{"id":24128,"date":"2015-04-20T18:27:12","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T22:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=24128"},"modified":"2015-04-20T18:27:12","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T22:27:12","slug":"finding-headspace-in-the-midst-of-exams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/04\/20\/finding-headspace-in-the-midst-of-exams\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Headspace in the Midst of Exams\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you had told me in September that 8 months from now I would be an avid supporter of meditation - I would have told you that you were crazy!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I grew up my whole life with a mother who was very into yoga, so I\u2019m no stranger to meditative practices and how beneficial they can be for the mind and body. But I could just never manage to actually get the hang of it. I would always get distracted, or end up spending the entire time thinking and worrying - which is the opposite goal of meditation to begin with!\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\r\n

That was until I heard an online blogger<\/a> talk about the app Headspace<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a>
The interface of the headspace app! I'm obsessed with how clean and simple the graphics are!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Headspace is a mobile guided meditation app. Their beginners trial is a 10-day, 10-minute guided meditation series that is aimed to introduce you to the process of meditation - and help you get more headspace.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\r\n

I was really doubtful that this would actually work for my anxiety-ridden, million-miles-an-hour mind, but I thought it couldn\u2019t hurt to give it a try!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Well 2 weeks after my 10 day trial and I\u2019m still obsessed!\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Image<\/a>
Image via. www.headspace.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

I started the trial around the end of classes, and although it was hard to make time at the beginning, I started to look forward to my 10 minutes of meditation a day. Instead of giving me 10 minutes a day where I don\u2019t have to think about anything, the meditation encouraged me to let thoughts flow in and out of my mind naturally. It didn\u2019t feel like I was trying to suppress anything, but I wasn\u2019t trying to focus on anything specific either.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I started out by doing it every morning. Before I ate breakfast and got ready for the day, I would sit on my bed with a cup of coffee and go through my 10 minute routine.<\/p>\r\n

Now, I\u2019m meditating for 10 minutes every morning - and during the day when I feel like I need some mental space or quiet time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Now<\/a>
Now that it's nice out I might even try some outdoor meditation at secret nooks like this one at Vic!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

For me, meditation is about the combination of routine - and doing what feels natural. I want it to be integrated into my every day life, not something that feels unnatural and forced.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

You can get the app for free here<\/a>, but if you\u2019re looking for something a bit more hands-on, the U of T offers free meditation classes every day<\/a> - all across campus<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Try<\/a>
Try some meditation in the bamboo garden in the Donnelly Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

There are also a variety of different meditation spaces on campus. I\u2019m a big fan of the multi-faith and meditation room at Robarts for some mid-studying headspace, but I\u2019ve also tried some of these quiet campus getaways recommended by Amie<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Meditation has really helped me during exams; it gives me specific time to relax, which means I\u2019m more focused when it\u2019s time to study.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"image<\/a>
image via. https:\/\/www.headspace.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Do you have any routines or tricks that help you get through exams? Or do you know of any awesome meditative spots on campus I need to check out? Let me know in the comments below or on twitter @Rachael_UofT\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\nIf you had told me in September that 8 months from now I would be an avid supporter of meditation - I would have told you that you were crazy!\u00a0 I grew up my whole life with a mother who…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “Finding Headspace in the Midst of Exams\u00a0”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Continue reading “Finding Headspace in the Midst of Exams\u00a0”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1758,7204,6669,62,58,66,67,68],"tags":[5,13623,12829,78,13627,13622,13625,1882,13626,25507,237,13624,696],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24128"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24148,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24128\/revisions\/24148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}