Back in the swing of things yet?! Spring semester has officially begun- professors have unveiled syllabi, textbooks likely await you in the mailroom, and you’ve probably blown through part of your summer’s savings on Baan Thai or retail therapy trips to Newbury Street. Keep stress in check or better yet minimize stress entirely by trying some of these natural stress relieving strategies:
1. Hit the ground running…or the treadmill
The gym, whether low intensity or high intensity workouts, can be an incredible stress reliever as I’m sure you’ve heard countless times before. In addition to keeping healthy, the gym is a great place to sweat out any daily stressors and an even greater place to run into friends. Plus you don’t have to sacrifice your allotted Netflix hour, rather bring an iPad or phone to keep you busy in the cardio room and you can kill two birds with one stone!
2. Weekly Excursions
Brandeis has plenty of events and countless club meetings daily to keep you occupied, but escaping campus at least once a week can be revitalizing. Whether venturing out for ice cream in Waltham, for shopping on Newbury, or for people watching in Harvard Square, you’ll find the change of atmosphere tremendously beneficial.
3. Incentivize yourself
Your fave band coming to the House of Blues later this semester or an empty weekend in the near future? Buy tickets for a show, sports game, or concert or even bus tickets to visit a friend at a nearby university. During times of stress, these exciting incentives will help you push through and remind you that once you finish your work, something exciting awaits.
4. Keep your favorite sweet treat on hand
Keeping a food in your room that either reminds you of home or simply just tastes amazing can pick you up when you’re feeling down. Of course, for this strategy to work you’d have to reserve that treat for stressful times and keep from indulging daily or it’ll lose it uniqueness.