Tag Archives: Coping with Stress

Yoga day!

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Today was finally yoga day, the day I’ve been looking forward to all Jan Term! I love yoga, and I don’t think a coping with stress class would be complete with out it.

Before Jennifer, the yoga instructor, arrived, our class was visited by a reporter and a photographer from the Carroll County Times, the local newspaper to interview some of us about our experiences in Coping with Stress and with Jan Term. I was one of four people to volunteer to be interviewed, so I’m hoping that I’ll be quoted in the article. The Carroll County Times does a lot of reporting of what goes on at McDaniel, and McDaniel students are able to pick up their newspapers around campus free of charge.

When the yoga instructor came, we pushed all of the desks to the classroom walls to make plenty of space to lie down. Jennifer led us through yoga nidra, a process of yogic meditation. This process involved focusing on our breathing, becoming aware of our bodies and body parts, experiencing feelings of warmth and coolness, and detaching ourselves from any thoughts that entered our minds. Unfortunately, I struggled with this process because since we didn’t stretch or do any yoga poses beforehand, my back hurt lying on the hard floor for that length of time (even with my yoga mat) and the classroom was very cold. However, when Jennifer asked us if we had any questions once the yoga nidra process was over, I asked her to take us through a few yoga poses, which she happily did. I’m glad, since the class seemed to enjoy the poses and we were able to warm up as well. My back felt much better too.

Amazingly, I only have three class meetings left of Coping with Stress. Tomorrow, we’ll be learning about hypnosis, on Tuesday, we’ll be handing in our culminating projects, and on Wednesday, we’ll be quizzed on what we learned in the class. (Since we have off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, there’s no class on Monday.) Taking Coping with Stress has been a pretty good experience, and I hope I’ll be able to use some of the lessons and stress reduction techniques I learned when I dive into spring semester in just a couple of weeks!

 

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Returning from my quilting bee

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Yesterday afternoon, I was gearing up to go back to McDaniel later in the evening, when my mom and sister came back from the fabric store with a few bolts of beautiful fabric. They had decided to follow up on my suggestion that we make a quilt for one of our family friends who is undergoing chemotherapy.

Not wanting to pass up an evening of quality family and quilting time, I decided to postpone my return to campus to this morning and get sewing instead! I’d say this proved to be a wonderful choice. My mom cut and pinned fabric while my sister and I sewed and ironed. In only a couple of hours, the face of our quilt (the top part with all the different pieces sewn together) was nearly finished! (Some of the pieces weren’t lining up though, so we decided to call it a night.) We also talked about how “back in the day,” it was common for women to make quilts together in quilting bees, and that’s kind of what it felt like.

photo (7)Spending an extra night at home to have a small quilting bee was wonderful, but it did come at a small price: I ended up being late to class. Since I don’t keep a car on campus, my dad drove me back. And unfortunately, a number of things got us behind schedule, including a 10-minute delay that involved one of the tires of our car sounding funny that resulted in us going back to the house to take our other car instead.

So I ended up getting to class at around 10, thirty minutes after it started. But I didn’t stress, since a lot of the factors that caused me to be late were out of my control. Dr. Mazeroff, my professor, was very understanding when I explained my situation to him during our mid-class break.

Though it’s courteous and in good practice to be on time, most professors at McDaniel won’t get upset if you’re a few minutes late. If for whatever reason you’re really late, apologize to your professor after class or in an email and explain what happened. Professors will often say that it’s better to show up late to class then not at all. Some professors might deduct points from your grade, but you’ll never get a detention–college doesn’t work that way.

I try not to be late, but sometimes time and other things I can’t control have a way of working against me. I’ve learned that it’s best to not let these things stress me out. My lateness this morning really doesn’t matter in the smaller or the grander scheme of things. What’s important is that I spent an extra night at home doing something fun with people I love…and now I know what I need to do to be on time when I return back to campus on a Monday morning : )

 

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Coping with Stress, week one

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I’m halfway through my first full week of being back on the Hill for Jan Term, and tomorrow is my last day of class for this week! (Coping with Stress doesn’t meet on Fridays.)

