by Ashley Strehl, Editor-in-Chief
This week I am going to talk about something that is a bit out of context for me. I am going to talk about meditation.
Now, initially when I thought of the word “meditation” my mind immediately used to think of the bald people saying, “oooouuhhmmm,” but now, it has a whole new meaning to me.
Almost every night before I go to sleep I meditate. I lead quite a busy and stressful life and at the end of the day, sometimes I can actually find it hard to relax. Fun fact: there are a plethora of meditation videos on YouTube! Some of them are just relaxing music, some are sounds like the ocean or rain and some will have an actual person talking you through the meditation. The best part; all of this is free, as long as you don’t mind the occasional 30 second dove shampoo ad at the beginning of every video.
I used to find it so weird that people would listen to others talk so they could fall asleep, but here I am, utilizing it. I find myself falling asleep during the videos and waking up to find that the video ended.
Your mental health should be your absolute first priority in life. College has taught me that I cannot perform my best if my mental health is not in check.
There have been semesters where it was harder to manage than others, but I have always stayed on track. You have to find out what relaxes you and do that.
There should be no excuse for not taking care of yourself.
If meditation is not your thing, I just want to leave you with one message: take time for yourself to relax. Ever since I started meditating I have noticed a positive impact in my sleep and in my life.
Take time to relax whether that’s laying down before bed or even sitting outside in the morning, (when it gets warmer of course). Remember, you would not have a life without you in it, so take care of yourself Rangers!