Concerned about the immense amount of stress high school students are under, teachers have begun implementing relaxation activities into the daily class schedule. Some of these activities include stretching, meditation and a period of quiet time. 

These activities serve as a great time to find my inner peace before I start cramming for math tests, reading half a novel for English and understanding Einstein’s theory of relativity by the end of lunch. 

Meditation makes me realize that I should do whatever I can to just relax: let my mind wander, listen to the music and copy the homework from the person next to me. 

At the beginning of class, instead of opening up my textbook, I sit with my face down on my desk for 10 minutes to meditate. When I finally wake up, everyone is stressing out over the lesson that my teacher apparently taught while I was asleep. 

I didn’t understand why this was a big deal because you can’t just have wellness without stress. 

It’s nice to see teachers truly caring about students’ wellness. Along with the wellness exercises we do, I feel the love, even more, when they supplement meditation with 50 math problems or a three-page essay with a day’s notice. 

When I get home, I try to implement the wellness exercises before I start homework to ward the stress away. However, I wish more teachers allowed time to relieve stress in class because those 10  minutes of meditation help me better understand how to do my homework. 

Sadly, not every student is on board with doing these activities, claiming that they are pointless. Sure, everyone’s idea of relaxation is different, but if you don’t like the activity, then you can just go on your phone! 

It’s so relaxing to listen to calming music when I get frustrated after losing an eight-ball match against one of my friends across the classroom. Some other activities that you can do during wellness time include playing video games, sleeping or homework.

Students need to understand that some people truly do need time to relax—everyone does at some point. 

For example, the 10 minutes of relaxation boosted my happiness that I was able to relax instead of stressing about how I didn’t understand the lesson at all. 

What I appreciate most about these activities is that they create realistic expectations of how the world outside of high school operates. 

Most companies encourage workers to meditate when the stress becomes too much, right?  Our classroom wellness exercises are setting us up for success in the real world.