So, the end of the school year is already here, and my balancing act of school turns to a balancing act of a summer internship and a job. Since I need to focus on my internship and work, I won’t be posting as often as I have been. However, whenever I can I will update you with summer activities, relaxing foods, and organization tips.

I hope that my tips have helped you, and you take this summer to find some new relaxing activities that you can intertwine into your schedule. For those who have followed me from the beginning or have just enjoyed my blog, I thank you for reading! This semester has been a crazy one, and researching for this blog has helped me learn so many great skills to manage my stress. I can only hope that you guys have learned even more.

I’m still active on my other social media, if you’re interested in following me on Twitter or Instagram. Also, feel free to message or comment about topics or if you have any questions.

Good luck on finals & have a great summer!

Create a Stress-free Summer

Summer is quickly arriving and with the approaching season comes a bunch of relaxing activities. Not having classes, homework, or exams helps free up so much more time. Don’t waste your summer doing nothing but your job and watching Netflix. This free-time is perfect to help build healthier habits and relax from a stressful semester.

Purdue’s farmer’s market is starting Thursday, May 7 and continuing every Thursday until Oct. 29 at the North end of Memorial Mall. The farmers market serves a variety of flowers, vegetables, prepared foods, and crafts from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through July 30; then 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Oct. 29. The farmer’s market is a great place to enjoy the outdoors, while buying fresh healthy fruits and vegetables.

The Indianapolis 500 is a treasured tradition in Indiana. On Saturday, May 23 the Festival Parade will happen in downtown Indianapolis from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tickets for seating range from $15 to $35, but standing room is free. Enjoy the “All-American” Marching Band and the fun atmosphere. You can relax with your family and friends and grill out before the Indy 500 Race on Sunday, May 24.

Starting May 1 to Nov. 30, the Wolf Park is hosting their Howl night from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Enjoy the evening summer weather and sing along with the wolves as they howl. The mixture of the pretty nature scenery and fun times with the wolves is definitely a laid-back and relaxing evening.

During the summer time there’s always a ton of fun 5K runs/walks and workouts to do. On June 20, the Subietown Color 5K starts a 9:00 a.m. until noon at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Rec Center Grounds. Color runs are always a blast, and by the end you are covered in various colors without realizing you ran 3.1 miles.

The summer season provides so many different activities for you to learn, have fun, or even just relax.

Have fun this summer.

These Notes Are Hot (Hot Damn)

Finals week is quickly approaching and studying for upcoming exams can be a stressful time for students.

Here are some tips to help organize your studying or even teach you how to study. I personally love color coordinating and using excessive amount of post-it notes to help make studying more entertaining.

Click this picture to view the whole thing.

Remember to take a deep breath, pace yourself, and incorporate relaxing and fun things into your schedule.  Although school and grades are important, your health, both physical and mental, is the most important thing.

Take care of yourself, and good luck on exams!

Seven Tips to Help You Focus

We’ve all been there. Sitting in front of a half-written essay or exam study guide, but you’d rather do absolutely anything else. Procrastination sets in, and you waste a few hours. Then you start stressing about the impending work you keep putting off.

So, here are some tips to help you regain your focus.

1. Schedule your day into study periods
If you break your day up into smaller projects, you can insert time to relax into your down time. Studies show that your focus only lasts for about 30 minutes to an hour, and taking a break can help regain your focus. Checking your social networks or email only during your down time will reduce constant disruption while you’re studying

2. Pull a cat and lay in a sunbeam 
Feeling foggy or tired? Sunlight, and the vitamin D you absorb from it, decreases production of melatonin. So, sit outside for a bit, or check out light therapy at the CoRec.

3. Yoga or stretching
Stretching can increase blood flow to your brain and limbs. This can help you to concentrate and boost energy.

4. Eat Super Foods
Super foods can help improve cognitive functioning and hemp your brain with memory. So, take a break from studying and eat some spinach, walnuts, or blueberries and feel the wonders of super foods.

5. Create a positive work environment
For me, I need a space that’s quiet and not distracting. However, I don’t work well stuck in the basement of a library. I need an inspiring place that keeps me motivated and feeling organized. You’ll get the optimum productivity if you know exactly what space works best for you. Here are some examples to help build your perfect work space.

