This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Holy Cross chapter.
There is no doubt that being a college student is overwhelming. You are transitioning into adulthood, learning to live on your own, and balancing both your academic and social life. Therefore, it can be difficult to prioritize your mental health among all of this chaos. I myself have struggled with generalized anxiety my whole life, and really struggled to deal with my mental health when I first entered college. However, now as a second semester junior I have found that a simple change in mindset, along with a few practices which help me to do such, have really helped me to live a happier and healthier life (both mentally and physically) in college. Afterall, we spend all day inside our heads, sitting with our thoughts, so we might as well make it a nice place to be.
**Disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional. These are just some tips and tricks that have worked for me personally.**
- Understanding the Law of Attraction: I discovered the Law of Attraction during my senior year of high school, and have been a firm believer in it ever since. Basically, this theory is based on the fact that the world is composed of energy, including our thoughts. Therefore, according to this theory, the way we think translates not only into how we perceive the world around us, but also attracts the same type of energy you emit through your thoughts. So, if you think positively and emit such energy, the world around you will in turn be a more positive place. However, on the other hand, if you are constantly thinking negatively, the world around you will also be negative. I think understanding this theory is really important, as your life is really what you make of it, so why not see the good and be positive.
- Practice meditation and mindfulness: Meditation is a practice that I have recently gotten into, and I love it. Although I am a very busy person, with not a lot of free time, I still try to take at least 10 minutes every day to meditate. Meditation is such a simple and easy practice that is often overlooked, but it really is so effective. After realizing the effectiveness of this practice, I now just take a few minutes to focus on my breath and calm myself down every time I find myself getting stressed.
- Mind Body Connection: Along with the previous mental training tips that I just explained, I also make sure to take care of my physical health, as all humans have a direct mind body connection. Basically, if you feel bad physically it is hard to feel good mentally and vice versa. Therefore, I try my best to eat a balanced diet, along with implementing a regular exercise routine. If you want some tips on how I go about this, you can refer to my prior articles on health and fitness
- Get off your phone (especially social media): As a member of Generation Z, I am completely addicted to my phone. However, recognizing this as a problem is a good first step, and has helped me gain motivation to actively train myself to stop using my phone so much. Although technology does have many amazing benefits, I find that whenever I spend too much time on my phone, especially on social media, I always end up feeling bad. When I spend too much time looking at TikTok, Instagram, or Pintrest I begin to compare myself to other people, and begin to feel as if I am not good enough. I see beautiful girls on TikTik and feel as if I am not attractive enough, or I’ll go on Pinterest to look at fashion and make note of every piece I feel my wardrobe is missing (even though I have plenty of clothes). Ultimately, after I put my phone down and go back to the real world, I feel inadequate, and more conscious of all of the flaws I now perceive to have in my life, which is an extremely unhealthy and negative thought process. Therefore, after recognizing this pattern of behavior, I have begun to notice when I find myself going down a rabbit whole of self pity, and try to stop myself from going down it any further.
- Be Grateful: As I discussed in the previous point, it is very easy to get wrapped up comparing yourself with others, and focusing on your flaws and the negative aspects of your life. However, it is important to remember that social media is really just a highlight reel of the best parts of people’s lives that they wish to share with the world, and does not reflect an entire person’s life and their personal struggles. No matter how aesthetically pleasing a person’s feed is, they could still be greatly struggling on the other side of the screen. Therefore, along with recognizing this reality and getting off my phone, I try to stay positive by being grateful and recognizing all of the blessings in my life. According to the Huffington Post, only about 6.7% of the world’s population is college educated, so even being able to attend such an amazing institution as Holy Cross is a huge privilege.