DEAR Vanderbilt -- A Quick Review

DEAR Vanderbilt 

            As VIP is coming to a close, our group sat down this past week and discussed the different aspects of our project and which activities we believed resulted in the best stress relief. From our discussion, our group came to the consensus that working out together and blogging were some of the most powerful stress busters that we found. The great thing about these two activities is you can place your own creative spin on both! If you want to work-out, you can go over to the Rec and participate in a variety of classes such as yoga, zumba, spin and even P90X. If you’d rather be out in nature, head over to Centennial Park for a nice run. The weather is perfect for it! And as far as blogging, you can really discuss anything you want: the latest movies, your boyfriend’s annoying habits or even the places you want to visit this summer. If you’re feeling venturous, you can easily set up an account on Tumblr or Blogger and publish your blog for others to enjoy.

            While we’re sad our project is coming to an end, our group is definitely happy we participated. Not only did we improve our stress relief methods, but we also cemented our bonds of friendship over this past year. Hopefully you can use some of these activities we enjoyed to wrap up the semester with a less stressful exam period. From DEAR Vanderbilt group members, we wish you all a great end of the semester and a fabulous summer!

Poster and the Bitter Cold

Dear Vanderbilt,

            For the bitter cold month of January, we set the mood to distress with a few tunes. January acted as a month of experimentation and preparation. We chose to study the effects of music on our mental health and overall attitude. Music has been boasted to increase the intelligence of babies, improve concentration, promote awareness, and inspire people all over of the world. Our group concentrated the effect music had on our stress levels and how much it alleviated the daily tensions of student life.

            We started by playing music at different genres of music during different occasions. Sometimes we would play music when we were studying in the room. Another time we chose to play music when there was a more relaxed atmosphere. We even tried listening to it when we were sleeping! Well, Amishi was the one that tried that. (Apparently Vivaldi had her snoring in no time.) We took notice to what type of music we preferred and during what setting. Typical results occurred. On average, we preferred slower music with softer beats when we were studying. While in a more relaxed setting, the music often was more upbeat and we listened to a greater variety of genres.

            For the month of February, we plan on mixing up on our usual music choices and see if they have any affect on how we feel. We also will share our knowledge with our academic advisor Professor Barz and North House residents. Luckily, