Emotional wellness is sometimes overlooked in the fast-paced atmosphere of a college campus or just in everyday life. Often, we forget to pause and analyze how we are feeling. Bottling up emotions can cause stress and prohibit you from doing your best in school. At this stage in our lives, our education should be one of our top priorities, but in order to achieve greatness, we have to be comfortable with ourselves.
Have you ever tried to sit by yourself in silence, away from your phone, for more than 3 minutes? Where does your mind go? Maybe there’s something you didn’t even think was bothering you till you sat there. Or maybe you thought of a solution to a problem you were facing. Allow two hours for yourself per day. Even on your busiest days, it’s important to be in touch with your emotions. Mediation is a key way to clear your head. Apps like Headspace makes it easy and free. Plus, if your turn on your notifications, it will remind you at the same time every day.
Since I am commuter, the next step is a little easier for me. However, with today’s technology it is relatively easy. Talking to someone you love at least once a day helps improve emotional wellness. Whether that be your immediate family or a close friend, taking to someone you love helps you to remember your roots and keeps you grounded. Talking to someone that has your best interests at heart can be refreshing and even eye-opening.
As I mentioned before, taking time for yourself is important. One way to do this is personal care. This could be your skin care regime or taking a shower. Find products that smell good and help you relax. Personally, I like to exfoliate every three days- this helps me to maintain soft skin. In turn, my personal care grants me self-confidence. Self-confidence helps a lot with your emotional well-being. When you feel better about yourself, it helps with understanding your emotions.
Exercising helps with improving your emotional well-being. When you workout, your body unleashes endorphins that give you energy to go on with your day. These endorphins also help you attain more positive emotions. It’s no secret that when you look good you feel good. However, it’s important that you aren’t working out to complete with beauty standards but instead workout because you want to give back to your body.
Lastly, keep a planner to stay organized. Sometimes, we overwhelm ourselves but in reality, it can be easily managed. Whenever I write down things to do at the beginning of the week, I can manage my time better and have time to do some of the things I’ve mentioned already. If you map out your week you can mentally prepare yourself and you won’t be surprised when due dates approach.
I challenge all of you to really take a substantial approach when taking care of your emotional wellbeing every week. I feel like if we really took time to reflect, I would see way more smiles on campus!