Dear College Companions: Just Chill

By Alexandra Latremouille

 

You slither into bed after plodding through seven-and-a-half hours at school. Soggy bags, labelled “exhaustion,” tug on your lower eyelids. They have been doing this all day — in fact, for the past few days…weeks…maybe months? But, sizing up the assignments stacked before you, you ignore this. That math booklet can’t be completed in a dream, right?

For many post-secondary students, October means part-time work, school, finding long-term employment and stress. A 2013 survey by the National College Health Assessment found 58 per cent of college students suffer academically because of stress. What’s to be done about this fiasco?

Tracey Rogers, a local Reiki practitioner and owner of White Feather Holistic Arts, made her answer clear as a crystal ball: students must make themselves a priority. Not their homework, friends’ drama, Facebook or Twitter. Just their minds and bodies.

“We have to find time for ourselves to create inner peace,” stated Rogers, nestled among books and spiraling incense. “If you find yourself getting stressed about upcoming tests or by looking at your workload, just breathe….In reality, it’s the only thing you’ll ever have to do.”

This meditative practice, also known as mindfulness, has been proven to relieve anxiety. Even five or ten minutes of it can make you feel fabulous, according to Willoughby Britton, a psychology professor at Brown University in Rhode Island. Mindful meditation is also one of those things that can be done anywhere. You just need to feel what is going on around you.

Or, you can unchain built-up frustration by getting ripped. Exercise is another fantastic way to alleviate stress. At least Phil Ricciardi, chief psychologist at the Greater Essex County District School Board, believes so.

“Physical conditioning and exercise can easily be used to inoculate yourself,” said Ricciardi. “The whole focus of wellness is something companies are really beginning to look at now, for example. From an economic standpoint, billions of dollars are lost each year due to lack of physical conditioning.”

Academically, being physical unwell can cause absenteeism. To treat this, therapists at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America recommend participating in aerobic activities. Aerobics cause the body to release loads of endorphins, which act as biological Tylenols.

“I imagine people should also pay attention to what they eat,” Ricciardi added with a chortle.

Diets richly coated with sugar, fat and salt can trigger sadness and other mental health problems. If you are unable to focus or feel like using your binders as pillows, that Prime burger

might be one of the culprits.

So, what if you meditate, work out and stuff yourself silly with cucumbers but still wince when thinking about those five assignments? It might be time to write a checklist. That way, you can use each project as stepping stone to the next. It might also steer you to sanity.