October 12, 2013

2109 S. Orlando St.

Pine Bluff, AR 71603
Kenny Early
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Director of Campus Recreation
Little Rock, AR 72204
Dear Mr. Early,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to research the effects of stress on the
college student, and the introduction of physical activity to alleviate this stress.
Enclosed in this envelope is my final report, Recommendations for Campus Wide
Stress Relief, with the Introduction of Laughter Yoga and other Leisure Activities.
Here, I recommend giving the student the opportunity to choose an activity to
participate in for their physical activity by making leisure activities more noticeable
and available to everyone. The introduction of Laughter Yoga to the UALR Campus will
give the student a new and fun way to alleviate stress while building new friendships
at the same time; this will take care of two of the stressors for incoming college
students.
If I can provide any other information as you review my report please feel free to let
me know. I look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions concerning this
proposal
Sincerely,
Emily Joy
Student University of Arkansas at Little Rock
College of Social Sciences and Communication

1|Page

Recommendations for Campus Wide Stress Relief including Laughter Yoga and other
Leisure Activities

For
Kenney Early
Director of Campus Recreation.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock

By
Emily Joy
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Student of Professional and Technical Writing

October 19, 2014

2|Page

Table of Contents
Abstract .. 4
Introduction 5
Body ...5
Conclusion 9
Recommendations . 9
References . 10

3|Page

Abstract
The purpose of this report is to assess the effects of stress on the UALR college
student and make recommendations on how students can alleviate that stress. This
report also promotes community outreach through the classes available on campus,
and seeks to promote making such classes available online to reach a larger audience.
This report will examine the leisure science classes available already and propose
adding yoga proper and a new form called Laughter Yoga.

4|Page

Introduction
Recently I have realized that being a student with, assignments, midterms,
finals, papers, and blending in to college life while trying to blend college into my life
has been a struggle. These last few weeks have brought many a sleepless night and
many an hour of study, I have had to sacrifice family time to make up for lost time
with assignments. All of these aspects have caused tremendous stress. I have been
both a traditional student with no other worries but school and fitting in, and I am
now a nontraditional student up to my eyeballs with assignments due and lunches to
make, not to mention having a forty five minute commute to class. I can say with
experience that all of these demands on top of the regular bill paying and grocery
shopping, stress is bountiful. I am not the only student experiencing such stressors. I
know this because I am not the only student facing a commute, who has children,
strives to fit in, pay bills, be on time, and so on. Each of these listed demands come
with stress. This stress can cause a myriad of health problems and make life a less
desirable place.
I wanted to investigate this stress and how its causes and effects, introduces a
possible solution. I used, articles, websites, and the UALR college catalog to show how
the college can help its students with stress relief through physical activity. I have
introduced yoga, and newer version of yoga called Laughter Yoga which I believe will
help students deal with the stress of being a student. I also conclude that this could
bring UALR a possible revenue aspect; one that could aid in funding not only student
stress relief but also stress relief in the community, because stress does not stop at
graduation.
Stress and the College Student.
Stress is the enemy of many, and it has many causes. Let us focus on the
college student. College students today face many stressors. According to a 2013
article by Dana Balsink Kreig, freshman college students have unrealistically
optimistic ideas of college life, such as being able to ace all classes and immediately
find a group with which to belong. This is true for all students; the article goes on to
state that violations of these expectations are responsible for academic ambivalence,
failure, and early withdrawal. These expectations of how college life will be are
different for each college student regardless of age. The violation of these
expectations cause stress; the student needs an outlet to handle this outcome. The
addition of coping activities may lower the withdrawal rate and bring more students
to graduation.
Further sources of stress listed in the article were the college students need to
form social networks. The 2013 Article by Kreig states that peers have as much of an
impact on student stress levels as academics. The kind of group can make either a
positive or negative impact, and the lack of an affiliation can cause the student to
experience alienation. This can be stressful enough to cause withdrawal from school,
or depending on the group it can lead to expulsion. Another source of stress listed in
5|Page

