End of semester time = papers, projects, exams, plans. The to-do list seems endless but how we attend to each task is key. What can you do so you can do well in all you are juggling? Don’t wait until you get out in the “real” world to learn some strategies in self sustainability!
Here are three simple tips:
- SLEEP: UVM alumna Class of 2008 & State Senator, Kesha Ram, recently spoke at an alumni panel at the Hub and shared the key to her success: 8 hours of sleep a night. These words of wisdom come from a woman juggling work in City Hall, in the State Capital and on the campaign trail as she runs for Lt. Governor of Vermont. Our brains need to rest and digest all we are taking in.
- BREATHE: Yes, I know, we breathe automatically. It is how we breathe that matters. Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh suggests the mantra: Let Go, Be Here, Now What. Let go of what is worrying you or distracting you. Be here, not worrying about what is to come. And once you can get present, you can think about what you are doing.
- LOVE: Feed what you love each day. What is it for you? A run? A cup of tea with honey? A walk in the woods? Or a call with a friend? Giving attention to what we love helps grow love and gratitude over worry and fear. As poet Mary Oliver wrote:
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
–(excerpt from ‘Wild Geese’)
Find ways to sustain yourself so you can be a positive force in your own life and in the world, which needs you now more than ever.
~Holly