6. Drink Water
It may seem like such a simple thing, but it’s extremely important to drink water. Stress can cause dehydration and increase the stress hormone Cortisol. Dehydration can make you feel sluggish or leave you with a headache.

7. Get Inspired
If you need a mental break, try watching something that pumps your brain up and inspires you to work. I like to watch documentaries or TEDTalks. Not only are they interesting, but I always want to work harder after watching them. Just make sure you don’t spiral into binge watching. 

Hope these tips help you get focused and prepared for finals. Now get to studying!

Prep Your Brain for Finals

I’ve mentioned Purdue CoRec’s Demonstration Kitchen before, and how important the food you consume is to your body and mind. The Demonstration Kitchen along with the students from NUTR 424 are presenting free mini-demonstrations about brain power and nutrition.

The recipes provided will concentrate on helping students improve their concentration, energy and brain functioning to help maximize your body for finals week. Remember to register 24 hours in advance to make sure you have a spot.

Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Place: Purdue CoRec Demonstration Kitchen Room
Price: Free

Final exam week can be an extremely stressful time. Having to battle your desires to go full-summer-mode with the fact you have multiple classes to study for, can result in binge eating ice cream and pizza. All though these foods may be delicious, they can wreak havoc on your body’s health and, ultimately, stress you out more.

So before you reach for another energy drink or cup of coffee, check out the demonstration kitchen to learn and try some healthy alternatives.

Until next time!

Spend a Relaxing Day Treasure Hunting

Looking for a modern version of treasure hunting? Geocaching is something you need to try.

Geocaching is a worldwide game that uses GPS to help track down “treasures” hidden by other users by using the exact coordinates. However, the GPS only gets you within about 30 feet of the prize, so users leave some hints and you have to do some searching to find your treasure.

There’s only two rules:

On the left, My name added to the logbook. On the right, the geocache box, which don’t all look alike. One was in an ammo box. 

1. If you take something from the cache (treasure box), you must leave something else behind.
2. Write your name or a little about your find in the logbook

You can download the app, put the coordinates in your GPS, or go on the website and print off the coordinates. It’s fun for the whole family or even by yourself.

I went by myself and had a blast. It was a beautiful day, so walking around outside in the woods was relaxing. It was a great distraction from my school work, yet it was still stimulating to figure out the GPS and compass.

The logbook

After wandering around the woods for a little while, I found the tiny hidden box hidden under a fallen tree. Not only was it rewarding yo accomplish this find, but it was uniting to see the log book and all the other adventurers who also found the box. Some of the signatures go back to 2011.

Geocaching combines the peacefulness of nature, while having fun and being around friends or family. Basically, it’s the ultimate stress reducing activity.

Until next time.  If you want an adventure, take a step outside.

This is where the box was hidden. Can you find it?

Pull an Elsa, and Let it Go

Ingrid Nilsen is a YouTube celeb that focuses on beauty, fashion, health, and does vlogs on daily life problems.

Ingrid posted a video talking about how to relax and let things go. The video not only gave some great tips, but it also had serene music and scenery.

Ingrid suggests that sometimes the best thing to do is to take a step back and seek some mental clarity.

She also discusses the importance of disconnecting, and to try to get over the need to feel constantly connected to everything and everyone. Ingrid suggests to put you plane on airplane mode and take an hour or two, she prefers in the morning or before bed, to be completely disconnected from social media, texts, or email. Ingrid recommends starting to disconnect for 10 minutes, then after some time stretch it to the full hour. Then use this free time to do things just for yourself, like read or meditate.

Quick note, in the video you can see that Ingrid has a written out schedule that breaks done her day by the minutes, and she includes relaxing time.

I also really like Ingrid’s idea of taking Sunday’s to do what makes you happy. Taking that time to go outside, or spend the day writing. This should be a day designated to the things that you love to do. I know I love to spend my Sunday’s hanging out with my friends and catching up on TV shows and movies.

“If you you’re feeling pressured to have it all figured out by now, don’t. No matter what your age, no matter what you’re doing. We are all trying to figure life out, and we’re going to have better days and we’re going to have sucky days. We’re human beings, at the end of the day, that’s what unites us all and should give us all a bit of comfort,” says Ingrid.

Go take a drive and create your own relaxing adventure!

