University students have been given a makeshift “grave” to help with stress.
Radboud University in the Dutch city of Nijmegen has gone to unusual lengths to help people relax by digging a plot in the ground to allow students a place to reflect.
Slots from 30 minutes to three hours can be booked in the student chaplaincy garden with phones and books strictly banned.
If any students are feeling a bit too squeamish to spend time in an actual grave, they can use a nearby bench for meditation instead.
The experience is advertised by the Latin phrase ‘Memento Morti’ – ‘remember you must die’ – and the project’s creator John Hacking has explained his thinking behind it.
The chaplain said: “The end of life, death, is a taboo, difficult for students… death is very difficult to talk about, especially when you are 18, 19, 20 years old.”
He added his hope that students will be inspired to make the most of their lives.
