August 15, 2025

by Lauren Ferguson

For four straight Wednesdays this summer, a group of Ramapo College of New Jersey staff took a half-hour out of their busy work days to quiet their minds, soften their muscles, breathe and relax.

The group – gathered during their lunch breaks on the green lawn outside the historic Birch Mansion or inside its stately York Room when the heat was too much to bear – were led through movements, stretches and breathing exercises by Tai Chi Instructor Lisa Russell.

“While we are here, we might as well take this opportunity to give ourselves a little bit of space out of our day, out of our week. We could settle in, quiet our mind, soften our bodies, and bring our attention internally,” Russell said during one of her classes on Ramapo’s picturesque Mahwah, NJ campus.

Russell instructed the group to drop their arms to their sides, then start swinging them back and forth. The simple movement helps “get the tension and pressure and stress out of our body,” she said. Later, she instructed them to push their feet into the ground, slightly bend their knees, relax their muscles, and bounce. “This is great to calm the nervous system,” she said, comparing the movement to a way caregivers soothe babies.

The class was held two days before National Relaxation Day. The day is celebrated annually on August 15 as a way to promote the importance of relaxation and stress management. The series of summer tai chi classes is just one of the ways that Ramapo College has prioritized wellness and relaxation for members of the college community.

People Operations and Employee Resources (POER) also plans meditation, yoga, stretching, strength training and wellness walks on campus, and has even organized waterfall hikes at the nearby Ramapo Reservation for employees.

Wellness walks past beautiful spots on Ramapo’s picturesque campus are a way to relieve stress.

“I think if you come to work and you’re just sitting at your desk eight hours a day, or seven hours a day, and you don’t come up for air, it’s not healthy. You’re not bringing your best self to work,” said Jill Brown, director of people operations at Ramapo. She said it is important to step away, clear your head, and refresh.

Stella Miele Zanedis ‘23, administrative assistant for major gifts at the Ramapo College Foundation, has been taking part in the tai chi classes this summer. She said people on campus are usually busy and on the go, but the classes make her more thoughtful and intentional.

“It does make me more mindful, more conscious to take a breath, to take a walk, to stand up,” she said.

Deputy Ethics Liaison Officer Susan Hanna has participated in wellness walks, strength training, kickboxing, yoga, meditation, swimming and more. “I feel very strongly about staying as healthy and as active and as strong as I possibly can,” she said.  “Anything that takes your mind away from your routine, your screen, or maybe your concerns and worries, to me is a form of relaxation.”

Relaxation and wellness is also prioritized for Ramapo students. Roadrunners have access to a thoughtfully-designed wellness room, stocked with a massage chair, creative arts activities, coloring books, fidget toys, stress balls, a weighted blanket, light therapy lamp, tea station and yoga mats. (Staff can book the room while students are on breaks.)

Since the room opened in December of 2023, students have made more than 1,300 appointments to book the soothing space. It was funded through the Mental Health in Higher Education Grant through the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education led by Secretary of Higher Education Brian Bridges.

“Students are juggling a lot. Many of our students work additional jobs outside of their courses. They have family concerns, and so having a space where even for thirty minutes to an hour, they can just take a pause from the day-to-day stressors can help,” Health Educator Megan Johnston said. “We hope that through using the space in a more repeated way, they will also learn stress reduction strategies and implement them both through using the room or in their own personal life.”

Therapy animal visits help Roadrunners relieve stress.

Students also benefit from other initiatives that prioritize student health and well-being, such as frequent therapy animal visits, events focused on mental health, stress reduction and relaxation, and a free app to help them track their sleep, understand the ideal time to go to bed and wake up, strategize when to stop doing work and when to engage in relaxation exercises.

“We see nationally students are having increased rates of stress, increased rates of loneliness, and these programs can bring students together and give them healthy coping strategies so they can finish college and have success after Ramapo as well,” Johnston said.

Ramapo was recently awarded the 2025 Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award from Insight Into Academia magazine. Insight Into Academia magazine selected Ramapo because it adopted a wellness philosophy for employees that encompasses financial, physical, emotional, social, intellectual, occupational and spiritual health. The College was also lauded for its work on student wellness.