Being a collegiette, life can seem so stressful at times: juggling classes, a part-time job, hobbies and a busy social life is no easy task. Not to mention trying to figure out who you are and what you’d like to do after you graduate. When life seems like one big bundle of unfinished businesses, take a few moments to breath and practice some mindfulness. Contrary to what you might believe, mindfulness is not all about chanting in a lotus pose, but there are some very concrete practices you can do in five minutes that are guaranteed to increase your well-being.
1. Meditate
Meditating or listening to mindfulness tapes is probably the most well-known mindfulness practice. And it really can be very effective! Youtube is full of mindfulness videos and you can also borrow mindfulness books with mediation CDs from the library. Taking a few moments to breath, quiet your mind, be aware of your body and to imagine yourself being on a mountain, for example, is a great way to de-stress, as humbug as it may sound.
2. Ground yourself
When you notice you’re starting to get too worried and distressed about the future (”How will I ever find a job?”) or the past (”Why didn’t I have the courage to smile to that guy in my class?”), take a few minutes to get back to this moment. Grounding exercises are a great way to anchor yourself in the present. They use senses to connect your mind and body to the presence, which can be amazingly calming and de-stressing when you’re feeling anxious. Try the following exercise:
1. Close your eyes and start focusing on your breathing.
2. Listen to the sounds in the room, outside the window, whatever sounds you can hear. Try to really hear every sound there is, even sounds within sounds.
3. Feel how your feet feel against the floor, how the pen feels in your hand, how your back touches the chair. How does your body feel?
4. Continue this for a while until you feel calmer and more relaxed.
When you continue your tasks, try to really focus on them. How does it look like when the pen draws lines on the paper? If you’re washing the dishes, how does the warm water and soap feel against your hands? These kinds of grounding exercises are really easy to do wherever you are, even in the middle of a lecture, and they can help you remind yourself that what really matters is this moment and the future will figure itself out in due time.
3. Be grateful
Being grateful is one of the easiest and the most effective ways to affect your happiness. When you’re having a bad day, it’s so easy to think that nothing ever goes your way but believe me, there is something to be grateful for every day, no matter what has happened. Try keeping a gratitude journal. Every evening, write down three things that you’re grateful for that day. Try to come up with new things every day. After a few days (when you’ve listed friends, family and home) you may notice that it’s getting a bit more difficult but that’s the point: to notice how many small, even teeny tiny things there are in your life that you can be grateful for. Nothing is too small to list, it really can be something as basic as a yummy (or cheap!) lunch at Unicafe. The gratitude journal does wonderful things to your mood and the next time you’re having a bad day, just flip through a few pages to remind yourself of all the great things that are good in your life.