrator’s International 2023 article, "Nature at Your Desk: The Hidden Health Boosts of Office Plants," some of the benefits of introducing plants into indoor spaces like offices, lounges, lobbies and labs include:
- Improved Air Quality
- Humidity Regulation
- Stress Reduction
- Increased Productivity
- Noise Reduction
Rooted Together is designed to teach students of the health benefits noted above and enlist their services in caring for plants that will both benefit them as individuals and their fellow students given their placement in common spaces.
Stress ReLeaf: Working with Tea for Calm & Focus is Back for Spring 2025
Discover this popular Student Wellbeing initiative that uses tea as a catalyst for mindfulness. Through education and relaxation, we will explore the ancient practice of gong fu cha (“making tea with skill”) and cultivate a space that focuses on the present moment.
Workshop offered Mondays, from 4-5 pm, at the LGBTQIA+ Student Resource Center, 2nd floor, 808 Commonwealth Avenue.
Registration required. Registration links will be updated each week in advance of the following week’s session.
Spring 2025 Workshop Dates:
January 27 – Lunar New Year Edition
February 3
February 10 – Be My Valen-Tea Edition
February 24
March 3
March 17 – Steep Your Luck Edition
March 24
March 31
April 7
April 14
April 28 – Celebrate the End of the Semester Special
And be sure to check out this video in BU Today for a sneak peek at this awesome workshop!
What’s Your Big Idea to Promote Wellbeing?
It all starts with an idea.
Do you have an innovative idea about how to support students' social wellbeing at BU?
In the spirit of Experience Innovation, Boston University School of Hospitality Administration is calling all innovators to submit ideas for the $50k Hospitality Innovation Competition or $12.5k Student Wellbeing Competition.
The Student Wellbeing Competition focuses on innovative ideas or initiatives that promote the social wellbeing of students at Boston University. The success of these ventures is assessed based on creativity, novelty, reach, and feasibility to implement.
1st prize – $6,000
2nd prize – $4,000
3rd prize – $2,500
Applications are now open! Applications are due February 3. Learn more about deadlines and the application process.
Upcoming Info Sessions: Jan 28 and Jan 30
Register here.
In addition to SHA, partners include Student Wellbeing, BU Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences and Innovate@BU.
You’re Invited: A Thanksgiving Meal for All Students
Don't have a meal plan or plans for Thanksgiving? Join our community for a traditional Thanksgiving meal with plenty of sweet goods, delicious side dishes, and oven-roasted delights, including great vegan options!
Thursday, November 28, 5-8 pm at Marciano Commons.
You must register to attend by 11/25. You are welcome to bring a guest who is not a BU student; however, their cost will be $21 per person, payable at the door. If you have a meal plan and guest passes available, you can use those for your guest!
Take a Break at The Wellbeing Experience
We’re about to enter the home stretch of the semester. During this very busy season, and again during the hustle and bustle of January, be sure to take time for yourself. Join us for The Wellbeing Experience, where you can take a break, connect with others, and take care of your overall wellbeing.
- Wednesday, December 4, 3–6pm in Metcalf Ballroom (GSU 2nd floor)
- Wednesday, January 29, 5–7pm in the Hiebert Lounge (INS Building, 14th floor, BUMC).
By visiting unique stations, students will experience wellbeing activities that can be incorporated into their lives in ways big and small during their college years and beyond! Try the Hangout Hammocks. Practice Gratitude on the Spot. Relax in the Zen Zone. Or get nostalgic at The Play Station.
Food and refreshments will be served. This event is always a student favorite – so grab your friends and we’ll see you there!
Check out BU Today’s feature on the Wellbeing Experience.
Extended Student Wellbeing Across the Globe
In October 7, 2024 Global Matters ... Numerous BU Study Abroad locations and Student Wellbeing collaborate in many ways to support students' holistic wellbeing
Check Hunger Food Drive November 2024
Bring shelf stable food items to any BU women's or men's hockey home game in November and be entered to win an 8-person suite to the 2/15 men's game against Providence!
It is estimated that 30-50% of college students experience food insecurity. Learning and thriving can’t happen when a student is concerned about where their next meal will come from.
We have the unique opportunity to provide assistance to those within our own community. Help BU Student Wellbeing “Check Hunger” by bringing non-perishable food items to any Terriers' home hockey games in November. Donations will be collected in the Agganis Arena lobby, then delivered to the BU Food Pantry, which is open to all BU students.
Bring your items to any of the following games:
- Friday 11/1 BU Women vs Providence (3 pm)
- Friday 11/1 BU Men vs Michigan (7pm)
- Saturday 11/2 BU Men vs Michigan (7pm)
- Friday 11/8 BU Women vs Merrimack (3 pm)
- Friday 11/8 BU Men vs UMass Lowell (7pm)
- Friday 11/15 BU Women vs BC (6 pm)
- Friday 11/22 BU Men vs Merrimack (7pm)
- Wednesday 11/27 BU Women vs Princeton (2 pm)
Your donation will enter you to win a suite for 8 at the 2/15/25 men’s hockey game against Providence. Parking and food included!
Learn more about the BU Food Pantry.
Items accepted at the Food Pantry are:
- Canned beans
- Canned soups
- Canned vegetables
- Pasta
- Mac and cheese
- Granola bars
- Oatmeal
- Boxed Cereal
- Dry Beans
- White or brown rice (1-2 pound bags)
- Canned tuna or chicken
- Peanut butter
- Jam/jelly
Thanks to partners BU Women's Hockey, BU Men's Hockey, BU Athletics and the Agganis Arena.
4 Ways Faculty Can Help Take Pressure Off Students
Healthy Minds principal investigator Sarah K. Lipson, a Boston University School of Public Health associate professor of health law, policy, and management, discusses ways she instills positive wellbeing in her own classes. She offers tips for how her fellow faculty, and teachers everywhere, can do the same.
Looking for more ideas to support student wellbeing in your classroom? Check out our Supporting Students Across Campus tips.