Cover Yourself with Puppies For Your Health

The last few weeks of college are always the most stressful, with all of the homework, papers, and exams piling up before the semester ends. It’s important to set some time into your busy schedule where you can relax or have fun. Just like you schedule your assignments in your planner, block some time out to have fun. It gives you something to look forward to and makes sure your studies don’t overwhelm you.

Here’s a short list of quick things to pencil into your schedule that will motivate and relax you at the same time.

Meditation

Take 10 to 15 minutes out of your day to think about nothing. Just sit there and enjoy your mind at ease. There are so many different kinds, so go out there and find your perfect match.

Play with animals

While having a pet can lead to long-term stress relief, even spending a brief time with an animal can decrease stress. Several studies show that pets can lower blood pressure, stress hormones (like cortisol), and elevate oxytocin. Plus, who doesn’t want to be covered in puppies?

Listen to music

Music not only serves as an excellent distraction, but it also can be a form of meditation. So throw on some pump up tunes and sing your heart out.

Working out

Between the confidence and endorphins boost, you can’t go wrong with exercising.

Bake

All the measuring, stirring, and ingredients preoccupy your mind. According to Massachusetts Public Health blog, baking is not only relaxing, it can build confidence by achieving something. Follow recipes or experiment – this explains all the different ways you can make chocolate chip cookies by changing the ingredients.

Dance

Dancing combines the endorphin’s released by working out with the freeness of feeling your jam.

Vent to your friends

Nothing’s better than talking things through with your best friends. They give either great advice, a listening ear, or just cheer you up. According to a new study, hanging out with your buds actually decreases the stress hormone cortisol.

Hopefully some of these quick activities can help boost your morale and get you ready to thrive out the rest of the semester!

Relax with Bagpipes and Beers

A great way to unwind after a long week is to catch up with friends, grab some drink, and listen to some live music.

Nine Irish Brothers in West Lafayette frequently offers great folk music to build the atmosphere of this Irish pub. This weekend Highland Reign a Scots-American folk rock band from Indianapolis equipped with a fiddle, bagpipes, and kilts took the stage to rock out.

You could hear the band jamming before walking into Nine Irish. People were dancing around, clinking their beers, and enjoying laughs among loved ones. The mixture of the dim lighting and decorated walls created a exciting atmosphere that uplifts your spirits and gets you into the dancing or drinking mood. Nine Irish isn’t just for people over 21, and anyone can come to enjoy the music and Irish food.

Music is one of the main things people use to relax. Bethany, a Junior at Purdue, talks about her time at Nine Irish and using music to de-stress.

Hope to see you there!

Cell phones, Laptops, and Tablets! Oh my!

We live in a generation compiled of laptops, tablet, and cellphones. Some people like to complain about all the negative effects and problems that are caused by technology, and I have to admit emails, text, and social media can be overwhelming. However, it’s time to adapt to the technology and start using it to help relax.

There are many different apps that focus on health or relaxation. Here are a few that I enjoy or that have received great reviews.

• Simply Being: $1.99
  This app was made for the beginning meditator, because it has a guided meditation voice. You can choose through multiple segments of time, and from a selection of calming ambiance noises. If you’re not into meditation, it’s great to help ensue sleep.
• Spotify: Free
  Spotify is a well-known online music site, but the customizable playlists are great to fit every mood. Some playlist include “Totally Stress Free,” “Quiet and Calm,” or even “Deep House Relax“

• Worry Box: Free
  This app allows you to write down your worries and drop them into a box. I thought this was a cute idea. It’s interesting to look back and see how trivial your worries can be.
• MyHomework Student Planner: Free
  This app allows you to break down the planner into hours to plan study breaks or homework time. It combines your school schedule to your calendar and alerts you on due dates and alerts. Some professors have hooked up to the teacher app, so you can sync the class syllabus.
• Forest: Stay focused, be present: $0.99
  Forest is a time management app, that makes you plant a seed in the forest. The seed takes 30 minutes to grow into a tree, but every time you use a social media site or game instead of concentrating on your work it restarts. You can grow an entire forest and earn a sense of achievement.Check out iTunes or android app stores, and discover all the helpful apps that technology has to offer. No one’s kidding when they say there’s an app for everything. Share apps that help you in the comment section below!