Virtual Stress Relief: Exercise & Meditation

Welcome to Virtual Stress Relief Sponsored by the UB Libraries

Last Updated: Aug 30, 2023 2:59 PM

Yoga, Dance and Exercise

Man runs along a canal on a foggy morning. Across the water is a historic building. Trees and greenery line both sides of the water and running path.

Let's Get Virtual!

UB Recreation has a variety of resources for holistic wellness! Physical wellness content includes At Home Fitness and a Virtual 8K.

Don't miss their Workout Playlists and other resources for emotional, spiritual, environmental, intellectual, financial and occupational wellness on their Let's Get Physical page.

Image attribution: "Runner Canal" by Maciej Cieslak from Pixabay

A woman in warrior two pose on a yoga mat outside

UB Yoga for Every Body

Check out Yoga for Every Body from the University at Buffalo, the Office for Inclusive Excellence and other campus partners.

They also have a wide array of Remote Yoga & Wellness Resources.

Image attribution: "Yoga" by Dave Rosenblum licensed under CC BY 2.0

A group of four people doing yoga on a beach

Yoga with Adriene

Yoga with Adriene is a great YouTube channel for yoga sessions to fit your schedule.

Image attribution: "Yoga Retreat On The Beach" by WeTravel licensed under CC BY 2.0

A woman and a man performing a dance routine against a black background

YouTube dance classes from the Mark Morris Dance Group in a variety of styles and for all levels and ages! Watching on YouTube is free, but you can find out more about this dance group and make a donation if able on their website.

Image attribution: "DANCE - Complexions Contemporary Ballet" by Steven Pisano licensed under CC BY 2.0

A woman doing Pilates stretches at an exercise center.

Long + Lean Pilates

Pilates fundamentals and workouts for the family from Long + Lean Pilates

Image attribution: "Pilates Class at PHV Activity Center" by heraldpost via Flickr

Man exercising with his legs raised while on his back reaching towards his feet with both hands

YMCA Buffalo Niagara

Your Virtual Y from the YMCA Buffalo Niagara has virtual classes for members. Check out details on their site or their Facebook page! Recorded classes are also being posted to their YouTube page.

Image attribution: "Sports fitness" by Keifit from Pixabay

Focus on Knitting

Skeins of yarn in shades of white, gray, red and blue in a brown basket

How to Knit

Maybe you always meant to learn how to knit, but never had the chance. YouTube has so many knitting tutorials, but this one from ExpressionFiberArts is a great place to begin!

Image attribution: "Assorted color yarns on brown wicker basket" by Surene Palvie from Pexels

A striped crocheted blanket with crochet hook and string

How to Crochet for Beginners

Rather learn to crochet than knit? No problem! Try this video from ExpressionFiberArts to get started.

Left-handed? Try this video by Naztazia instead!

Image attribution: "Background crochet knitting ravel" by Asya Vlasova from Pexels

Need supplies?

Love to give this a try but without the required supplies? Here's a list of some starter materials from online retailers:

Joann Fabrics:

Michael's:

Meditation

A calm, blue view of the horizon reflected over a body of water

UB Health Promotion

UB Health Promotion has so many resources from stress tips to eating healthy!

Student Life's Mental/Emotional Well-Being and Counseling Services have a variety of resources for situations you may be facing.

Image attribution: "Calm" by Fiona Paton licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Field of purple lavender in rows leading to the horizon with a pink and blue clouded sky.

UCLA Mindful

UCLA Mindful has guided meditations available both through your browser and as an app.

Image attribution: "Lavender flower field under pink sky" by David Bartus from Pexels

A lake surrounded by woods during the day

Calm

Calm is an app you may have heard of, but their YouTube channel has a number of free meditation options.

From Soothing Sounds and 10-Minute Meditations to an entire series of videos with LeBron James.

Image attribution: "Photo of lake during daytime" by H. Emre from Pexels

Soothing Sounds

Blue, green and white waves curling up to break

Spotify: Nature Sounds

This album of relaxing nature sounds on Spotify can help calm you for meditation or sleep.

Image attribution: "Surf water wave sea nature" by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

Sunrise peaking over mountains in the distance cause the sky to go from yellow-white to orange to blue with sparse clouds in the sky

Soothing Relaxation

Composer Peder B. Helland has a collection of his work available on his YouTube channel.

Image attribution: "Sunrise under cloudy sky illustration" by Public Domain Pictures from Pexels

Shades of gray and white as rain pelts the ground and splashes back up

Relaxing White Noise

From thunderstorms to campfires and airplanes to windstorms on Mars, you are sure to find the right mix of white noise to help calm your mind.

Image attribution: "Rain water" by Tiago Cardoso from Pixabay

An image captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hot bluish-white clusters of massive stars are scattered throughout the galaxy, interspersed with numerous dustier, reddish regions of current star formation. Massive dark clouds of gas and dust are silhouetted against the starlight.

Space: The Final Relaxation

Federation officers and ensigns! Miss the humming sound of the Enterprise's engines and ambient sounds while stationed on Earth? This 12-hour loop of Star Trek background sounds can help!

Image attribution: "Starburst in NGC 4449 (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope)" by NASA, ESA, A. Aloisi (STScI/ESA), and The Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration licensed under public domain.

Cool, dense north woods forests are a prominent part of the Pictured Rocks landscape.

Legend of Calm

Your favorite films or video games are a great way to find music that is relaxing to you!

Search YouTube or Spotify for these soundtracks. On YouTube you might also be able to find longer loops of your favorite songs: try out this ten hour loop of "Sacred Grove" from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

You may not need all ten hours, but it's there if you need it!

Image attribution: "Forests - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore" by the U.S. National Park Service licensed under public domain.

Origami

Origami For Everyone

Origami is the art of paper folding, which is often associated with Japanese culture. This historical art form inspires mindfulness, relaxation, and focus. The following links have free origami patterns that you can do at home at any skill level.

Image attribution: "Origami Stars" by emanthy licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Online Coloring

A colored illustration with a floral pattern in shades of blue, green red, pink and yellow

Colorfy

Colorfy invites you to "Color and Relax". Paint beautiful designs from thousands of designs or even create your own with just a snap! Choose from specially designed palettes, apply beautiful filters and share your creations with all your friends. The app is available for both iOS and Google Play store.

Image attribution: "Colorfy Image Done on my Kindle" by Crystal A Murray licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Crayons arranged on a table in rainbow order

Crayola Free Coloring Pages

Crayola a huge variety of free coloring pages from popular characters to more intricate images and patters for the advanced coloring student.

Image attribution: "crayons" by Laura Taylor licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

A photograph of multiple colored pencils at their tips

Coloring Home

Coloring Home boasts a collection of hundreds of coloring sheets downloadable in PDF for printing. You are also able to filter through several categories, making it easy to find the perfect picture for you.

Image attribution: "| colors |" by arquera is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Acknowledgement

Special Thanks to our partners in Stress Relief: UB Health Promotion, Whispers Café and the SPCA's Paws for Love program

We look forward to working with you again soon!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.