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How to Decrease Stress and Promote a Healthy Lifestyle as a Student

Hello Hankeit,
Many might at times feel they are stressed out and do not have the time to care for their body and soul as much as desired and needed. Especially when the academic year starts again, but also during the summer. Therefore,  I am going to share some simple tips that can help decrease stress and support your health.
1. Start the day with a large glass of water instead of coffee (at least have water before coffee)
This improves digestion, has a detoxifying effect, and energizes. Extra tip: add a little lemon for an extra vitamin boost. Lemons contain minerals that improve concentration and digestion, and they also have an anti-inflammatory effect.
2. Take a cold shower in the morning
The cold water has an invigorating effect on your body and enhances your immune system. A cold shower also makes your body reduce the release of stress hormones (less stress). 
3. Do some yoga in the morning
There are plenty of instructed yoga videos on YouTube that require no more than 10-15 minutes of your day. Yoga reduces muscle stiffness, neck pain, and back pain, which many suffer from, especially in the morning. This is often caused by long work days / long school days as you tend to sit for a long time in the same position. Yoga energizes and reduces stress. If you do not feel like doing yoga you can stretch instead. Stretching makes your body more flexible and activates both blood circulation and muscles (you feel more alert). Walking around during work days and having a standing office are not at all bad ideas considering the things mentioned above. 
4. Take a moment from your day and do nothing
“The typical human being” is bad at doing nothing. Try to sit / lie down and do nothing at all, or engage in repetitive activities that do not require lots of mental capacity. Washing dishes and raking leaves are two good examples. This calms body and mind, arouses creative thinking, and reduces stress.
5. Get a Blue Light filter to your computer/phone/iPad screen
The blue light from the screen makes you feel awake and makes it harder to fall asleep. This affects your sleep quality negatively (which in turn affects a whole range of health factors). By getting a filter your screen will radiate a more warm and subdued light in the evening which makes you more tired than the normal blue light. I use the f.lux app (Blue Light filter app), which I have been very pleased with.
6. Exercise and move your body.
Finally, a reminder that exercise reduces stress, improves concentration, and gives you more energy. Exercise also improves memory and learning. The bicycle ride to work and the walk to the grocery store already help a lot, but for further effect, you might want to take exercising one step further.
I hope you find these tips useful and I hope you will try them out if you have not already. Take care and see you in the fall. Ciao! 
A picture of Ellen Wulff.
 
– Ellen Wulff