College can be absolutely wild sometimes. Especially during your freshman year. There are so many people, friends, party’s, assignments, new experiences, laughs and it’s hard to find the time and quiet when you need it. De-Stressing and finding alone time is crucial to feeling good, happy and healthy. Here are some quick and easy tips to help you de-stress during the semester:
Alone-Time
Find alone-time at least once a day. When new friends enter your life, you spend so much time experiencing each other and hanging out. You’ll find that at any and every moment you’re not in class or sleeping, you’re trying to hang with your new buds. It is all exciting however, it’s important to reflect and find quiet time in a hectic day.
Stretching
Even if it’s just laying on the ground with your arms stretched out, it counts for something. Our bodies are tense all day from all the things we encounter. It’s important to stretch out and breath. It could be a 5-minute routine or even two simple stretches. Anything helps; the days are long and our bodies need to be able to keep up with us.
Music
Listen to some soft or slow music once in a while. I will be the first to turn on Spotify’s ‘U.S Top 50’, but calm music sets a mood for our day and environment. If we’re constantly cranking up the tunes, our bodies will follow. Life is all about balance, try creating a soft playlist. Even if you don’t have premium, you can make your own and let the music shuffle through your picks. Spotify even has their own playlists, if you don’t want to make your own.
Here’s one of my favorite playlists: https://open.spotify.com/user/paetyn21/playlist/2DNucdFqBDAUbRMmpUmeE8?s…
Breathe
If you took one minute out of your day to do some deep breathing, you could feel a little more relaxed. Close your eyes, focus on your breathing and give yourself a break!
PE Classes
In most colleges, a physical education credit is mandatory in order to graduate. Take this time to pick courses that can be relaxing. Your school might have meditation or yoga as an option. Take advantage of those courses to de-stress.
Pick up A Creative Hobby
Not everyone considers themselves crafty. However, there are a ton of different crafts that you can research to help you de-stress. There’s bracelet-making which is calming, fun and something you can even wear. There are coloring books that are not just for kids that you can buy . One could even go online and find pages to print and color. Maybe you could even try origami or knitting. Anything to keep your mind occupied that is not friends or school work could help you to relax.
Organize Your Life
Organizing does not have to be seen as cleaning. Some people find it fun to organize their stuff in a way that works best for them. If you gave everyone the same materials and then told them to organize it, everyone would come up with something different. Finding time to organize can be difficult, but it makes life so much easier once it’s done. Life can become a little less stressful if you’re not scrambling around to find the items you need. You could organize books, food, your clothes, shoes practically anything.
Reflecting
Reflecting is a crucial part of self-care and cultivating a life that you want to live. It is easy to ignore reflection and get caught up in others but is essential to our well-being. Try writing something down about your day. Even if it’s just a sentence. It could be about anything from something you ate to how your feeling in that particular moment. It is important to organize your thoughts and emotions which change, come and go all day.
Watch a Movie
Let’s say you want to be with your friends but your starting to feel tired, stressed and overwhelmed. Try turning on a movie. Your friend’s company is still there but you can relax and put your focus on something else while you enjoy a movie with your friends.
Napping
You do not need to sleep for 3 hours to get a good nap in. 15-minute naps can even help rejuvenate yourself and get you through the day. Find a quiet area between classes to take a quick snooze!