Stress. We all have it, especially college students. Dealing with school work, jobs, extracurriculars, and life all at once is no easy task, and it can be hard to find ways to relieve stress that work for each individual person. While yoga, Netflix, and (my personal favorite) naps can be great stress-relievers, sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day to devote to one of those activities. Luckily, there’s the Headspace app that’s a great alternative.
Headspace is a free app that promotes mindfulness and meditation. It has all different tools for various categories a person is concerned about, such as stress and anxiety, falling asleep, work and productivity, and personal growth, to name a few. From there, it gives courses and single-meditations that range from 3-20 minutes- you get to choose the duration you want.
No time to meditate one day? That’s okay, too. If you enable push notifications from the app, it will send you short encouragements throughout the day for reflection and mindfulness. One I got recently was “Is there someone in your life who recently helped you out? How would it feel to give a heartfelt thanks to them?” We’re on our phones so much anyway, a gentle reminder to stop and think once in a while won’t hurt. You can also set reminders to meditate or get ready for bed each day if you’re prone to forgetting or want to maintain a consistent schedule.
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With the free version, you can still listen to meditations, but it really limits your options. But, they get it- they know school can be stressful. Luckily for students, Headspace has a student discount for just $10 a year, rather than the typical $95 per year. You get everything a regular subscriber gets, for a fraction of the cost.
My favorite part of this app is how well it helps for falling asleep. This year especially, the stress from my daily life has affected my ability to fall asleep and ultimately stay asleep at night. After downloading the app, I just throw on a sleepcast or sleep sound every night and I am sound asleep within five to ten minutes of hitting the pillow.
While Headspace isn’t an end all, be all cure for stress, it really can help. Each person copes with stress differently, so don’t be discouraged if the results aren’t exactly what you had hoped for. But, it doesn’t cost anything to give it a try.
Happy meditating!