Director of Student Life, Ashley Abbott, a certified yoga instructor.
New student wellness room offers peaceful retreat
Amid the day-to-day pressures that every law student faces, a new space in O’Brian Hall offers a welcome respite.
That’s UB Law’s new wellness room—Room 640, adjacent to the Charles B. Sears Law Library, where students, faculty, and staff can slip away, as needed, to attend to their personal health.
There’s natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the library’s plant-filled central corridor. A live moss wall. Comfortable furniture for relaxing. Blankets. Motivational books. And areas for meditation and yoga.
A mini-waterfall that runs on a timer. A glowing Himalayan salt lamp. Diffusers for essential oil. Two light therapy boxes. Fidget spinners. Coloring books and games. Even a 2-foot-square wall-mounted Lite Brite, where students can take a break from their books and create their own colorful designs.
Ashley Abbott, the law school’s director of student life, oversees the wellness room and helped design it. A certified yoga instructor, Abbott also leads weekly yoga sessions on Thursday afternoons in the room.
It’s all part of the law school’s ongoing commitment to providing students with holistic support through what might be the most trying time of their life.
“Wellness is one of our primary initiatives, and we have a lot of events related to students’ overall well-being,” Abbott says. Those include weekly wellness initiatives offering coffee and hot chocolate, tabling with community wellness organizations, visits by therapy dogs, stress balls, and a focused Wellness Week each semester. Thomas J. Neill, a social worker from UB’s Department of Counseling Services, is embedded in the law school as a counselor.
All that support is vital because, as Abbott points out, law school is intrinsically different from other graduate programs. “It’s a completely different way of learning,” she says. “Law students carry an intense workload and have to be able to manage stress.” Not to mention, there is heavy emphasis on midterms and finals—and after graduation, the bar exam awaits.
Hence the welcome refuge of the wellness room. To the best of her knowledge, Abbott says, UB Law is one of the first law schools in the nation to create that kind of dedicated space.
The weekly half-hour yoga sessions she leads, Abbott says, are geared to the level of whoever shows up for the sessions. “Many students are seeking a balance of a restorative yoga practice with movement and flow/vinyasa. This balance of movement and restoration energizes, and improves your mood, and helps with finding relaxation, stillness in their minds and staying present,” she says. “Yoga definitely helps reduce stress and anxiety. There’s a physical component of benefits, but there are even more mental and emotional benefits as well.”
Julianna Falsone ’26
And that can affect academic performance. Abbott says that after she led some yoga sessions over the summer for students preparing for the bar exam, at least one student found that the scores on their practice tests improved.
As word of the wellness room continues to spread, the student enthusiasm is clear:
Julianna Falsone ’26: “The new wellness room has been a great place to escape from law school stress. I love to use this room to practice yoga or to just sit and color between classes. I’m very grateful to have a quiet place on campus to recharge.”
Tyonna J. Acoff ’26
Tyonna J. Acoff ’26: “I really enjoy the wellness room because it provides a space where I can be intentional about prioritizing myself. I also really appreciate practicing yoga in the space because it clears my mind and challenges my body. I forget about the daily stress of law school and am completely present in the moment.”
Khalia Muir ’26
Khalia Muir ’26: “It’s a really calming space and it was a great addition to alleviate the demanding atmosphere of law school generally. So, I’m really excited that it exists. It’s been the perfect place to relax, do some yoga, and give my brain a break.”
Katherine Huppé ’26
Katherine Huppé ’26: “As law students, it is incredibly important we take time to decompress—having a dedicated space on campus is amazing. I like to use the pomodoro method when studying and it’s nice to have a space to go relax on my break periods. Additionally, I’ve really enjoyed the Thursday yoga sessions hosted in the space. It’s a wonderful way to take a break and move my body at the end of the week. I set out with the goal of doing more for myself and my body in my second year of school.”