http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-girl-seeks-serenity-during-exams.html
Green Girl Seeks Serenity During Exams
As finals week is upon us, let’s just say that the dorm is a little stressful. Not only are there finals to study for, but there is also packing to do and friends to bid farewell for the summer. With exams you would assume that people would be quiet. Well, that is not the case. Right now, there are about eight types of music blasting from various rooms, there is intense laughter coming from one room, and there are three incredibly loud girls talking in the middle of the hallway. Conducive to studying? Nicht.
The library, you say? Well, basically the entire campus (except, apparently, for my hall) is inside the library, and there are, literally, no seats left. Luckily, I have no final exams, only essays and projects. Still, essay-writing is a process that usually involves quiet. And my poor roommate has an essay and three science finals! (She’s pre-vet and leaves for class at 8 a.m. and doesn’t go to bed until 4 a.m. because she’s doing so much bio and chem.)
So, when you add up the pressure of finals, the studying/writing to be done, the hours worth of packing and the sadness of leaving the people you have spent 24/7 with for the past eight months, the stress level is kind of high. Well, really high. And it gets higher when you consider the amount of noise hindering the studying and the lack of sleep from studying.
Never fear: There are ways to curb this stress that I speak of. A lot of people just accept the stress of finals week as a given and only enhance it by hyping themselves up on caffeine and junk food. Lots of sugar and carbs with no protein? Not a smart idea. The first step to reducing stress is watching your diet. Too much caffeine will make you jittery, which will make you more nervous and add to your stress. Try having a cup of coffee in the morning and maybe a cup of black tea around lunch time. That way, you’ll have energy throughout the day without having too much caffeine.
And don’t just grab an energy bar and junk food; though it may be comfort food, it is not conducive to studying. Eat a well-balanced breakfast with LOTS of protein, fiber and fruit. Throughout the day, continue to eat foods that contain high amounts of these items–and as little sugar and trans fats as possible. Sugar will make you crash, so you’ll just keep needing more and more; and trans fats may deteriorate brain function (not good for studying or test taking!).
If you’re getting really stressed, there’s a few more things you should try. First of all, get an herbal tea designed especially to reduce stress: try Tazo’s “Calm” or Celestial Seasonings’ “Tension Tamer.” If you’re in a high-stress environment, make sure you have a few cups a day.
Second, try using a drop or two of lavender essential oil, which has been shown to reduce anxiety and insomnia. You can also try meditating, which is a great way to center and relax yourself so that you can have a clearer and sharper mind for studying, test-taking and writing. The CD that my mom uses, and that she recommended for me as a beginning meditator is Adyashanti’s “True Meditation.”
If you do all of these things, you should be more focused and relaxed when you are studying, allowing for better knowledge retention, and you should also be able to get to bed easier (without worrying or being hyped up on caffeine) and sleep better. Sounds like a better idea than tons of caffeine and comfort food, right?
Note to self: Relax. Everything will be all right.
Exams or no exams, how do you relax? Share your suggestions by adding a comment below.
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5 comments
add your comment »Hi again!
In the last comment I forgot the most popular tisane for the nerves, the lime-tree (Linden or Tilia) with sedative effects in the form of hot water infusion.
You can prepare a tea with Melissa, Orange blossom water and Tilia. This is a beverage of sweet taste and aroma, refreshing and relaxing, which soothe your nerves and appease anxiety. But consider it as a good drink before going to bed, to get a peaceful sleeping. The quantities are not very precise, and you can poise it as a normal tea (a little spoon of each herb, and a few drops of Orange water till notice the smooth fragrance of orange).
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Don't forget to do brain exercises like crossovers before an exam. http://library.thinkquest.org/J002391/exercise.html
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Excuse me, but I did some errors in the previous comment. Here is the corrected text.
Hi!
Well, you didn't mention old recipes from the herbal locker. In the fields of Europe, from the ancient times of the Druids, we know the benefits of Melissa (Bee balm, Citronella or Melisa officinalis), Valerian (Garden Heliotropo or Valeriana officinalis), Sage mint (Salvia officinalis) and the water distilled from the flowers of the orange tree (Citrus aurantium). The carmelita monks of the East coast of Spain developed with this last a special liquor named "Agua del Carmen" (Carmen's Water) that is very effective in calming and soothing the nerves derived from hight anxiety or psychic shock. Exactly, Sage is not a sedative tea, but it comforts the stomach from the nuisances caused by the stress. Also, the fragrance of the Salvia is very intense and pleasant. If you also have the aromatherapy as a remedy, the fragrance of Azahar (orange blossoms), Lavender, Honeysuckle and Magnolia are powerful essences to soothe the nerves of the anxiety and distress. An alert: be careful with the Valerian, as it is so powerful that you easily can fall asleep during the exam.
In the market you may get special preparations in the form of pills (in Spain you can ask for: Valeriana Santiveri, or another trademark with the same denomination, as Valeriana Kneipp; even we have a kind of milk with these extracts, from the firm "Central Lechera Asturiana")
Regards
MaeseRalf
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Hi!
Well, you didn't mention old recipes from the herbal locker. In the fields of Europe, from the ancient times of the Druids, we know the benefits of Melissa (Bee balm, Citronella or Melisa officinalis, Valerian (Garden Heliotropo or Valeriana officinalis), Sage mint (Salvia officinalis) and the water distilled from the flowers of the orange tree (Citrus aurantium). The carmelite monks of the East cost of Spain developed with this last a special liquor named "Agua del Carmen" (Carmen's Water) that is very effective in calming a soothing the nerves derived from hight anxiety or psychic shock. Exactly, Sage is not a sedative tea, but it comforts the stomach from the nuisances caused by the stress. Also, the fragrance of the Salvia is very intense and pleasant. If you also have the aromatherapy as an utility, the fragrance of Azahar (orange blosoms), Lavender, Honeysuckle and Magnolia are powerful essences to provide soothe the nerves of the anxiety and distress. An alert: be careful with the Valerian, as it is so powerful that you easily can fall asleep during the exam.
Regards
MaeseRalf
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All of those are great ideas, but I also recommend *getting out of the stressful environment*. Go to a coffee shop if you have to, or if the weather is good, go outside. The fresh air will do you good.
I just finished an intense 1 year Master's program, and getting away from the craziness is what kept me sane.
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