Life has always been about balance. It has been since you were young. From learning to ride a bike without stabilisers, to finding that mental school-home balance. It is most difficult to find harmony in a disturbed equilibrium – picture it like a seesaw: without something of an equal balance to you on the other side, you cannot enjoy the fun of it. This image really puts into perspective how vital finding balance in life really is.
There are a number of ways to level with school-life. This could be spending time with friends or pets, completing your work during the week so you have a free weekend or perhaps a hobby you find therapeutic. The best hobby I could recommend is to learn an instrument – I play the piano and because it requires such attention, it is easy to forget the stress of school while I play. Of course, it doesn’t have to be the piano; it could be the guitar, or the flute or the drums. Perhaps you don’t want to play an instrument at all. As long as whatever you choose is something you love, it's all you need to take you away from reality for a little while. Speaking of reality, books are a great way to escape it too. Think of all the places you can go with a book. All the realms, people, animals, settings, endless possibilities, it is truly magical to think of. Imagine if you could shift into a character of your favourite book? How enchanting it would be! If I could choose a book to live in, I would choose Kenneth Graham’s ‘The Wind in the Willows.’ It is such a timeless classic with such a lovely setting – and that is what balance is about. Finding your perfect setting and allowing yourself to become a part of it.
The other most crucial thing to incorporate into your routine in an effort to avoid an unhealthy imbalance is self-care. Your body and mind is deserving of appreciation, so allow it to rest and take the weights off of your shoulders. Allow yourself to find that balance. With everything you may be handling in life, it is vital that you fill your soul with things you love. Go, take the time to watch that movie you’ve been waiting to see. Eat that ice-cream. Take that trip. Learn that skill. Read that book! Whatever lifts your spirits and fills you with joy, do it. Have you ever heard the saying YOLO? Or, in more explanatory terms, you only live once. Live by these four words because you do only live once. Do everything that makes you happy and do not limit yourself to the expectations of society. Constantly asking yourself ‘what will they think?’ is a recipe for imbalance because you are restricting the full potential your happiness could reach. There are seven pillars of self-care. These include: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational, and social. Each of these pillars and areas of self-care are the fundamental foundations of finding balance. Do not neglect yourself by missing out any of these points – you will find it much harder to find stability if you disregard the things your soul yearns for.
School is, undeniably, one of the hardest things to balance as a teenager with limited freedom and endless assignments. Sometimes it can feel like you’re drowning. All the essays you have to do, all the questions that are waiting on answers, all the articles and opinions you have to read, and it is okay to ask for help. Sometimes we all need that hand to pull us back to the surface. Talk to your friends about it, talk to your teachers, or if you’d prefer a new person to talk to, email studentlolablog@gmail.com – my inbox is open to everybody. As an A-Level student studying three essay subjects, I know how intimidating it feels to have five or more homework’s, that take over an hour to complete, set each week. I feel your stress, but one thing I have learnt is that it is okay to ask for help and how important finding inner-balance is. You have to remember – everyone around you has asked for help countless times in their lives. You are not inferior for needing that little bit of extra support and it does not make you appear weak – if anything, you appear stronger. Sometimes, the key to balance is asking for help if you get swamped or stuck on something you can’t quite understand. It is okay.
So remember your seven pillars: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational, and social. I challenge you to do something for one of these pillars every day this week. For example, some things you could do to care for yourself, recreationally, could be doing some meditation; for ten minutes, sit in silence. Cleanse your mind and think about nothing – let the universe take care of all your worries for you for that ten minutes while you empty your head. Or if you prefer to be more active, another way to cater towards yourself recreationally could be dancing and listening to music – this is a great way to release feel-good hormones like serotonin. Whatever you choose to do for each of these seven points of self-care will inevitably balance out some of that study stress.
Let me know how your week goes after implementing self-care into your daily routine at studentlolablog@gmail.com! I would love to hear your feedback. Stay tuned for the next blog-post. I hope it is now easier for you to find that balance <3
XOXO,
Lola
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