Every college student has, at one point or another, been stressed out at the beginning of a new semester. This stress can be caused by having to deal with buying textbooks for classes, interacting with the school’s financial aid office or a bout of nerves over how you’ll do in your news courses.

Being stressed can have both mental and physical negative effects, the American Institute of Stress has reported. Some of the side effects of increased stress may include insomnia, forgetfulness and difficulty making decisions.

According to an article on the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital website, relaxing can help ease the side effects of stress. The act of relaxing is meant to calm the mind, the body, or both.

Here are some tips on how to relax that won’t break any dorm room rules:

• Practice breathing exercises
• Take a long, warm bath
• Drink a mug of non-caffeinated herbal tea or warm milk with honey
• Meditate
• Keep a journal. Write about the day and your feelings
• If you can afford to, buy a seat-top massager or an actual electric massage chair, which can also help back pain.
• Do yoga
• Try aromatherapy with essential oils. (Be careful which ones you choose to use, especially if you have a service animal. Some can be toxic to animals)
• Listen to classical music or movie soundtrack scores
• Read for fun, especially before bed to get lost and leave your stress behind.
• Stay off social media for a day. If you can’t last that long, shorten it to staying off for at least an hour before you go to bed.
• Volunteer at an animal shelter and help socialize the dogs and cats

If you are stressed and need to talk to someone, take advantage of the UNF Counseling Center at (904) 620-2602. The Counseling Center is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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