Feeling stressed? Need a moment – or several – to drift away mentally while finding inner peace and resolve?
Margaret Thacker has a solution: the Huskie Haven.
Thacker, office manager of the Learning Center in Gabel Hall, wanted to provide a place where College of Education students, faculty and staff could temporarily close off the worries of the world while basking in calm and comfort.
After conducting internet searches on relaxation rooms and also receiving valuable advice and help from Suzanne Degges-White and Tim Keller of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education – “I found out that a quiet space can mean different things to different people,” she says – Thacker began purchasing the various pieces needed to furnish her creation.
“I spoke with my student-workers to run this idea past them first,” Thacker says, “and the one who was here over the summer, Alana Young, couldn’t wait for it to get here. She actually helped me put the room together.”
Located inside Gabel Hall 01, the room features a heated massage chair, a mirrored waterfall, a meditation pillow, a DVD trip to tropical beaches and soft lighting. Panels cover the window and door to ensure privacy.
Visitors who sit in the Comfier chair will enjoy shiatsu rollers and massage balls that provide a deep-tissue, kneading massage of the neck, shoulders, back, waist and feet, soothing painful knots and muscle aches.
Six automatic programs are available – Refresh, Relax, Yoga, Neck-and-Shoulders, Waist-and-Back and Dream – along with a zero-gravity angle, a hand controller to choose desired levels of massage and a USB port and Bluetooth speakers to play favorite music.
“Our students who have used the room already love it, and I have seen students use more than one piece,” Thacker says. “Right now, there’s not a time limit on the room, but as it gets busier, we expect to maybe put a time limit on it.”
Huskie Haven is available during regular Learning Center hours, although it might close if the outer room is reserved for meetings. Contact Thacker at mthacker@niu.edu for more information or to schedule an appointment.
