Wellbeing & Faith-Specific Consultations

The Chapel is a centre of the college’s wellbeing activities, which this year include embodied earth meditations and yoga. These activities are open not merely to current members of the JCR, MCR and SCR, but also our alumni.

Please do reach out to the Chapel Director, if you would like to recommend the trial of a new technique or teacher.

Faith-Specific Consultations

Recognising the importance of individual beliefs and faiths, the Chapel Director is able to provide referral to faith-specific Chaplains and priests to help students navigate any religious or spiritual concerns.

Contact the Chapel Director

Embodied Earth Meditations

In Hilary term 2025, our Embodied Earth Meditations will run weekly in the Somerville College Chapel and on Port Meadow, all with UKCP registered eco-therapist Ally Stott.

Read more about our Embodied Earth Meditations.

Meditation Dates and Times:

All sessions begin at 3.30pm on Thursday afternoons

• 23^rd Jan (Chapel)
• 30^th Jan (Chapel)
• 6^th Feb (Chapel)
• 13^th Feb (Port Meadow)
• 20^th Feb (Chapel)
• 27^th Feb (Port Meadow)
• 6^th March (Chapel)
• 13^th March (Port Meadow)

Off-Site Sessions:
For sessions on the Meadow, please meet at the entrance to Port Meadow at the end of Walton Well Rd, 10 mins before the start time to give yourself time to arrive and transition. Please bring an extra layer warm layer with you for the cooler months. To support our practices, phones will be off for the duration of the sessions.

Health & Safety:  
Please note that, in taking part in our off-site sessions, you will be taking responsibility for your own health and safety, as well as maintaining an awareness of the health and safety of others.

Feedback from Students:  

“I really appreciated the port meadow meditation session I came to! It was just lovely and so calming to take a space to move slowly and just exist in a place. I didn’t expect to like being asked about my thoughts/experiences while we were there, but I did actually find it interesting and affirming in a way to put into words…”

“Just to say I really enjoyed the one embodied earth meditation I attended this term! I found that it was a good balance of independent and guided mediation, though regular spoken guidance was helpful to keep me grounded in the space and not panicking. I thought it was very important to check in regularly with my body and emotions during term time, and valuable to encourage me to be more comfortable with doing nothing which is something I normally struggle with…”

Yoga

Yoga with Mariella De Martini takes place on Mondays in the Chapel:

1st Session – 5:30-6:30pm
2nd Session – 6:30-7:30pm

Full information available here. 

Reflections on Yoga from a Participant:

“It is the perfect way to end a Monday. It really helps with my posture, especially when sitting in front of a computer for most of the day. The teacher is wonderful and offers different levels depending on ability.”