Hypnotist helps students relax at virtual demonstration
By Aaliyah Patel
With online classes taking up the majority of time in most Rider students’ days, Zoom fatigue has become a constant reality. To help the Rider community during these stressful times, the Office of Campus Life hosted a virtual hypnosis event to help students concentrate.
Eric Mina, an author, speaker and coach, held the self-hypnosis demonstration on the evening of Feb. 26.
Mina specializes in improving focus, clarity and performance. His work consists of achieving higher performance without medications, one he was told was impossible after struggling with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a child.
Through his certification as a hypnotherapist, he taught students how the mind and body work together to either focus or distract someone.
In his publication, “From Blurry to Brilliant: Creating Clarity in Our ADHD World” Mina shares how eliminating mental clutter can result in accomplishing one’s goals. After a successful in-person appearance last year before to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mina was invited back virtually.
Nicholas Barbati, the Associate Dean of Campus Life, shared how the Office of Campus Life hosted this event to help students understand how hypnosis can improve their lives.
“We were excited to welcome Mr. Mina back due to his high energy and excitement for performing for college students. Many of our performers are found through our participation in the National Association of Campus Activities, which showcases many performers annually for colleges and universities, and that is how we initially were introduced to Eric Mina,” Barbati said.
Mina practices his teachings through demonstrations, presentations, workshops and keynote speeches across North America.
Senior business management major and Student Entertainment Council (SEC) president Goanio Chavarria mentioned the importance of establishing normalcy with events for students during this time.
“The Student Entertainment Council (SEC) is just trying to deliver as many events as we can. With the pandemic, it has been a challenge being creative and authentic because there is only so much we can do. We do not have much to work with, but the board is working hard to deliver virtual events to the students,” Chavarria said.
Students can look forward to future events, such as this one, throughout the semester.
“We are in the works of launching a campus-wide scavenger hunt, bringing in more food trucks, a talent show where artists can showcase their vocal or rapping abilities and outdoor movies for later in the semester when the weather gets warmer,” Chavarria stated.
