With finals week just around the corner, it’s easy to get sucked into the whirlpool of stress. But don’t worry! Here are five things you can do to relax and de-stress during this stressed szn.
1.) Yoga.
Yoga is great to practice for physical and mental wellness. Yoga encourages the release of tension in your muscles, stimulation of your nervous system, and a focus on relaxation and positive energy. This is a perfect cocktail for stress relief.
2.) Pet therapy.
UConn’s wellness and prevention services offers pet therapy every other week in the relaxation station. You can chill out and de-stress with some adorable pups. During finals week you can also find some doggos in the library to help relax and unwind with all the stress of finals.
3.) Journaling.
Putting your thoughts out into the world, either by talking about them or writing about them, has proven to help reduce stress. Writing your negative thoughts and your worries in a journal can help release them so that they don’t stay bottled up in your body. Take a few minutes out of your day to write down your day’s worries or your negative thoughts and then close the journal and your mind to those stresses.
4.) Diaphragmatic breathing.
This is an exercise you can practice for about 5-10 minutes a day to help relieve stress. Get in a comfortable position and place one hand on your chest, and the other hand on your upper abdomen. Slowly breathe in through your nose, then out through your mouth. Make sure you feel the hand on your stomach move, but not the one on your chest. Not only does this exercise help release stress, but it also helps encourage a healthy breathing pattern.
5.) Take a break!
I know that sounds like a horrible idea when you have two papers due and three exams to study for, but sometimes it’s really healthy to take a break from it all. Take a shower, take a nap, go get some food with friends, or maybe just scroll through Instagram. Just make sure you set aside some time during the day to do some stress-free activities.
Good luck, collegiettes! You’ve got this.