WE NEED OUR SPACE IN TIME IN TIME HOW TO
WE NEED OUR SPACE IN TIME IN TIME FREE

It ended up being a hoax, but many of us spent hours huddled in dorms and classrooms sending messages to our families. In 2018, our campus went on lockdown after reports of an active shooter. The increase in school shootings and threats has also had an impact on campus. Next to “The Rock,” a boulder on campus that students traditionally paint to advertise events or express opinions, there’s now a tree painted with the names of students who have passed away. Not all of the losses were suicides, but many of them were. Nearly every quarter since my sophomore year, at least one student at Northwestern has died. In some ways, the call for safe spaces is an attempt to help people navigate the growing mental health crisis present on so many college campuses in the United States.Īpproximately one in three college freshman have a mental health issue, and there’s evidence that recent decades have seen a large increase in psychopathology among college students.Īs a student at Northwestern, I saw first-hand that mental health is a rampant issue on our campus.

WE NEED OUR SPACE IN TIME IN TIME FREE

Redefining the studio has helped me see how focusing solely on safe spaces as a barrier to free speech is unproductive because it limits people’s willingness to engage with the topic as a whole - namely, how it relates to mental health. I loved that I could go to the studio and leave the stress and drama of being a high schooler at the door.įor an insecure teenager, having a judgment-free space where I was surrounded by mature, supportive peers was invaluable.Įven though the studio fits the definition nearly perfectly, I had never thought of the studio as a “safe space” until recently. I spent hundreds of hours practicing in the same room, with the same faces, in the same mat space.

WE NEED OUR SPACE IN TIME IN TIME HOW TO

I learned yoga, but more importantly, I learned how to navigate discomfort, learn from failure, and approach new experiences with confidence. Practicing yoga and the studio itself was so much more than downward dogs and handstands. Since middle school, that place was the yoga studio in my hometown. In hindsight, however, I’ve always had a safe space in one form or another even before I started college. I was also wary of engaging in discussions about a topic that could ignite polarizing debates.

I was never anti-safe space, but during my time at Northwestern I never identified as someone who needed a safe space. Why these spaces are beneficial for mental healthĭespite my background as a journalism student, racial minority, and native of the ultra-liberal Bay Area, I still had difficulty understanding the value of safe spaces until after college. For one, it prevents us from examining how they relate to mental health - an issue that’s just as relevant, and arguably more urgent, than free speech. Using this constricted safe space definition also limits the scope of productive discussions we can have regarding the topic. “Because anxiety causes fear to arise, it can lead to avoidance behaviors, such as avoiding one’s fears and isolating from others,” she adds. “Anxiety pushes the nervous system into overdrive which can tax bodily systems leading to physical discomfort like a tight chest, racing heart, and churning stomach,” says Dr. It’s well-known that a little anxiety can boost our performance, but chronic anxiety can take a toll on our emotional and psychological health.įeeling like you need to have your guard up at all times can be exhausting and emotionally taxing.

It can be something as simple as a group of people who hold similar values and commit to consistently provide each other with a supportive, respectful environment. Respect and emotional security, often for individuals from historicallyĪ “safe space” doesn’t have to be a physical location. Space” is also used to describe groups on college campuses that seek to provide In this type of safe space, free speech is the goal. Take risks and engage in intellectual discussions about topics that may feel Classrooms can beĭesignated as academic safe spaces, meaning that students are encouraged to Campuses, a “safe space” is usually one of two things.

We need our space in time in time