The semester can be a stressful time, especially if you’re someone like me (a chronic overachiever who can never not be doing something). I’ve had to come up with multiple ways to destress so my head doesn’t explode. Here they are:
- Read
I have always loved to read. Over the years I have graduated from Junie B Jones and the Rainbow Magic series to thrillers, adult fantasy, and non-fiction, most recently A Court of Thorns and Roses. While reading isn’t for everyone, it has always helped me to calm down by entering me into a different world full of characters I don’t know and places I’ve never been. I find the best books for destressing are what I call my “Mom Book Club Books”– those thrillers that follow your classic character on the outskirts of society following a crime, an unadvised investigation, a twist, a dramatic fallout. These are the types of books where the story is interesting and the writing is easy to understand.
- Paint
Of the items on this list, painting is the most conditional–the effectiveness of painting varies depending on my mood. When I’ve had just the most exhausting week, the effort it takes to come up with an idea and then execute it is exhausting. During these times, sometimes I just pop on a show and draw random squiggles around a page — the only artist choice I have to make is the choice of colour palette. However, when I am overtaken by my anxiety but the exhaustion is minimal, painting is the perfect way for me to destress.
- Go for a walk (in nature)
I am lucky to live in an area with a lot of nature. Whether it is walks along the Detroit River or nature walks at Ojibway Park, walking outside is one of my top ways to destress. Firstly, it’s exercise; getting yourself moving is one of the easiest ways to release built-up stress. Secondly, being in nature is always calming to me – especially places like Ojibway, where the tree coverage makes you feel like you walked completely out of the city and into a forest.
- Go to on-campus events
At the University of Windsor there is always something going on. Whether it’s official university events or student group events, going to these events is a great way to get out of your house and destress. Since most of these events are on campus, they don’t involve a lot of extra travel time and there are many choices of transportation method anyway. I’ll add a little self-plug here — the BCNSA (Neuroscience Student Association) is hosting Defrazzle the Brain Week – a week full of events designed specifically to destress! Yours truly will be hosting a paint night on Thursday, February 1st, so make sure to sign up!
- Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race (or other reality TV)
While watching TV may feel unproductive, sometimes you just need a laugh! I love RuPaul’s Drag Race for this because not only it is funny, but it’s fun — the vibe is overall very positive, it’s unserious, it’s colourful, and you get to see some cool fashion while you’re at it. So grab some of your favourite snacks and carve out a couple hours to watch some episodes of your reality show of choice!
Each of these are my go-to methods depending on what kind of stress I’m experiencing. I hope you try out some of my ways to destress if you haven’t found ones that work for you yet!