The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

In the midst of finals, exams, big tests and seemingly zero time for sleep or TV shows, it is so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of endless doing. Sometimes we have to just give ourselves two minutes- and not a joke two minute Facebook scroll- but a nice, present, two minute self-intervention.

Here are some yummy ideas (mostly yogi-style stress hacks):

-Light a candle, close your eyes, say three things you are grateful for

-Lie on your back, legs up the wall, one hand on heart the other on belly. Breathe deep for 2+ minutes

-Need energy? Do a handstand against the wall and get some blood rushing back to your brain

-Make a warm cup of tea with lemon and ginger (and honey of’ course!) Take time to let the tea steep and watch it change color

-Run your shower warm and wet your hair if you do not have time for a shower. The water bursts your mood and gives you a rush of clean energy for the next round of studying

-Put on fuzzy socks, get a blanket and relocate to a new study space. Find it, settle, take two breaths. You got it.

-Turn on your favorite work-out song and hold a plank for 1+ minute, then downward dog and breathe for 5 breaths

-Eat a chocolate while drinking black coffee and listening to a Bossa Nova song

-Close your eyes and massage your scalp. do it.

-Go outside and take 5 nice big belly breaths

WE CAN DO IT!!! ONLY ONE MORE WEEK!

love,

~roni

**more stress relief can be found by looking up “babies doing yoga” on google and scrolling through endless cuteness such as the photo above^

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving Break! The best part about this break is that most people have the day off (hats off to all the people working on this break) so you are able to see people you haven’t seen in the longest time.

Yesterday, I really was able to reflect on everything I am thankful for and a big part being what I was able to be a part of at USG. Here are some things that came to mind:

Biomedical Sciences Day 2015:

Happy to present for the second time at this amazing event on campus!

For more details on biomedical sciences day, check out John Arthur’s last post!  https://uatshadygrove.org/2015/11/23/2004/

International Games Day 2015:

USG Fest 2015:

ASBMB Science Cafes:

ASBMB holds monthly science cafes to educate students about science

And the list seriously keeps going. But I am definitely looking forward to so much more going on on campus.

P.S. I hope you guys had (and continue to have) an awesome Black Friday! Here’s a bit of a look into what I had to deal with:

On caring about your body.

Last year at this time, I was a single chica living in a College Park apartment with six girlfriends, practicing yoga or going to Zumba nearly every day, cooking for myself… and frankly, being overly preoccupied with what I was putting into my mouth and what implications that food might have on my health, my body, and my physical appearance.

Was I happy? Sure… But was I also obsessed with working out? Kind of yes…

This summer I wrote a piece about our relationship with exercise, titled “it’s enough.” The blog post is predominantly about how we tend to see exercise as an external act vital to perform in order to preserve our hotness, as opposed to an organic part of life that we do to stay alive and breathe in freshness.

And at the time of writing that piece, all of my words definitely resonated with me psychologically, but perhaps I had not really yet experienced their weight at a tangible level. That is, until now.

Now that I am in nursing school. Now that when I have an hour of free time I want to plop into bed and zone out instead of sweating in bakasana (crow pose), and now that I have to keep pressure off of a wonky shoulder for a couple of weeks.

I have not had the opportunity to include exercise into my daily routine, not this month or this semester. My days mostly look like this; food, school, food, more school, procrastination, food, homework, maybe more procrastination, and bed.

Some days there may be a spicy addition to the day but in general, I have been grateful to get to one yoga or zumba class a week. One. Last year “me” probably would have completely freaked out. I would have worried about gaining weight. I would have worried about losing my stamina or getting tight. I would have worried about how much, what I was eating, and when. I would have worried, a lot.

But in this one glorious impermanent moment, as is every moment, I looked at myself naked in the mirror and I kind of loved what I saw. For the first time in a very very long time. I loved it because I have not had time to talk down to any part of myself and I have not had to justify skipping a workout to myself or eating an extra chocolate with my second cup of afternoon coffee. After three weeks of simply existing (no rationing, no hardcore sweating), I look like this. And that is a pretty cool thing.

So I guess the moral for myself is, and perhaps maybe for all of us, is that so often we conjure up myths about the implications of our actions. We act out of fear and we push our bodies because we want them to be the best possible reflections of our commitment to their presentations. But when we just let go, when we simply (or not so simply) trust that our bodies are just fine. They are just fine. We surrender and exist. We let our bodies do what they need and show us what they want to eat. And more importantly, we let our minds slowly retrain from old habits.

So leading into this holiday season- try and be kind with your body. Enjoy flavors and colors, a little of everything. Savor it, indulge. Take walks and be easy. Everything is okay. Your body is beautiful when you feel calm. So breathe in some peace and enjoy a piece.

Namaste ❤

~roni