Feelin' Good on Friday's

The Women's Resource Center (WRC) is a place dedicated being a safe place, where women's equality and status is pushed by students, faculty and staff. Students get a chance to volunteer and reach out to their community about gender inequality, victim advocacy and better ways to become a Healthy Husky. They holds events like Consent is Sexy, Take Back the Night, and many more that promote gender equality, victim advocacy and community involvement. The WRC created a campaign called #HuskiesDontHarm. It is for the Huskies here at Bloomsburg University to become apart of and pledge to not harm anyone and promote a safe environment.

Walking up to the Women's Resource Center just aside of Schukyll Hall on Bloomsburg University campus, a tree shades the brick outside. Entering the establishment, people of all genders sit around in a comfortable home-looking area in the center. It looks like a living room, with a flat-screen television to the side of the wall and dull colored couches surrounding the room. Against the farthest wall drapes red cloaks, with two signs held on them, "The More You Try To Silence Us, The Louder We Become." Beside the door, Albra Wheeler, the coordinator sits at her desk. "Tea?" people hear from Abra as they first walk in. Further behind the living room a kitchen locates where they have hot water and multiple tea options. All around the room, posters hang with encouraging feminist quotes such as "We Can Do It!" and "Clothing is NOT Consent."

Jill assisting Reiki with a BU student.

The WRC holds every Friday their Feel Good Friday's which bring people together in a safe environment to talk amongst friends and if interested, participate in Reiki. A male student at the WRC explained Reiki as "assistance guided meditation," and "a way of rebalancing."  A curly brown haired short woman sits with everyone, as new people come in she repeats "is anyone up for Reiki?"   I reply with "I'll go."

"Great! follow me," she responds with an uplifting tone .

I follow her to the back room which seems to be a large closet. Twinkling lights wrap around the coat rod in the closet. A folding chair sits pointed toward a shelf where a salt rock glows along with fake lit candles. Her cell phone plays relaxing wave sounds. On the cold cinderblock walls hang canvas' that say relaxing quotes. When we are both ready, she asks if it is okay for her to touch me, and I gave her my permission. She started by asking me if there was any place I wanted her to focus, such as my heart. "I'm okay," I told her. She then began telling me to imagine my feet are tree roots going into positive energy, like a tree into the ground. "Have you ever seen the movie Pocahontas?" She explained, "the Mother Willow tree is what I see as Earth." Then she directs me to take deep breaths in and out. "Breath in the positive energy, all the good, exhale the bad energy, get it out." She places her hands on the top of my head for what seems to be 3 minutes, then onto the back on my hand, my shoulders, and then the center of my back. She talks to me after, telling me how she felt as she was assisting me with Reiki. She felt "like a waterfall, washing away my negative energy and renewing with positive energy."

Conversations in the WRC furthermore discussed Reiki, and how it is actually used in cancer hospitals because it has been scientifically proven to reduce stress. With talking to Jill, I found out that you do not need assistance when doing Reiki, "I know lots of people who do Reiki at home, before they go to sleep." Jill tells us later on this semester she is going to hold her own class to teach Reiki. Reiki can help every single person to detangle their mind, it relieves stress. I would say any audience could do Reiki for any reason.

 The Women's Resource Center still stands as an accepting place for individuals to come and have a good time. Chuckles fill the room as one of the student members at BU walks around with her blanket as a cape stating "it's part of the outfit." In the group of members, a student flips through encouraging, water color painted flash cards. As another student member walks in, hugs exchange and conversation starts. The students start to talk about classes, disclosing information back and forth. Even if the students do not want to do Reiki, they are still feelin' good on Friday's.