The morning sun beams through my window while my alarm clock blares. I jump out of bed and into the shower with my 9:45 a.m. class on my mind. I grab my books and stuff my worn-out backpack with a random assortment of pens I grab from my desk. Did I understand the reading? Will I have an insightful question for our class discussion today? Do I need breakfast? Will it be 80 degrees again? My mind is ablaze with thoughts like, “I must get going, I must get to class, I must not be late.” I reluctantly step outside into the torrent river of impetuous Middlebury students.
But this morning was different. Instead of stepping into the cascade flowing from Ross to McCullough, I found a calm eddy amid the campus’s hustle and bustle. There was no current, no sharp rocks and no raging waterfalls — only seven cushions, seven seats and seven souls.
The Crest Room, located on the second floor of McCullough, is a sanctuary safe from the rapids of campus life. The sun radiated across the green carpet and bounced off the beige-colored walls and simple furnishing. We slipped off our shoes and put down our bags behind a shoji room divider, freeing our shoulders and emptying our minds. The seven of us — a mix of sophomores and juniors — sat in a circle.
For fifteen minutes, I let down my guard and forgot about my responsibilities, my worries and my readings. I focused only on my breath and counted to ten on each inhale and exhale. I felt a cool rush over my body as my muscles slowly relaxed. Each breath rejuvenated a new part of me, like a mental factory reset.
The facilitator, Sophia Calvi ’03.5, Director of Programs Sustainability & Environmental Affairs, slowly struck her chime, calling everyone back. We all opened our eyes and smiled as if waking up from a deep slumber. Everyone appeared recharged and ready.
“Having dedicated my life to dreaming into holistic futures, I know that our collective and individual wellness is essential,” Calvi wrote in a message to The Campus. “The path to wellness looks different for everyone. I meditate alone to ground myself and connect. Using the breath as an anchor throughout my day, brings me back to the present moment. I meditate in groups because it allows me to deepen the knowledge of our collective interconnectedness and interdependence.”
It was incredible how something as brief and straightforward as closing my eyes and breathing deeply could so quickly alleviate the everyday stress, expectations and responsibilities I carry with me as a Midd student. My upcoming international political economy class and the 300 pages of reading I had to do no longer felt as intimidating.
“I come to the meditations every day Monday through Friday. I feel like being in college is being a little hamster in a hamster wheel spinning and spinning and you never get off the wheel,” said Victoria Perez Hidalgo ’27, a regular meditation participant. “When I meditate, I feel like I get off the wheel and for a moment I am just being in my body and not caring about anything else and that's a really special space.”
I began attending the morning meditation session because I needed a new wellness routine. I like to swim three mornings a week, but recently I felt as though I needed another way to cool down and reset. Before attending that morning session I had never really considered the power of meditation.
“I have not been meditating for too long, just a couple of months, but I kind of feel like in the morning it's like how people go on runs or go on walks,” said Ernesto Augustine Gallego ’27, another meditation participant, in an interview to The Campus. “It's just a great way to center yourself and have a positive outlook on each day and remain calm through extremely stressful times.”
Every week, the Scott Center offers similar daily 15-minute meditation sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. in the Crest Room, as well as a 20-minute session with Dean of Religious Life Mark Orten on Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. If you are looking to broaden your meditation horizons, there is a meditation space available on the second floor of the Davis Family Library and an outdoor labyrinth at the Knoll. Though the tide of everyday pressures is strong, meditation is a great practice to help students feel less awash in Middlebury’s currents.