Over the past few days, I’ve learned a variety of stress reduction and relaxation techniques in Coping with Stress, and hopefully, I’ll be able to incorporate some of them into my life.

We spent a lot of time over the past couple of days talking about healthy sleeping habits and sleep deprivation. I never realized that having a consistent bedtime routine could be so important in getting a good night’s sleep, so it’s something I’ve started working on, especially since I need to do a stress reduction activity for two weeks for my culminating project for the class. I’ve decided to create a bedtime routine centered around yoga. I now end my night with cleaning my room to make space for yoga, preparing myself for bed, and then practicing yoga. I don’t think this has helped with my sleep deprivation yet, but my body definitely feels good and less tense after doing some of my favorite poses, like child’s pose, pigeon, cat, and cow.

We’ve also listened to a lot of relaxation tapes. We’re allowed to lie on the floor for these, so I’m glad I brought my yoga mat to campus this semester! We did some guided imagery tapes yesterday and today we had tapes guide us in meditation and progressive muscle relaxation. I had done some of these things in a class I took in high school called Dance and Lifetime Fitness, and I think I want to reincorporate meditation into my life. (It might by hard though. My suite is on the louder side.)

Similarly, we also learned a couple of breathing techniques. The one that I found to feel particularly relaxing was one in which you cover your left nostril, breathe out of your right, then cover the right and breath in and out of your left before doing the same with the right and continuing to repeat the process.

Lastly (and most unexpectedly to me), we learned about assertiveness. Sometimes, it’s easy for people to be passive when they interact with others, resulting in them not standing up for themselves and their rights to their feelings and saying no. There’s nothing wrong with being assertive, and it’s not the same thing as being aggressive.

Above all, we’ve learned that the two best stress management techniques are having social support, even if it’s just one person that you talk to support and guidance, and getting exercise. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to the fitness center as a class to learn more about the equipment and what services they offer. I went to the gym for the first time since my freshman year yesterday, and while I got some good exercise in, I know I definitely need a little guidance when it comes to using the fitness center effectively, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s class.

Though Coping with Stress isn’t intellectually challenging like most of the other classes I’ve taken at McDaniel, following through with the stress management techniques we’ve been learning presents its own challenge. Hopefully, I’ll continue to find more things that would benefit me and I’ll be able to make them a part of my lifestyle!

 

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I’m back!

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Happy New Year!

After a lovely winter break that seemed half as long as it actually was (21 days), I arrived back on campus last night for Jan Term! (Technically, people were supposed to move in from 2-4 yesterday, but I arranged with Res Life to come later in the evening so my parents wouldn’t have to leave work early just to drive me back to school.)

Things have been pretty low key so far. Last night, I had a night in all to myself that I spent watching TV and beginning my unpacking. (Unfortunately, I’m not done unpacking yet, since I brought a whole bunch of groceries to last me throughout much of the spring semester.)

I had thought I would be alone in my suite over these next few weeks, but I found out late last night that I’m not. We now have a new suite mate, a transfer student who’s living in the previously unoccupied room in the loft upstairs (my suite has two floors). She seems pretty nice, and we’re taking the same Jan Term, so hopefully I’ll get to know her a little better in the coming days.

Today was my first day of Coping with Stress. I’ll be taking this class four days a week for two and a half hours a day for the next two weeks and two days. We’ll be learning and trying out a lot of relaxation and stress relief techniques, which I’m really excited about. On Monday, an acupuncturist is coming to speak to us and perform acupuncture on willing volunteers. And later on in the month, a yoga instructor who specializes in restorative yoga is coming, which I’m especially looking forward to because I love yoga and I have a bad back.

After class, the day was mine to do whatever I wanted. I went to lunch to eat and catch up with friends, took an inappropriately long nap afterward, and went to dinner after that. Tonight, I need to get a few things accomplished before I go over to a friend’s dorm to watch Looper with friends.

So far, I’m digging this Jan Term lifestyle!

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