As the school year comes to a close, many students are searching for a break from academic pressures. To help alleviate this stress, Kansas State offers a multitude of events for students to unwind and reflect on the hard work they have put in this year.
Closing out Sexual Assault Awareness Month and helping the community unwind, Kansas State’s Center for Advocacy, Response and Education, and First Lady Sally Linton guided students through yoga on Bosco Plaza this past Monday, April 27.
“We are the Wildcat family,” Linton said. “We want everyone on campus to feel connected and safe. We hope that offering events promoting well-being and connection will help students, faculty and staff feel comfortable and more balanced.”
Linton emphasized that creating spaces where our Wildcat family can step away and engage with the community allows those involved to feel at ease.
“When we take time to renew and re-energize ourselves, we are able to offer more to all of those in our lives, including ourselves,” she said. “Offering opportunities to pause, while modeling the importance of self-care, will hopefully help others see that it is not only okay, it is essential to be our best.”
At the session on Monday, Linton and professionals from CARE emphasized to students the importance of taking a break and how it can be an intention built into everyday life.
“As we learn more about increasing academic pressures, stress and productivity, science is showing us that taking the time to re-center and pause actually increases efficiency and productivity,” Linton said. “If we manage our energy, we have more to offer. In the end, taking some time for self-care increases our ability to show up for ourselves and others.”
What started as a conversation about students’ stress developed into a planned effort through the First Lady and CARE staff. Graduate assistant Lily Linton and assistant director Libby Thorson-Kahl helped make these events possible.
“Our partnership with First Lady Linton came naturally,” Thorson-Kahl said. “Lily has a personal connection to her work and has seen firsthand how mindfulness and yoga can support both mental and physical well-being. Bringing that practice into a campus setting allows students to experience those benefits in an accessible and welcoming way.”
As wellness initiatives like yoga become more integrated into student life, timing these events during high-stress academic periods is intentional.
“Events like this are especially important as we approach finals,” Lily Linton said. “April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is a time of national recognition, awareness and action. We know this month can be activating for many survivors, so we intentionally focus on creating programming that builds community and supports well-being. At the same time, we challenge our campus to think about survivor support, prevention and creating communities free from violence as an ongoing commitment, not just something we focus on during one month of the year.”
For many, participating in events like yoga on the plaza isn’t just about learning the value of self-care, but also about how to put it into practice.
Throughout the month, K-State will hold several well-being events, including a Spring Garden Fair, Pizza at Hale Library and Refuel & Refocus Hours with First Lady Sally Linton. A full list of wellness events and details is available on K-State’s Event Calendar.
