From reducing stress and anxiety to enhancing flexibility and strength, meditation and yoga are more than just a trend; it’s an overall approach to wellness, those who practice say.

The Staff and Faculty Wellness Committee was working with the Wellness Center at Vermont State University Castleton campus last year to provide the staff and faculty with yoga sessions two days a week.

The workshops were held in Haskell Hall and taught by a fellow faculty member who volunteered her time to teach yoga.

This year, however, there have been no wellness opportunities for the staff members at Castleton, but with the help from the community in Rutland, it looks like there might be in the future.

“I spoke to True Yoga Vermont and hopefully we can have them come in once or twice a week and provide yoga for faculty and staff,” said Brittany Green, director of the McNair Scholars Program. “In terms of meditation, hopefully we can partner with Pyramid Holistic.”

Green was very enthusiastic about the possibility of adding this to the VTSU Castleton community.

“I loved it,” Green stated of past opportunities.

She is not involved with the wellness programs, because she spends most of her time working with her scholar students, but she knows of their value.

“When I became director, I really wanted my students to learn about different wellness opportunities we had,” Green said.

Bringing this program back to Castleton would be a great way.

Along with the yoga, Green commented on how another location in Rutland, Pyramid Holistic has different great opportunities.

“They do sound baths and meditations. She is a sound healer,” Green said.

Why aren’t the Wellness Workshops available at the moment? In simple terms, according to Martha Coulter, it was an issue of funding availability.

“Last year, we had funds available from the president for each campus to spend on Wellness Activities,” Coulter said in a recent email exchange. “We were able to offer yoga and tai chi, fitness training by supervised students, massages offered by athletic trainers, and subsidized lunches for employees to gather.”

Funding was uncertain this year, until recently, she said.

“We just learned, by the way, that there are again funds for each campus that can be used. We literally learned that last Friday,” she said on Oct. 25.

Coulter said Jessica Duncan, director of Career Services and Workforce Development, has volunteered to head up a committee to plan Wellness Activities for this year.