Students can de-stress and cultivate good mental health by attending any of University Board’s upcoming Mental Health Week events.

On Tuesday, UB and the Health Education Resource Center are presenting “Take Charge of Your Mental Health” from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Charleston/Mattoon Room in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Tess McArthy, a senior hospitality major and the human potential coordinator for UB, said UB and HERC would educate attendees all about mental health awareness during the hour-long presentation.

On Wednesday, UB is showing the Disney/Pixar film “Inside Out” outside in the South Quad at 7 p.m.

In case of rain, McArthy said the location would change to the Lecture Hall of the Physical Sciences Building.

“Inside Out” seemed like just the right film to play for Mental Health Week, she said, because it is an easy to watch, fun movie that highlights how people process their own mental health issues.

“It’s a good movie for students to see … to look at their own development, but also how others around them may go through their development. Even if people don’t exactly have mental health issues, I think it’s a really good movie that illustrates really well the issues behind that many students that have mental health issues go through,” McArthy said.

Finally, on Thursday, McArthy said one of the trained yoga professionals from the Student Recreation Center would conduct a yoga lesson called “Glow with the Flow Yoga” from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. in the University Ballroom of the Union.

Yoga, McArthy said, is great for de-stressing because it promotes balance in life.

“Yoga is a longstanding kind of activity that helps create a balanced life. It not only gives us meditation purposes but also really good physical health as well,” she said.

The “Glow” in “Glow with the Flow Yoga” comes from the glow body paint the participants can coat themselves in during yoga, McArthy said.

Black lights will illuminate the glowing paint as people are following the yoga instructor; McArthy said the low light and glowing is also known to contribute to a more relaxed state of mind.

McArthy said she would encourage any student to attend because this week—just a couple weeks before finals at Eastern—is a particularly stressful time for a particularly stressed out group of people.

“College students today are some of the most stressed out college students (in history),” she said.

The American Psychological Association reported in 2012 that the millennial and Gen X populations have the highest stress levels. A chunk of the typical college population reflects that, seeing as the millennial population reflects those born between 1977 and 1995, according to The Center for Generational Kinetics. Otherwise, the rest of the traditional college population is made up of Gen Z, iGen or Centennials (born between 1996 and TBD).

McArthy said she believes students will likely be pleasantly surprised to attend any of these events and find something new that they really enjoy. She hopes that happiness spreads to others as well.

“This is something I was really excited about going into, and I hope our students really get the chance to not only think about their mental health but think about their friends and bring light to their friends as well,” she said.

Logan Raschke can be reached at 581-2812 or at lrraschke@eiu.edu.