As part of Her Campus Exeter’s Mental & Physical Health Awareness Campaign we will be exploring the benefits of meditation. This campaign hopes to raise awareness of mental & physical illnesses within the student population and break the misconception that if you can’t see it then it’s not there.
Headspace is the rapidly growing online meditation forum, which offers a range of various practices designed to cover every aspect of your life, from relationships to work. It is becoming the go-to app for mindfulness on the run!
The mantra for Headspace is treat your head right, which is a growing concept that is being valued more and more each day. Meditation is all about treating your brain like any other muscle in your body, something that needs to be exercised, looked after and treated with just a little bit of TLC.
In our busy lives full of deadlines, friendship drama and late nights in Arena it becomes extremely easy to overlook how our mind is actually feeling. Forgetting to look after yourself can lead to a whole heap of problems including anxiety, stress and depression. In the past, such issues have been swept under the carpet and treated as unequal to physical illnesses but equality between mental and physical illness is slowly growing over the years. Anxiety and stress can be a big part of the university experience, and although it may seem like these issues are unavoidable, there are definitely a few ways to try and keep them at bay.
The Headspace revolution is drawing people to take a moment away from their chaotic lives and think how is my mind feeling today, am I stressed or tired? Is there anything that I’m anxious about? Simply taking a few moments out in a day to review how you’re feeling can make a world of difference. Headspace offers these questions to be asked in a variety of meditation practices, ranging from 10 to 60 minutes long, meaning there’s a suitable practice for those of all abilities! To begin with there are 10 practice tasters, lasting 10 minutes, so there’s no excuse not to give it a go!
Getting the motivation to start a practice or keep up the routine is often the hardest part, so luckily the app offers you a buddy system so you can pair up with a friend and motivate each other. It couldn’t be more easy! Research shows that mediation is an “effective treatment for stress, worry, lack of focus, relationship problems, addictions and more”, the easy cure for everyday issues. You never know, it could have a greater effect on you than you ever realised! Headspace offers a range of subscription options if you decide that you love the app after their free trial. The most popular is a £4.99/pm membership that lasts a year, allowing you to access an unlimited number of practices to be unlocked tailored to your regularity and focuses.
Plus for those who feel like they may need a little bit of motivation in the day, HeadSpace has a great Instagram account where they post reflective and inspiring quotes. Here are just a few!
In light of Mental Health Week and HCX’s campaign, this is the perfect time to take a step back and start looking after your mind, and Headspace is an excellent way to do this. A bit of ‘me’ time won’t do you any harm!