The first time Megan Kavlock tried yoga was during her freshman year of high school. Kavlock, now a junior in architecture and a yoga instructor for Recreation Services, did yoga on and off throughout her four years of high school. She didn’t really start getting into yoga until she got to college and joined The Yoga Club.

The reason? Stress from roommate problems. 

“It was good to have a peaceful, zen, judgement-free zone,” Kavlock said. “Then the fitness and wellness coordinator recommended that I start the training for yoga.”

Kavlock is not alone in the stress epidemic that hits college campuses every year. According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS), 8 in 10 college students experience frequent stress. 

This is due to multiple reasons. Deanna Sargent, communications and marketing manager for the Student Health Center, said in an email that stress and aggression can be due to burnout, overscheduling, world situations and relationship problems.  Luckily, there are many ways for students to relieve their stress and aggression they get from a buildup of these factors. Yoga is just one of them.

Kavlock said the reason yoga is so helpful is because it is physically, spiritually and mentally a relief. She thinks it’s because the link of one breath to one movement doesn’t allow your mind to think of other things while doing yoga; it allows you to be present.

“I’m not even sure how it works, but I’ve seen a lot of differences in my life,” Kavlock said. “It just makes you feel so calm and nice. Every time you finish a practice, you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m ready to conquer the day.’”

Yoga is different than some other ways that people may relieve their stress and aggression. Kavlock said yoga is lower intensity and more relaxing and peaceful for people not wanting to exert much energy.

It also comes with many benefits besides relieving stress. Kavlock said physical therapists even recommend it after injuries to help people keep up with workouts.

“Especially since there is such a variety of alternative poses, you can have a super stretchy yoga flow, you can get the flexibility and you can get the strength and the mindfulness,” Kavlock said. “There is a whole slew of benefits. I’ve even found outside of yoga, it helps me with people skills and helps you approach problem solving and arguments with more of an open mind.”

Kavlock said she doesn’t want people to get discouraged because yoga can be for everyone. She wishes more people gave it a chance because of the many benefits.

“I think if people would have more of an open mind to it, they’d be able to experience the same things we get to experience in class.”

Another class Iowa State Recreation Services offers students is boxing, a way for people to relieve stress and aggression. 

Leah Riese, senior in kinesiology and health and boxing instructor for Recreation Services, first learned how to box from her sister and now has been teaching it for three-and-a-half years.

Riese said boxing is a healthy way to relieve stress and aggression because it takes your mind off things and puts them in perspective. It also helps to relieve pent-up stress because it’s so high intensity and you’re actually contacting the bag.

“It’s almost like a transfer of energy,” Riese said. “It helps you blow off steam.”

Jacob Jorgensen, junior in kinesiology and health and boxing instructor for Recreation Services, added that boxing helps get out a lot of aggression and stress in a short amount of time.

“It’s a really quick and easy way to work out,” Jorgensen said. “I can work myself out in five minutes of boxing if I tried to; you can come out and get a whole lot of aggression out, and afterwards, you feel much more calm.”

Once people get the hang of the boxing combinations, Riese said boxing can become therapeutic because it helps clear your mind, and you’re relieving stress without even knowing it.

Jorgensen said boxing can be more beneficial than other workout forms because of the contact part of it. 

“If I’m angry at somebody, I’m not going to physically hit them because that’s just wrong,” Jorgensen said. “But I can take it out on the bag.”

Riese added it also helps with releasing the built-up tension and stress in people’s muscles.

“Since this is such a physical thing to actually hit the bag, you’re letting go of the tension as you hit the bag,” Riese said. “I would say that would be the main way [boxing is more beneficial than other workout forms].”

Riese said she likes the fast-paced style of boxing while Jorgensen said he likes how creative and individual it is. 

“People get super into it; you can just tell people really enjoy it,” Riese said. “[…] Here we keep it in a safe environment, and people still get the physical point of boxing; that’s what I really like about it.”

Sargent said all the services provided by Recreation Services help to relieve stress and aggression, including fitness classes, weight lifting and the track for running.

Outside of Recreation Services and working out, students can relieve their stress and aggression in other ways, like throwing axes. 

Ax throwing places are popping up all over the place as it starts to gain traction in the United States; sometimes, it’s even shown on ESPN.

But what exactly do you do?

“You know where to stand to get a nice solid stance,” said Scott Gardner, co-owner of Ironside Axe Club. “The throw we teach everyone to do is a two-handed throw because we have ages 3 to 93. […] To keep it stable, we teach two hands like a golf grip, and you just bring it straight over the top of your head like you’re going to chop wood, and instead of chopping the floor, you throw it at the wall.”

Gardner has been ax throwing for over 20 years, and he said he thought he could use that to open a place people could come to ax throw for fun.

On a busy day, usually Fridays and Saturdays, Gardner said they get as many as 300 people in a day; during the week it’s usually slower. 

Gardner said people can relieve stress and aggression through ax throwing because it’s “cathartic.”

“You wouldn’t think so, but what it amounts to is you’re doing something you know, as a child, you’re not supposed to throw the ax in the house,” Gardner said. “[…] Just doing it, there’s something about an arm over your head, throwing something, […] that will get the stress out.”

Ax throwing is a bit different than yoga or boxing. Gardner said you’ll get a better workout with boxing, but what he likes about ax throwing is how it caters to everybody. 

He spoke of a time when a 19-year-old who didn’t have any hands had a birthday party at the venue. 

“I found an ax that worked for him, he was bound and determined to do it, it didn’t take him that long,” Gardner said. “For this, it filled the need he had for doing something, a challenge. You might think, ‘How’s a guy going to throw something if he doesn’t have hands?’ He overcame that.”

Like boxing and yoga, ax throwing can be therapeutic too. 

Larry Anderson, event sales manager at Lumber Axe, said the fact that people are mastering something that requires a mental acuity and physical skill is similar to mastering puzzling or anything else you can master.

“You are trying to train your brain to think the same way every time you’re approaching [the target],” Anderson said. “To tell your arms and your mechanics to do the exact same thing every time. […] You’re training yourself a whole new skill; you’re focusing on it so intently for a 90-minute session.”

Lumber Axe also has other activities to do in their building. Escape chambers and a whiskey bar are a couple of them, but ax throwing may win the popularity contest. Anderson said about 50 percent of the total number of people who come into the building are there for ax throwing, which replaced the laser tag that used to be there.

Anderson said that ax throwing helps relieve stress and aggression by the release of endorphins and the adrenaline rush people get from the natural hurtling of the ax. They also will be bringing back a special night to get out specified aggression.

“We’ve done something in the past that we’re going to be bringing back here soon,” Anderson said. “It’s called ‘Axe Your Ex Wednesday.’ This could be a picture of an old lover, it could be a picture of your last credit card bill or student loan; whatever it is you want to put up on the board, you can throw an ax through it.”

Whichever healthy way students decide to get out their stress and aggression, it’s important not to keep it bottled up too long. According to webmd.com, students who don’t relieve it can endure physical and mental changes that can harm them in the long term.

Keeping stress and aggression in can also impact mental health.

“It’s important for students to be prepared, healthy and commit to a wellness routine in order to maintain their mental health,” Sargent said in an email. 

Sargent also gave resources that students can utilize through Student Health if and when the stress gets to be too much. 

“Student Counseling Services offers various groups including ‘Self Love’ and ‘Anxiety Group’ as well as workshops such as ‘Create Your Own Calm,'” Sargent said in the email. “Counselors and mental health providers are available at both Thielen Student Health Center and Student Counseling Services.”