Without a doubt midterms, exams, and school in general lead to A LOT of stress build up! Although binge eating and Netflix marathons are one way to mask the stress for short periods of time let us all take a few chapters from Grey’s Anatomy and come up with some alternative methods to de-stressing.
DANCE PARTY
Throw on some good tunes and dance out all of that stress. If you’re too tired to “dance it out” then turn on the music and get lost in the lyrics and melody for a few songs – just let your brain unwind and relax.
TALK TO SOMEONE WHO PREACHES TOUGH LOVE
Sometimes what you need when you’re stressed is a little tough love, someone to tell you that it’s all going to be fine, but that you need to get up and do something before you’re even more overwhelmed.
(OR) TALK TO SOMEONE IN GENERAL
Not feeling the tough love approach? That’s okay. Pick up the phone, call your mom, or meet up with your bestie and just let all your feelings out. Sometimes the best cure for stress is to stop storing it and just let it out!
* If you’re worried about feeling like a burden on your loved ones then take advantage of Harvard’s campus resources pertaining to mental health. There is always someone to listen!
DO SOMETHING ACTIVE
Take a break and do something active that gets your blood flowing. There are so many options for this one: you can go for a run, hit up the gym, take a yoga class, or arrange a group baseball game! What’s important is that you get out of the library, off of your bed, and start moving.
REMEMBER THAT IT’S OKAY TO BE STRESSED
I think sometimes we feel pressured to always be happy. We take stress as a sign that we’re not good enough, or that we’re the odd ones out. Newsflash! Every university student feels stressed at least part of the time, and that’s okay! Just don’t set up residence there. In fact, if we stop being so hard on ourselves a lot of our stress will go away on it’s own as a result.