the article is the separation from family. This can be experienced by any student
regardless of age or experience. For the younger student it is forming a self, outside
of high school and the family dynamic. It is much the same for older students, forming
a self, outside of job and the family dynamic.
Stress can cause a myriad of health problems, according to The Web MD
website, last reviewed in 2013. Physical symptoms of stress include low energy,
headaches, upset stomach, frequent colds, insomnia, and dry mouth. Cognitive
symptoms include racing thoughts, inability to focus, poor judgment, and pessimism.
Behavioral symptoms include changes in appetite, procrastination, and nervous habits
such as fidgeting. Long term effects of stress include depression, high blood pressure,
and eating disorders, among others. These are examples of the effects of stress we all
experience, being a college student myself, I feel as though each of these are
amplified. I have zero energy, I fidget, digestion is a foreign word, and I have gotten
two colds in the last two months, and recently became a full time, unemployed,
college student. So there is truth behind this article.
Depression is a serious problem for all college students of any age, there is a
certain need to find ones place. In a 2012 article Christina Calderan states that
depression is first experienced by many people between the ages of eighteen and
twenty-four. This is also the time when many people enter college or make the
decision to enter the workforce, some even do both. Regardless of the decision made
stress is still prevalent. No matter what time someone decides to enter college the
aid of a group is still beneficial to the soul. Being a part of something and around
people lessens the depression that may come with several demands and no outlet
with which to release tension. This holds true for old and young alike, entering the
new environment of college makes anyone vulnerable on a certain level. It is an
unfamiliar experience even if you have been to college in the past. It isnt a necessity
to fit into college life, however, no one ever complained when they made a new
friend or were able to be more open in a class, or became a member of a group of
their peers, be it Greek or drama or any other group.
Physical activity is an easy way to keep stress in check. In a 2014 article by
Barney, Benham, and Haslem they state that people with school related stress were
less likely to report health complaints, if they participated in leisure time or physical
activity each week. This study though done on adolescents can also be applied to
students when offered leisure or fitness activities through their college. In other
words, getting enough physical activity can be attained through college attendance.
Not only can a student get physical activity through college, this activity can lower
their stress levels or at the very least give them the relaxation they need to keep
their worry in check.
This may seem like a new idea, or perhaps it is not, either way the use of
leisure courses to help aid in stress management I believe will help keep students
motivated. The same 2014 article Barney, Benham, and Haslem state that students
who have a physical activity in their college schedule stated that this activity helped
6|Page

them put things into perspective. After participating in such a leisure class both men
and women surveyed in the article stated that they looked forward to going to their
physical activity class. In the comments listed by those surveyed they stated that
participating in physical activities left them feeling energized and happy. Some also
stated that this hour of physical activity left them feeling motivated to work on
school assignments.
My research took me back ten years when I was in between the ages of 18 - 24,
I attended college here at UALR. I lived in the dorms and around eight o'clock every
night I saw a swarm of students on their way to the dorms from campus. They wore
Gees, they practiced Judo, Taekwondo, and a number of other physical activities.
When asked, these students claimed it to be a requirement. I found no evidence of a
physical activity requirement in the core requirement search I did on the UALR
website for 2014-2015(p.p.187, bottom of p.190-192). What I did find was buried deep
in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Sport Management, far from
the eyes of those who dont wish to become anything sports related was something
called Leisure Sciences. They dont come attached to anything, they arent listed as
requirements or attached as any elective in any area, nor do they seem to come with
a degree of their own. There was only a tiny paragraph boasting appreciation of the
importance of physical activity and knowledge of the importance of exercise in daily
living; there was no plain listing of the courses that would make this more visible like
you see listed in every other major. The only other mention of these classes was
under class descriptions, but listed there was a veritable treasure trove of exciting
and enticing physical activity classes such as beginning bowling, water aerobics,
tumbling, and fencing. I even found the Judo, Karate, and Self Defense classes that
may have been what the students 10 years ago were taking. It is still available, not
only that, some even have intermediate classes.
The question of stress involved in making time to attend physical activity
classes has been answered. You can put it in your college schedule. Why not have it as
an online activity as well. It could be compared to the app on your phone, the app in
your blackboard that motivates you to move. A great addition to the classes listed
would be Laughter Yoga. In all honesty I would love to have Laughter Yoga out and
seen but it is my goal to make all of these choices seen and for Laughter Yoga to join
the ranks along with its cousin just plain yoga.
Yoga
Yoga is an effective method of stress relief. Yoga is a method of exercise that
was born in India. This form of exercise is used to calm by focusing prana which is
believed to be the breath of life. The movements focus on concentrating this prana
this breath into stretches and body movements that build strength while focusing
attention on breathing. This is a calming form of exercise that has the benefits of
muscle tone and athletic stamina. Those who practice it seem to hold themselves in a
calmer manor. They are able to focus their thoughts more gracefully than those who
do not practice. Even in the beginning, as I found out for myself, you couldnt go
through a class without calming at least enough to remember to breathe, deeply in
7|Page

