There is a sanctuary on the second floor of the HSU Library. Turn right at the top of the main second floor stairwell, walk straight ahead and you will run into the Brain Booth. The relaxing feeling in the Brain Booth envelops the visitor, washing off the mental fatigue of the day.
HSU music major Malachai Ennis says the Brain Booth is a place for him to destress.
“It is a helpful experience for someone caught up in the stress of school, similar to lying down and arising well rested,” Ennis said. “You need that resting time to have the energy to face the intensity of academics and human life.”
Brain Booth’s therapeutic tools, such as virtual reality goggles and light therapy lamps, can be checked out at the main desk in the HSU Library.
A passage from one of the Brain Booth books by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living, caught Ennis’s attention.
Kabat-Zinn writes, “Is there any waking moment of your life that would not be richer and more alive for you if you were more fully awake for it, while it was happening?”
Christopher Pavlakovitch, an HSU environmental studies major, studies near the Brain Booth.
“I have never used the Brain Booth but I have met some people who used it and thought it was relaxing taking your mind off school, drawing and chilling with friends,” Pavlakovitch said.
In the Brain Booth, the stationary bike looks out across the Redwood staff parking lot. As you pedal, you are at the same level as the woods. Behind the bicycle is a large impressionistic painting of foliage, bringing a sense of the outdoors into the bike corner.
HSU biology major Lydia Cazares says the Brain Booth is conducive to mind power that increases studying.
“I haven’t used the Brain Booth, yet I have found that I get more studying accomplished here than I do downstairs,” Cazares said.
“Ultimately, meditation is something you can find any place, anywhere,” Ennis said. “It’s good to have a dedicated space to remind people it is there. Drop in the Brain Booth so you don’t drop out of HSU.”
