Let me start off by explaining myself: I’m not afraid to admit that I’m not one of those glorious rays of sunshine who walk around with a smile on their face 365 days out of the year. Far from it.
Whilst in many ways university can blow your world wide open it can also close it down. When I came to this campus in the first semester I started having days where I’d feel a horrible hollow kind of sadness. I don’t think this is unusual – suddenly moving out means that we are suddenly forced out of the safe little bubbles we’ve probably been living in since birth, but I vividly remember spending several months stumbling around, shell-shocked and uncertain about what to do.
And so finally came the time when I decided to make an effort to improve my situation. I did what I naturally do when I’m confused – I Googled it.
I stumbled across a new strand of research called “positive psychology” – based upon the idea that whilst some people are genetically predisposed to be happier than others, a certain amount of happiness comes from intentional actions we choose to do. I made a list of the most common activities that kept appearing in articles and documentaries and I decided to try them all out and give you the verdict! I wanted to find out for myself: did they make me happier generally? Did they make me feel more fulfilled, more satisfied with my life?
One of the first things I noticed coming up again and again was exercise. When I first read this I internally groaned. Then I swore. Then I groaned some more. And then I slowly and begrudgingly thought that there might be something in this after all. I am not someone who naturally takes to sport and exercise. I once hid in a hedge to get out of doing a cross country race. At this point, however, I was willing to give anything a go.
So here’s a list of some of the things I tried out!
1. Running
A few months ago I got a membership for the Penryn campus gym, but the great thing with running is you could do it completely for free if you wanted to. There’s an FXU running group that organises weekly runs in a group, or you could always just go for a jog along Gylly beach on a nice day. I find that running has really helped for me. Its strangely calming – hearing the rhythmic sound of my feet hitting the treadmill is both relaxing and cathartic (especially if you’ve got a killer playlist). I definitely find it helps if I’m feeling stressed out. Does it make me happy? Bizarrely yes. Maybe it’s just the post-workout endorphin rush speaking, but I honestly feel like it makes me feel better, and like I can handle any problems that come my way.
2. Yoga
After a strange bout of insomnia recently I also decided to try out yoga to see if it would be relaxing. I know there are Ashtanga Yoga and Hatha style yoga classes on at the campus fitness centre, but I decided to try leaning from instructors on YouTube instead. This way, I could go at my own pace. Admittedly it is a bit bizarre when the instructors say things like “smile down at your heart” or “climb up your spine” but I could get past that. Some of the poses rely on having strong muscles so I definitely felt like I was getting a workout but it was also calming at the same time. There are hundreds of free yoga videos online, whether you want a quick five minute morning workout or a full thirty day challenge. I’d definitely recommend this for someone who wants something a little less strenuous!
3. Zumba
Ok, this was my friend’s idea. And at first, I didn’t take to it. I felt like an octopus trying to learn to tap dance. It turns out I have zero coordination. After a while however I got bored of being self-conscious and realised that no one was paying attention to me anyway. I don’t know whether it was the flashing lights and inexplicable perkiness of the neon lycra-wearing dancers around me but it was fun in a surreal kind of way. I think this is the kind of exercise I’d definitely recommend dragging a friend along to – you’ll get a six-pack just from laughing at each other.
4. Walking
Walking in my opinion is so underrated. Recently I went with some friends for a walk all around Pendennis Point. We started at Gylly beach and ended up back in Falmouth high street some time later, covered in mud and looking like we’d just crawled out of a jungle. The sun was setting and it was incredible. But you don’t necessarily have to do a walk that long. Just getting outside for fifteen minutes or so really helps with clearing your head, plus you get fresh air and if you happen to live somewhere beautiful (like Cornwall for instance) you get to see some really amazing sights.
I would’ve been perfectly happy to half-heartedly give exercising a go and then be ready to smugly tell the world that it doesn’t work. But in my opinion it does. I’ve been doing some form of exercise most days (sometimes twice) for several months now. I honestly think it’s really improved my mood and helped with stress too. It releases endorphins. It gets you outside into fresh air. I also found that I gained a sense of achievement as I felt myself getting fitter as the time went on. Exercise gave me something productive to do to take my mind off my low moods as well as getting me out of my flat. If you haven’t given it a go yet, I seriously recommend it. I had no idea how much it would help me until I tried it.
I’ve gone from not wanting to move at all to finding new things I want to try – surfing is definitely next on my list!
Here’s a quick list of some articles and documentaries I used in my research – all were really interesting so I definitely recommend investigating the subject further!
- Project Happiness: www.projecthappiness.org
- “What is, and How Can You Achieve Happiness?” by Dr Timothy Sharp
- The Surprising Science of Happiness – TED Talk by Dan Gilbert
- “Happy”– a 2011 documentary film written directed and co-produced by Roko Belic (Available on Netflix!)