By Alexis Young
Staff Writer
“Most men use the first half of their lives trading their health to gain wealth, only to turn around in the second half and use their wealth to try to regain their health.”
Dr. Adam Miller, founder of ARISE MD, opened the Resilient seminar by discussing his work in Malaysia, where he picked up his stress-relieving techniques.
Miller and colleague John Kennedy, president of Combat Brain Training, led the event hosted by the Wellness Center, Center for Activities, Recreation and Leadership and the Veterans Student Association.
Christopher Anderson MSEd., LMHC, became the director of the Wellness Center this year. The Resilient seminar was one of the first steps he is taking to make the Wellness Center more visible on campus.
“I want students here to think in terms of being healthy, not normal,” said Anderson. “Unfortunately, normal is no longer considered that healthy on a lot of different fronts.”
By mixing a detailed analysis of the science of the stress-relief system and interactive segments, the seminar aimed to provide students with tools to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, while increasing focus, efficiency, sleep and performance.
Miller and Kennedy said you can train your brain to respond to stimuli faster and more efficiently by increasing the tone in your vagus nerve. To increase this tone, they have developed a system involving deep breathing and brain games to stimulate the nerve while creating low levels of pseudo-stress.
“I thought there was a lot of good information that they presented in a short period of time that can help people if they take the time to do the techniques,” said Robert DeFazio, director of the Center for Activities, Recreation and Leadership. “It can really relieve stress or reset the mind and body.”
Tristen Reid, a freshman physics major and cross country/track athlete, explained why she devoted two hours of her Thursday night to the seminar.
“As a D-1 athlete, being resilient is important for performing to the best of your ability. I figured the talk would help my mentality during competition,” Reid said. “The information was very helpful. I know that the program is something I will always remember, and I will probably use the information to focus on my races and studies.”
With over 300 students in attendance, many sought information on the topics addressed.
“I think that most definitely there should be more programs like Resilient,” said senior sports studies major and swimmer Matthew Goettler. “If more research was being done in these categories, we may see improvement and development in stress coping techniques within our culture.”
youngam13@bonaventure.edu
