Good Ways to Keep Your Mental Health in Check

Being a college student comes with its own stressors and, usually, students tend to have more than just classes. There are clubs, jobs, friends, and other obligations or wants. Among all of the plans we make, sometimes mental health begins to falter and we don’t notice it until we’re too far gone. This article will give you some helpful tips on keeping your mental health positive and ensuring you have good ways to relax. 

Take a Break

I have found that taking one day a week to do nothing helps the mind relax. It’s a day where you do what you want to do, whether that be reading, watching TV, eating junk food, exercising, etc. The possibilities are endless. I have found that laying back in bed all day with my phone and a book helps the mind relax in ways I didn’t know I could.

Car Ride and Hiking 

If you are active and have a car, a good hike could be relaxing. Along with maybe just a drive around town and outside of town to explore. Rocky Gap is a good place to find trails. Along with Deep Creek Lake State Park. If you don’t have a car or access to one, the arboretum on campus is a beautiful and serene place to clear the mind and relax. Along with the hike, you could even pack a lunch and do a little picnic on your own or with friends! 

Spa Day!

Another good way to relax is to give yourself a spa day! Just because you’re in college and you don’t have a bath doesn’t mean a spa day isn’t possible. Take a hot shower, steam up the bathroom! Then put on a face mask of your choice and relax for the time it takes for whatever face mask you use. 

Make a cup of tea or coffee

 Sometimes, just taking 20 minutes to enjoy your favorite tea or coffee during the week will help you relax your mind. I have found that taking these 20 minutes in the middle of a long day of classes or work helps me relax and breathe. Sometimes it’s the little things that really cheer up the day!

If you don’t have a coffee maker or kettle and you’re a tea drinker, heating up water in your microwave works just as well as a kettle. Put it in for 3 minutes, and you’re golden! For you coffee lovers, this website has a way to make coffee without a coffee maker. It does say to use boiling water, but you can boil water in the microwave, just keep an eye on it!

Pick Up a Hobby

If there is a hobby you’ve been dying to try out, take a day to just figure out that hobby. Watch videos on it, pick up or order materials for it (if needed), and start when you can! While it may seem like something that just older people do, I picked up crocheting that way, and while I’m no good at it, it does relax me. 

Mental health is one of the most important things we have right now, especially in COVID times. In order to be successful within your work and be able to work at full capacity, your mental health has to be the best it can be! College is a stressful time for all students, a little more so for the first-years, so make sure you take your time for you! It’s just as important as getting homework done or finishing the task you were given for a club or heading into work. When your mind is healthy, the rest of you will follow!