This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Smith chapter.
Emily Nagoski is the director of Wellness Education at Smith and the author of the book Come as You Are, to be released Spring of 2015.
Tell me a little bit about your new book!
Come As You Are is an essential exploration of why and how women’s sexuality works—based on groundbreaking research and brain science—that will radically transform your sex life into one filled with confidence and joy. Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a “pink pill” for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal clear, that pill will never exist—but as a result of the research that’s gone into it, scientists have learned more about how women’s sexuality works than we ever thought possible, and Come as You Are explains it all.
The beginning of the school year can be a stressful time- what are your top tips for keeping your health in check?
The most important thing at this time of year is to prioritize sleep! The average college age person needs – sorry about this – 9.25 hours of sleep per night. Which means that pretty much all college students are hugely sleep deprived. When you’re getting adequate sleep, you work more efficiently, do higher quality work, and strengthen your immune system. Sleep! It’s important!
What are the resources you most recommend at Smith for keeping good health?
There are at least three physical locations on campus that provide fantastic support for students, above and beyond the support of your housemates and house leaders, your peers, and your faculty:
1. The new Health and Wellness building. Health Services, Counseling Services, and Wellness Education are all located there. We’re down by the gym. Appointments are always free!
2. The Chapel. The Office of Religious Life offers lots of resources, but I want to mention specifically the Monday night Buddhist meditation group. This is also free!
3. The gym. Physical activity of any kind is the single most efficient way to deal with stress. If dancing in your room is the physical activity that works best for you, great! The gym offers lots of resources, from the exercise equipment itself to group exercise classes and the pool.
What’s the health question you get asked most frequently?
It’s probably a tie between “What’s a good way to deal with stress?” and “What’s the best way to nap?”
The best ways to deal with stress are: (1) any kind of physical activity, from going to the gym to dancing around your room to just going outside and walking around your house a few times; (2) sleep; (3) spending time with people you love and trust, who love and trust you; and (4) practicing mindfulness.
There are two best napping strategies: the short nap, 20 minutes or less – you might feel like you don’t even fall asleep in that much time, but just lying down and resting can be amazingly helpful; and the long nap – an hour or more. As long as you’re getting 4 hours in a row of solid sleep each night, it doesn’t matter too much how you break up the rest of your sleep.