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A student’s guide to relieving stress
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As the end of semester looms on the horizon, many students become burdened by heavy assignment loads, lengthy term papers and of course, all night long study sessions for finals. Much of this elevates stress levels to ridiculous amounts which makes concentrating on schoolwork even harder. Stress is a major factor affecting students, dropping test scores, killing a great college experience and potentially leading to more serious mental conditions. I decided to find out what the university has to offer to diminish student anxiety, but what in BSU is one to do?
What is stress?
Dr. Phares Book is a counselor at the BSU Counseling Center. Dealing with overburdened and troubled students is a daily task for him. Needless to say, he is an authority on on-campus stress.
He told me that there are two different kinds of stress: eustress and distress.
“Eustress is a positive form of stress related to the desirable things in one’s life,” Book said, “distress is where you start feeling overwhelmed.”
Book said to think of stress as a bell curve. Eustress is on one side affecting you positively, driving you to accomplish more. Once you hit the top, your performance starts to fall, because you’re dealing with distress.
“We encourage students to find that window at the top of the curve.”
Book also advocates living a wellness lifestyle. “Things like exercising really help control that stress, but you have to do it on a daily basis,” Book said. Other things he mentioned were prioritizing, staying social, eating well (at least three nutritious meals a day plus high protein snacks), and getting plenty of sleep. “When studying for finals, 10 to 12 hours is completely normal,” Book said.
“If you’re finding that the distress is so overwhelming that you can’t complete daily tasks, you may have a more serious problem and may want to set up an appointment with a counselor,” Book said.
There are many different reasons stress is caused in ones life. Due to that there are many different ways to deal with it. Book’s final words of recommendation were to find whatever works for you and do lots of it.
Relaxation at the Rec
A good resource for the stressed-out student is the Recreation Center. Many opportunities for healthy physical exertion and relief can be found there. I met with Tyson Langeliers, the Injury Prevention and Care Coordinator. He told me that there are different causes of stress and different symptoms.
“Stress can show up in many different ways,” Langeliers said, “some people see muscle tension, tension headaches and even blurred vision. Many students are sore in the shoulders from hunching over computers.”
Not paying attention to important biomechanics such as posture while studying, trekking between classes (definitely with heavy backpacks) and especially working out can cause major strains on your body which often negatively impact your whole wellbeing. A simple, relatively low strain and impact workout he recommended was walking.
“Walking is a great thing to start with. If you’re looking for something more aggressive you should consult someone,” he said.
Walking is easy to start with and gets blood flowing throughout all your important systems. The American Heart Association and Surgeon General both recommend 30 minutes of some type of physical activity to stay healthy. Langeliers recommended against jumping into heavy physical exertion, saying, “slow and steady wins the race.”
Also in the Rec. Center I met with Jude McDougall, a Certified Massage Therapist. She explained how the work she does is important to relieve stress in students.
“We work the lymphatic system, which helps blood flow to the muscles,” Jude said. “We offer aromatherapy which calms them, and also sometimes just an hour downtime helps.” She went on to explain how the environment helps students to unwind.
“A lot of people come in pretty high strung. We have them take deep, meditative breaths and usually in 15 to 20 minutes people are in a different zone and they are able to relax. We play nice, soothing music and dim the lights which helps them relax,” she said.
Hour long full body massages are available to all students for $35 and spot specific are $25. This writer definitely recommends (from personal experience) finding some time to get one.
Boise State also offers multiple workshops throughout the semester where one can work on their own massaging skills and technique. Aromatherapy teaches that different aromas have different effects on the body. Some are soothing while others are enhancing. Peppermint improves circulation whereas lavender is used to help one relax. Massaging 101 is for someone who just wants to learn about massaging and how to give a good massage. The class teaches the difference between certain oils and lotions, the different muscles in the body and a variety of strokes. The presentation also talks about the healing benefits of massages and some reflexology and acupressure is taught. Massaging 102 goes into more depth on 101 techniques. It also teaches how to work on some sports injuries and focus on specific areas.
Mindfulness Meditation: How to calm the body and mind
While many activities are great for day-to-day stress management, I wondered if there were any classes Boise State had to offer which could decrease a student’s overall stress levels. Meditation is often heralded as a great way to reduce stress so I looked into any course offerings. Carol Pangburn, Associate Director of Counseling Services leads workshops and classes on meditation.
“Meditation is probably one of the most researched methods in the world to dealing with stress,” Pangburn said. “It helps slow things down so people aren’t so wrapped up in their heads. [The student is] learning to recognize and be aware of how much thinking they’re doing, how negative that thinking is and how that affects them.”
The form of meditation offered in the classes is Mindfulness Meditation.
John Cabot Zen started the mindfulness based stress reduction program in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts medical center. He had doctors refer patients whose options were exhausted in dealing with chronic pain, stress and terminal illness.
Pangburn teaches ‘The Art and Practice of Mindful Living’ from June 4 through June 25. Through the class she shows people how to incorporate Mindfulness Meditation into everyday life.
“The reward for teaching the class you see students start to wake up, realize what their mind is doing, learn that they aren’t their thoughts, that who they are is really separate from their thoughts and that they can focus and be in the moment and that’s where peace is,” Pangburn said.
The intent of the class is to learn to focus on your purposes and live in the present.
The health and wellness center’s Mindfulness Meditation section has some very comprehensive relaxation techniques that anyone can employ. Visit it at http://www.boisestate.edu/healthservices/info/mindfulness/.
“Anxiety is a foot in the future, depression is a foot in the past,” Pangburn said. “The more that we can pull ourselves out of that out of those time dimensions, the more peace we’ll have and the more of life we’ll experience cause life is only found right here right now.”
With classes, clubs and interactions with the opposite sex, it’s very easy for anyone to get overwhelmed. The key to dealing with this stress revolves around getting exercise, eating right, taking time for yourself and getting plenty of sleep. Keeping up on these means keeping up on grades and succeeding in whatever endeavors a student may find themselves involved in. Many activities are offered on campus to help a student cope. Utilize these opportunities BSU has to offer and remember, we’re only here for a little while, enjoy it.
MATT ALMEIDA
Lead BizTech Writer
