Coming into college, your priorities may look something like this: make friends, join clubs, get good grades. While all three of these are important, it is also necessary to maintain life balance through other activities like yoga and meditation, for example to help keep you from getting burnt out through trying to juggle all these activities.
When I first started at Penn State, I made a pact with myself to do mindfulness as much as possible and to attend at least one yoga session a week. This was my way of maintaining some mandatory relaxation and reflection time. Although I had a background with these activities, you definitely do not need to have any experience in order to get your zen on!
Thankfully, Penn State offers a wide assortment of wellness classes through the gyms and also through CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services). Additionally there are weekly yoga classes in the IM and White gyms on campus (which are FREE to students). My first semester on campus, I went to yoga and pilates classes three times a week MWF on my lunch break! They also have yoga classes at UHS (University Health Services) in the evenings that are less physically intensive and more relaxing and usually in the evenings, which can be great after a long day of studying.
College classes can be tough and time consuming, especially as an engineer, but I can not stress how important it is to take some “mandatory me time” and decompress. What I have found is that you always have time to take an hour or two every couple of days for yourself. That does not always have to be through yoga or meditation like it is for me. Maybe your mindfulness comes from giving yourself a spa day or just taking a walk outdoors. Planning out your time wisely and getting into the habit of thinking through your life and living it with intention instead of letting it pass by can help boost your productivity, lighten your mood, and ultimately help you get your zen on!
Lauren Onweller
Team N Envoy
No comments:
Post a Comment