HOW TO: Relax Before Finals

By: Dianna Esguerra and Sashaly Bernard

We all know finals aren’t a particularly fun time. You may feel like bawling your eyes out when you’re cramming all the information you chose not to process in the beginning of the year, but have no fear! The journalists are here to give you some quick relaxation tips, for when your eyelid starts twitching and your heart beats much faster than normal.

Bubble bath: When stressed it is good to fill your tub with warm water and fill it with a nice smelling bath bomb, then sink into it and chill.

Meditation: Meditating is a good way to help calm anger or nerves. You just sit down and focus on breathing while letting everything else in the world be forgotten for awhile. To find these meditating videos go on Youtube, they have a wide selection of music for meditation and they also have beginners guide to meditation.

Face mask: A face mask is a fun way to relax and clear your skin. There are countless recipes on making the best face masks with ingredients in your kitchen, or if you’d like, you can also buy the masks. Make sure to spot check so you can tell if you are allergic to the products. An extra detail is to try to avoid any acidic ingredients or sugars.

Some good materials to use if you are going to make at home face masks are:

• Avocado
• Vitamin E
• Honey
• Cucumbers

Artistic expression: A good way to pass the time and take your mind off of stress is simply to paint your emotions. Now you don’t need to be Picasso but even simple scribbles can be relaxing. Another way to bring out your artistic side, is buying coloring books to let your imagination run wild.

Sleep: Take a break from everything by taking a 1-2 hour nap and waking up refreshed afterwards.

Listen to music: Listen to your favorite songs and let all your emotions flow out. Whether the songs make you feel happiness or more likely, sadness.

Eat: Grab your favorite food(s) and help yourself, this is good to do while watching a movie.

Watch favorite movie: It might seem like a waste of time considering you have studying to do but if you’re taking a break it will be a good way to take your mind off of finals for a while.

Recommendations:

• Beauty and the Beast
• How to Lose A Guy in Ten Days
• Mean Girls
• White Chicks
• Wall-E
• The Nightmare Before Christmas

Play a sport: Exercise is a good way to relieve stress because your body naturally produces endorphins, which puts you in a good mood and even help you sleep better.

Remember that with good time management and adequate sleep you will feel less stressed. To help with your sleeping schedule try not using an electronic device before you sleep. For time management write down what you should study on a piece of paper or set a reminder in order to keep track of what you have finished. It is not good to stress yourself out more than necessary. Instead of cramming the night before start studying and reviewing now, so you have enough time to process and retain the information. This list is to help clear your mind and relax you for a little while but do not procrastinate on your work or on studying, it is far more important. We’ve all been there and know what you’re going through. Hang in there, you got this! Good luck 🙂