At the center of campus, a room for relaxation

Breathe in, breathe out.

With exams piling up, a newly opened Reflection Room will offer students a place they can make their manic lives a bit more mantric.

This room, located in the Religious Activities Common in the basement of the Graduate Student Center on Locust Walk, serves as a non-denominational space for silent reflection, prayer and meditation.

While there are other designated quiet reflection rooms on campus — like the interfaith meditation space at the Christian Association house — the new Reflection Room is “not religious at all” and serves as a place “where students can go to be and just be,” said Mary LeCates, administrative coordinator of the Chaplain’s Office who spearheaded the idea.

Before becoming the Reflection Room, the small space in the RAC — tucked inconspicuously between a Hindu and a Muslim prayer room — served as a general conference room for religious group meetings, English as a Second Language classes, community dinners and lectures. The room opened for community meditators last week.

Inside the small room, potted ferns and flowers lie beside a large brick hearth and on a plastic table covered in a red, tasseled blanket. Nine green “floor chairs” sit alongside puffy cushions on a floral rug. A string of white Christmas lights dangles from the ceiling.

Last June, Chaplain Chaz Howard approached LeCates about creating a non-denominational reflection space. The room was closed last August, due to flooding damage in the ceiling. However, after calling on Sandi Herman, Health and Wellness Educator at Student Health Services, for advice on how to furnish the room, LeCates transformed a place “you wouldn’t naturally gravitate towards” into a “really beautiful space,” Herman said.

Lack of meeting space has always posed a challenge to student prayer and meditations groups, but the Reflection Room isn’t exclusively for any single organization, LeCates said. Herman does lead a guided meditation group every Thursday at noon.

According to a laminated list of rules posted on the door, all visitors must remove their shoes and turn off all electronic devices before entering the room.

LeCates said the atmosphere of the room doesn’t lend itself to noisy discussions or conversation.

While the room’s come-as-needed nature may encourage more personal meditation sessions, some students believe its atmosphere is more appropriate for group settings.

Nursing freshman Jillian Kaltman, who describes herself as a “casual meditator,” said the room will foster more collaborative meditation groups.

“It would definitely be effective for bringing people together,” she added. “Just that we have it now will mean that more of us interested in meditation could go to work together on our techniques.”

Herman, who has conducted meditation groups at Penn for several years, said when students have a place to find “that sacred, quiet place inside them,” healthy relaxation can become a regular aspect of their lives.

“Think of it like this,” she added. “If you know there’s a gym, you might decide to go there every once in a while. And so if there’s a Reflection Room, you think to yourself, ‘That might be something I could go and check out.’”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.