Feeling stressed? Trying something outside of the box might be just the trick. Or not.
Mediyoga
Mediyoga is a form of yoga where you reflect on what’s important in your life, and try to find balance in the now. It’s a mild-movement yoga form with a focus on breathing, meaning you did not have to be a flexible yoga guru to be part of this experience. It was one of the most relaxing ways to start the week prior to anything stressful. Sitting in a dark room, with candles whilst meditating unwinds you instantly. On the other hand, it was mildly eccentric hearing all the ladies aged 40+ (you will be the youngest one there) chanting Buddhist sayings. You feel a bit out of place, but the session manages to make you feel like a new person ready for a week of seminars and hand-ins.
8/10 Sleepy Yoga Gurus
Gong Bath
Gong Bath is allegedly supposed to be a relaxing sensory experience with vibrations flowing through your body whilst listening to an instrument called Gong. No yoga is involved, instead you lie on a fluffy yoga mat with a blanket and pillows, almost as if it’s nap time. At first, it was quiet with small instrumental noises where you could almost fall asleep, relaxation at its finest. Until a large smack on the instrument gave way to the sense of your ears bursting, inducing what felt like tinnitus from your head to your toes. The instructor did warn that the sounds could be heavy at times, but I was not prepared to cover my ears from discomfort. Being startled by loud noises that make you worry you’ll be deaf by the time you leave shouldn’t be on anyone’s bucket list.
3/10 Groggy Students
ASMR
ASMR, short for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, has been a Youtube sensation of people eating seafood boils, Cheeto fried foods, and much more. But believe it or not, ASMR is actually an anxiety-reducing sensory experience for many. Reluctant to try this at first I found well-reviewed ASMR Youtubers who managed to change my perspective around. Crunchy sounds of cucumbers and takis were shockingly relaxing, causing me to endlessly scroll through videos. After enjoying watching people eat their food (weird, I know) it’s no wonder food ASMR has become a cultural trend – it induces a sort of comfort. But stay away from squishy foods as they might end up creating more anxiety than reducing it.
7.5/10 Yawning Cheetos
Netflix and chill (literally)
Laying in bed with stacked pillows whilst watching Brooklyn 99 or Keeping Up With The Kardashians simply does not beat anything else. Relaxation levels will hit an all-time high when you have your breakfast to Netflix, with a large-sized cup of coffee. You ultimately forget about all your scattered thoughts and stress by lying under the covers laughing at Kim crying over paparazzi photos, or Peralta’s extremely immature personality. The recommendation is to have your lunch in bed too, it creates the ultimate stay-in day, until the realization that you’ve been lazy and shabby kicks in at night. It’s still worth it though.
8/10 Drowsy Kim Kardashian
Smartphone Detox
Since we are hopelessly addicted to our phones, as we aimlessly scroll through social media for 40 hours a week, I decided to attempt to unplug myself for 24 hours. Being phone-free induced a sense of relaxation and adultness of not being a millennial attached to digital stimulus, until I failed the challenge after ten successful hours. Unplugging is a great way to be productive if you are going to study, but also creates more time for painting, reading, cleaning out your closet, etc. However, the inescapable angst of wanting to feed my need for social media stimulus, and listen to music constantly emerged. So, unplugging was only relaxing and freeing to an extent until you had nothing else to do for the day.
5/10 Uncharged iPhones
Forest bathing
Forest bathing is a Japanese process of relaxation, where you are calm and quiet amongst nature whilst breathing deeply to destress and boost your health. After trying this, it is clear it should be a weekly must for everybody. Leave your phone behind and simply listen to the wind amongst the autumn trees, and find a spot outdoors that suits you. The only minor inconvenience is all the small bugs that tend to appear, and follow you around. Nevertheless, if you are not forest bathing out in whatever nature is near you, you are highly missing out. Almost as if a sixth sense was gained during this experience.
9.5/10 Slumbery Bugs
