Free Stress-Busting Techniques for YOU: My Visit to the Biofeedback Lab

Are you feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or overly tense? Do you often get headaches or have trouble sleeping? Have you ever wanted to learn how YOUR body responds to stress? Then the Biofeedback Lab is for you!

I was always asked to recommend the Biofeedback Lab during my Stress Management workshop, but I had never personally been there. Finally the curiosity became too much and I found myself on the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) website (caps.byu.edu), where I discovered daily walk-in hours for the lab, as well as contact information to set up one-on-one appointments.

I located the Biofeedback Lab at 1586 WSC (the bottom of the Wilk), and was met by a cheerful Biofeedback Assistant. She had me fill out a survey to assess my specific needs and then invited me to sit in a really comfy chair.

I learned about the body’s response to stress and how to put on the “brakes” when we start to see the warning signs. Being aware of our personal stress and what causes it is the first step in any stress-reduction plan. After learning about healthy techniques, the assistant was able to measure my personal stress levels through my ear and fingers, which was really fun, but also made me feel more stressed when I saw my stress on the computer.

the Counseling and Psychological Services department offers free biofeedback sessions to all BYU students. Visit Caps.byu.edu for walk-in times and appointments. 

She asked me to talk about some things in my life that were currently causing me stress, and then had me do breathing exercises to force myself to calm down, all while looking at my stress levels on the screen. I mentioned that trying so hard to be calm was making me more stressed, and she said that that is the point. We need to learn the skills necessary to release tension even in high stress situations where we are driving ourselves crazy.
Last but not least, I got to play some video games!

Dual Drive, a car-racing game, requires serious diaphragmatic-breathing skills to win the race. Another game, Relaxing Rhythms, has a levitating rocks level that definitely made me feel like a stressed Jedi. Eventually, I was calm enough to let the Force flow through me, and I left the Biofeedback Lab feeling more in control than ever.