and out through the nose. To leave without gaining muscle strength and control of
breath meant that you were either not trying or you stopped in the middle. The
practice of Yoga would be beneficial for many reasons not only stress relief, it can
improve focus, and it can relieve depression, for those in college and beyond.
Laughter Yoga is a newer form of yoga that has proven successful in its home
country of India in the relief of stress, depression as well as finding new friends. It is
growing in popularity all over the US as well all over the country Laughter clubs are
popping up. In the 2010 article by Raffi Khatchadourian he gives us a short biography
of Dr. Madan Kataria, in which he explains that Dr. Kataria created laughter yoga
because he believes in the transformative effect of its practice. Dr. Kataria believes
that momentary mirthful laughter has the ability to help the practitioners to
momentarily forget all of their problems. The proof of this can be found when one has
a good laugh. A good laugh comes from the belly and goes throughout the body. When
you are left wiping the tears of joy from your face there is a sense of relaxation. For
that small moment you have forgotten all stresses and can look upon the work before
you with a new perspective. This can hold true for school work, for employment, as
well as your social and family relationships. Laughter is universal.
Conclusion
Stress can cause health problems such as depression, anxiety, high blood
pressure, and poor digestion. The Leisure Science classes available here at UALR hold
the key to alleviating some of this stress, by offering physical activity. Yoga is a
popular exercise that is known to relieve the symptoms of stress. Laughter Yoga a
newer form of yoga builds on this by using the breath of laughter and silly activities to
bring people closer together. This closeness can build friendships that can take away
feelings of isolation some college students feel when entering a new environment.
The idea can be taken from the college to the community. The end of college
does not mean the end to stress, or feelings of isolation. Extending the Laughter Yoga
program to graduates, faculty, staff, and the community beyond is a great way to
help build relationships within and beyond the college. Just a few moments a day in
the practice of breathing, silliness, and connection in the form of Laughter Yoga can
relieve stress, improve focus, and lower blood pressure. This practice can also build
new friendships and begin networking.
Recommendations
The research question is whether Leisure Science classes with the addition of
Laughter Yoga has an effect on the stress levels of college students. I propose a new
study that would test the theory on a group of students. I would first do survey of
college students to gauge their stress levels. I would then propose choosing fifty of
the students with the highest stress levels and having them meet for Laughter Yoga
two times a week for fifteen minutes, for the period of a semester. We would then
resurvey the group to see if any of the answers have improved. During this time I
8|Page

would promote the other Leisure Science classes to see if any of the students would
choose to add any of these as an option to their class schedules for the following
term. This would allow us to see the effects of Laughter Yoga for ourselves. Based on
further results of following classes we could take the promotion of these classes to
the public.
My further recommendation would be to suggest an online version of the
classes based on students with limited time. I would record the live sessions and post
them to blackboard. The student would then open the session and follow along. The
test group would follow the survey of the previous group, allowing for the fifty
students with the highest stress levels to participate. At the end of the test period,
one semester, the student would then be resurveyed. This would prove the
opportunity for success in an online format. Based on the success of these studies,
UALR could then take the success to the community starting with a mention in the
newspaper of one offered class along with an online class and poll those in attendance
to gauge further community offers.

9|Page

References
Barney, D., Benham, L., & Haslem, L. (2014). Effects of college students
participation in physical activity classes on stress. American Journal of Health
Studies, 29(1), 1-6.
Calderan, C. (2012). The effects of social integration on stress and risk of depression
in college students. Perspectives (University Of New Hampshire), 121-128.
Chikte, A. (2012). Laughter Yoga Therapy and Stress Management. Golden Research
Thoughts, (2), 1.
Diamond, L. (2012). The benefits of yoga in improving health. Primary Health Care,
22(2), 16-19.
Diamond, L. (2012). The benefits of yoga in improving health. Primary Health Care,
22(2), 16-19.
Gigliotti, R. J., & Huff, H. K. (1995). Role-related conflicts strains and stresses of
older-adult college students. Sociological Focus, 28(3), 329-342.
Johnson, J. (2011) Living in balance: Giggle your way to health with laughter yoga.
Massage Magazine, (181), 68-73.
Khatchadourian, R. (2010). The Laughing Guru. New Yorker, 86(25), 56-65.
Kreig, D. (2013). High expectations for higher education? Perceptions of college and
experiences of stress prior to and through the college career. College Student
Journal, 47(4), 635-643.
Prakash, V. (2013). Laughter Therapy for the mind and body: An interview with
Vishwa Prakash. Alternative & Complementary Therapies, 19(4), 205-208.
doi:10.1089/act.2013.19410
Robbins, L. (2006). The Yoga of Full Body Laughter. Yoga Therapy in Practice, 2(1),
13.
Stress Symptoms, Effects of stress on the body. (2013, July 2). Retrieved October 12,
2014,http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-symptomseffects_of-stress-on-the-body

10 | P a g e