Booking a workout class is becoming as routine as posting on a Canvas discussion board.
Wellness has taken a bigger role in the lives of some students, as more Sun Devils are focusing on feeling good, looking good and working towards goals.
Incorporating wellness into everyday life can differ from person to person. For Kiara Hernandez, a junior studying marketing, wellness looks like eating healthy and getting her body moving every day.
"When I incorporate it into my daily life, it's just a matter of my routine," Hernandez said. "If I stick to a good routine every single day, I just know I always feel my best."
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For students such as Hernandez, ASU's warm climate and local fitness opportunities make wellness part of the University's appeal — and a reason to attend.
"When I first visited, it was just like a culture shock in a good way, where the environment is so wellness-driven, where working out, moving your body, eating healthier, the options are endless," Hernandez said.
Taking workout classes such as reformer Pilates has become a popular way to incorporate wellness into students' daily lives. For Emma Dorn, a junior studying business law, the benefits go beyond the physical realm.
"If I'm having a hard, tired day, and I go to a Pilates or yoga class, I feel like a new person when I walk out of the doors," Dorn said.
Dorn also noticed a domino effect in ASU's wellness culture: seeing someone care about wellness can inspire others to better themselves and socialize more through activities like workout classes.
"It's the best thing that could be happening for universities right now," Dorn said.
Participating in ASU workout classes and activities offers another avenue to join a community outside the classroom.
"I'm always trying to go to classes with my friends, and I joined the Wellness Society," Dorn said. "I wanted to meet like-minded girls."
ASU's Wellness Society is a membership-based club on campus and is one of many chapters across the country, aiming to bring students together through wellness activities.
However, wellness culture can become pressuring if meeting outsiders' expectations takes priority over personal health. Activities meant to help students feel good can instead become harmful, inauthentic performances for likes and views.
"If it's not making you feel good as a person, that's when it gets to be too much," Dorn said.
Although ASU is known for a heavy social media presence, Dorn worries audiences get the wrong idea of what ASU's wellness culture should truly embody.
Doing wellness activities can be aesthetically pleasing and a way to make content, but she believes posting these activities should be a creative outlet rather than a way to get reactions.
Grace Holz, a senior studying marketing, echoes Dorn's emphasis on putting wellness in perspective.
"You can have wellness, but you can have a separate lifestyle as well. Some people balance it both," Holz said. "It doesn't have to be the whole person you are."
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When done right, being in touch with the ways to self-improve and clear your mind puts a positive emphasis on wellness. "It's important to make sure you're in a good mental state so you can get all the things you need to get done," Holz said.
For people who do not know where to start in their wellness journey, Dorn recommends creating a morning and nighttime routine to help boost productivity.
"This is the time to really take care of our bodies, and help us for the future," Holz said.
Edited by Sam Troester, Alan Deutschendorf III and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at csfishe4@asu.edu.
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Charley Fisher is a reporter for the Echo at The State Press. She is a finance major and is currently in her third semester.
