By Isabelle Chiu
Online Sports Editor
Sophomores direct the TED talk to redirect stress in students
Members of the Mayor’s Youth Council, Costa sophomores Lily Raffety and Danielle Smith, took it upon themselves to help relieve Costa students of their stress by co-directing the first of three TED talks scheduled to take place this year. Raffety and Smith chose the topic of stress management. They organized the event by setting the date, picking the speakers and giving the speakers topics to reflect upon and answer in their talks, depending on the individual talks of each of the speakers.
“I volunteered because I thought it would have a good impact on Costa and it would be a rewarding experience,” Raffety said. “We saw how many people in school are always extremely stressed out and have a lot of anxiety, and we wanted to help relieve that as much as we could.”
Warren talks about how to ward off anxiety in high school life
Local professional psychologist Dr. Kelley Warren encourages Costa students to not “psych” themselves out by using her self-soothing techniques. Warren, who specializes in adolescents and family support, spoke about how anxiety affects high school students and shared tools they can use to cope with it. She talked about self-soothing techniques, such as exercising or doing yoga, utilizing distractions like listening to music, challenging negative thoughts through motivation and setting realistic expectations.
“Stress is one of the most common things people come to see me for,” Warren said. “Hopefully, the people who attended the conference will take away the tools used to cope with anxiety.”
Mother and daughter duo teach students to inhale positivity
Costa sophomore Shelby Friedman paired up with her mother Tiffany Friedman to show students how to combat stress using breathing techniques. Instead of just giving a speech, the Friedman’s implemented exercise into their talk. Tiffany Friedman is a professional yoga teacher and also the director of local yoga studio Haute Yogi. She taught Shelby breathing exercises to use when combatting stress. The two decided to incorporate the audience by teaching them these breathing techniques, along with strategies for meditation during the TED conference.
“I thought it would be worthwhile to share the breathing techniques that I use to combat stress,” Shelby Friedman said. “It helps me to control my anxiety through breath work.”
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