Holy moly, do students know a thing or two about stress! Between working, social lives, and our studies, we are some pretty strung out people. Don't let stress bring you down this semester! There are so many ways that I've found to calm down and relax when I'm feeling overloaded.
1. Find your stress reliever. Everyone has something that calms and relaxes them. Some people need to go for a jog (not me lol), some read books, and some watch a television program. I find that I'm calm when I'm baking or playing music. Find anything that relaxes you and helps you forget for a bit what's stressing you out, and stick to it. Let it be your security blanket (cause that's totally okay and necessary.)
2. IT'S OKAY TO NAP. I know some people feel lazy if they get home from classes in the middle of the day and just nap for a few hours. I'm not one of those people. I'm not suggesting you nap the semester away, but every once in a while it's fine to have a little snooze. We are tired people as students and adding the stress of classes and work on top of that is not a good mix. I don't think any good or rational decisions were ever born out of sleep deprivation, but then again, I haven't done the research. If your feeling stressed and anxious, ask yourself when the last good night's rest you had was and go from there.
3. Find songs that relax you. You don't have time to go for a jog or take a nap? Fair enough. We are busy individuals, after all. When you've got house work or homework that just can't wait, put on some soothing jams. I made a Spotify playlist of all the songs that relax me when I find myself in that kind of situation.
4. Drink tea. If you are now like I was three years ago, then you're laughing at this statement and tea's inferiority to coffee. I am a coffee person 100%, but coffee makes you tense and jittery and can contribute to stress. Chamomile tea has many benefits including reducing aches and pains, treating menstrual cramps, and reducing anxiety and tension.
All of these are steps you can take to reduce the stress in your life. Try a combination of any of these things or find other things that calm and soothe you. Free-diving breathing exercises can physically calm you down, meditation can relax your mind, burning the right scented incense can positively affect your mood. There are literally hundreds of ways to reduce stress, and I implore you to find at least one that works for you. Life is short to be lived with anxiety.
Peace and love. XXX
Showing posts with label oh la la. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oh la la. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
This Post is Brought to You by Gingerbread
To all the people who say gingerbread is for Christmas time only, I say gingerbread knows no bounds. Here's the recipe:
2 & 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup softened butter
4 tbsp. molasses
1 large egg
1/3 cup brown sugar
1. Pre-heat oven to 325 F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Mix the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, egg, molasses and sugar until smooth.
3. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture 1/3 at a time.
4. On a clean, dry surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut out your shapes.
5. Transfer the shapes to the baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes.
I like to frost mine with white chocolate ganache (white chocolate melted with heavy cream,) but you can frost them with anything or leave them naked. What's especially fun is wrapping up these little beauties! I found this precious wax paper at Michael's craft store that I used with washi tape from Target. If you're feeling like you need to get a Texas shaped cookie cutter (and you should feel that way,) you can find that here.
If you're a home fragrance kind of person World Market is the place to go. I went there the other day and upon seeing incense and candles, I was throwing my money at it like it had no value to me. I had to remind myself that I didn't need 16 candles or 12 packages of incense. I bought a Moroccan Spice candle along with some Frangipani (plumeria) and Herb de Provence incense. When I first started using incense I had no idea what I was doing and I don't want you to be in the same boat.
First, you'll need an incense holder; they're fireproof and keep ashes from getting all over surfaces. There's a small hole at the end of the holder for the incense to go into. Light the incense at the thick end of the stick and let it burn for a few seconds. Blow out the flame and the incense should be glowing. It's simple to do and and just really calming.
Gingerbread and incense is not a traditional pairing, it's also not a bad one.
Peace and love. XXX.
2 & 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup softened butter
4 tbsp. molasses
1 large egg
1/3 cup brown sugar
1. Pre-heat oven to 325 F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Mix the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, egg, molasses and sugar until smooth.
3. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture 1/3 at a time.
4. On a clean, dry surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut out your shapes.
5. Transfer the shapes to the baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes.
I like to frost mine with white chocolate ganache (white chocolate melted with heavy cream,) but you can frost them with anything or leave them naked. What's especially fun is wrapping up these little beauties! I found this precious wax paper at Michael's craft store that I used with washi tape from Target. If you're feeling like you need to get a Texas shaped cookie cutter (and you should feel that way,) you can find that here.
If you're a home fragrance kind of person World Market is the place to go. I went there the other day and upon seeing incense and candles, I was throwing my money at it like it had no value to me. I had to remind myself that I didn't need 16 candles or 12 packages of incense. I bought a Moroccan Spice candle along with some Frangipani (plumeria) and Herb de Provence incense. When I first started using incense I had no idea what I was doing and I don't want you to be in the same boat.
First, you'll need an incense holder; they're fireproof and keep ashes from getting all over surfaces. There's a small hole at the end of the holder for the incense to go into. Light the incense at the thick end of the stick and let it burn for a few seconds. Blow out the flame and the incense should be glowing. It's simple to do and and just really calming.
Gingerbread and incense is not a traditional pairing, it's also not a bad one.
Peace and love. XXX.
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