The statistics behind the Indiana University Wellness Studio speak for themselves: 22,500 sessions from roughly 5,500 unique participants, and 3,400 students (including a plurality of the school’s international students) utilized the space more than six times since it opened in 2025. For Josh Downing, associate director of programming at IU Rec Sports, these numbers signal that the Wellness Studio is achieving its goal of attracting students who wouldn’t typically utilize rec sports facilities.
“Today’s student is evolving,” says Downing. “Their needs and wants are changing. More than ever, we need to make sure that we don’t have any unintentional barriers and that we make access easy. We’re supporting as many students as possible, creating spaces that you don’t necessarily have to come in, work out and do all the things, but you’re still visiting us.”
Creating the space was a crucial step in the process for Downing and other team members at IU Rec Sports who admitted even before creating the Wellness Studio that programming in the Student Recreational Sports Center was exceeding its square footage.
“We needed to take a look at every single square inch of our facilities. That was part of the systems and settings approach,” Downing says. “Can we be creative and put people in different office spaces so we can gain space? Space is at a premium. And when it comes to our facilities, we’re maxed out. We need more space. So that was part of this project. How can we make as many spaces as possible student-facing? At the same time, we did a total rebrand. You walk in here and it is 100% cream and crimson. Indiana branding everywhere. It looks incredible.”
One key underutilized space that Downing and his team identified for reimagination was a set of former offices situated near the main key-card entrance to the facility. Inspired by a growing number of students inquiring about recovery options at the campus rec facility, the Hoosiers converted that space into the Wellness Studio. “We chose this space because it has one wall that is all windows, so you’re looking out onto the patio. It was a natural location for something like this because you feel like you’re in a space to relax,” Downing says.
Inside that space to relax, Downing zeroed in on a few key recovery modalities, from WellnessSpace Brands, that students were asking for and that fit his limited square footage. “We knew that the hydro and cryo were going to be big, so we started with those, and we quickly learned that it wasn’t enough,” he says. “So, we added another hydro and another cryo.”
The space is filled with natural light and light-colored walls, complemented by indoor plants to enhance the mindful atmosphere.
Next on the horizon for the IU Rec Sports team is the nearly completed project of turning underutilized locker room space into saunas. Downing says that saunas are one of the most common requests that the rec sports staff receives from IU students.
Infrared saunas are being built on the lower level of the SRSC. Historically, a pair of outdated saunas were wedged into the locker rooms of an old fieldhouse on campus. But the days of outdated recovery modalities as an afterthought are long gone. Now, Downing knows that dedicated, modern space will be a massive value add for students.
“Having a dedicated space is important because it does feel like its own unique space away from everything else,” Downing says. “If you’re able to make that dedicated space, then I would definitely consider doing that. It’s been a huge win for us, and I would hope that others would also do it to get that huge win.”
