This question served as the go-to conversation starter as the year came to an end. I had not planned anything significant for the summer, and instead was grappling with an existential problem of sorts. Continue moving onto the next…
“I’m doing my self-care!” I yelled at my friends as I ate a third cupcake. “I need this!” I told myself as I watched yet another episode of The Office. Self-care has become something of a hot topic in our…
Happy reading week U of T! For my break, I’m staying in damp and chilly Toronto and trying desperately to catch up on homework. While at first I assumed this would cause a disappointing vacation, I’m managing to make it…
Last week, I wrote about exercise and mental health. Following up on that, I wanted to share some mental health tips that have been helpful for me! Develop a bedtime routine and stop looking at screens before you go to…
On Tuesday afternoon, I finished my last exam of undergrad. It has taken some time for that fact to sink in. I'd imagined walking out of the exam centre skipping with joy in the sunlight. Instead, I spent a half hour calculating the…
December has officially arrived and final exam weeks are on the horizon. It’s no secret that December has a reputation as being a stressful month in a university student’s career. However, it’s how students combat the stress that helps build character. Here are…
I lived near campus when I was a full-time student and I still had to rush to just barely make my 10 am classes but lately, I’ve been out of bed by 6:00 am and out the door by 7:00 am. I recently started working full-time while being in school part-time two days a week. I didn't quite feel done with my undergraduate experience when I first got the notification of having completed my credits so I decided to step into the workplace and get the experience but still stay in touch with academia. Before this new position, I had never worked 9-5 every day; I have had summer jobs but all with odd shift hours or 4-6 hours per shift which made sense for me at the time. Now that I have joined the workforce, I am in complete shock of how much more my body is capable of in a full day.
coffee and I, what a wonderful love story
There are many ways to get through midterm season: all-nighters, coffee, 8 hour long study sessions the day before an exam. I have attempted all of these at some point over the past few years. However, personally, my body absolutely…
When I learned I had to write my blog about self-care for Self-Care Week, I wasn’t sure what to do. I don’t think I’ve ever deliberately set time apart to recharge before. Sure, I’ve procrastinated and goofed off when I should have been doing work, but I always felt guilty about it afterward. So, for Self-Care Week, I decided to get out a jungle-themed colouring book for “mindfulness” and destressing that had been sitting on my shelf for a while, and set aside some time in my schedule for self-care for what was, probably, the first time in my undergraduate career.
Who knew a colouring book would lead to an epiphany?
I mentioned in an earlier blog that I think maintaining the self-discipline to actually keep yourself well, both mentally and physically, can be hard at times. Knowing about and trying out different self-care strategies is great, but sticking to them can be another thing. As we’re writing all about self-care this week, I started thinking about why some of the self-care activities and strategies I’ve experimented with haven’t stuck while others have…
by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer of Balzer Designs. I love looking through her art journals (click through for an example) when I'm looking for inspirations for my own "art journals" (I use quotations because my attempts are more chicken scrawl than art, to be honest).
