Blurry Vision

Me Wearing My New Glasses!!!

  
     My life is hectic at the moment. My hours are filled with preparing for exams next week, writing pages of post-lab work, sewing costumes for the upcoming theatre department shows, selling tickets for the upcoming theatre department shows, planning events for the education club, writing papers about China.........I could go on, but I'll stop now. The point of that whole introduction was to make clear how stressful college life can be. If you come and walk around campus you will see smiling, happy faces walking around with strands of hair falling out after a night spent in the library. School is hard. It's a fact of life, but as of late I have been learning some key strategies for managing stress! Below is my list of ways to reduce stress whether you are a full time mom, a teacher, a student, a dad preparing to let his baby girl go to college, or just a plain, old, tired, super busy adult like me!
1. If you are having trouble seeing, but you think it's only because you're stressed, go to an eye doctor anyway. Turns out I needed glasses!
2. Inhale through your nose for 10 counts and exhale through your mouth for 6 counts. Repeat for 2 minutes.
3. Buy a coloring book and crayons. Disney Princesses, Dinosaurs...really it's your choice, but devote 5 minutes to just coloring in silence.
4. Weekly yoga. Skidmore has a yoga club that has hour long classes on Sunday. It's an excellent way to calm your mind and get in touch with your body.
5. DON'T PROCRASTINATE. Time management is key to success with minor stress :)
6. Take your vitamins. I have the gummy bear kind which makes taking my vitamins super fun!
7. Don't take yourself too seriously. If you take yourself too seriously then you forget to laugh and if you forget to laugh chances are you are not smiling which totally brings down your mood and makes you even more stressed.
8. Get enough sleep. Nobody likes a crabby pants, and you can't successfully get things accomplished if you keep dozing off in the middle of the day.
9. Exercise daily! You don't have to run a marathon or anything, but "exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill their husbands...they just don't." Yes, that was a quote from Legally Blond
10. Have faith and confidence in yourself. If you don't then nobody else will either.
Keep your chins up and have a wonderful, stressless (not a word, but that's okay) week!!!
Love always, Emmeline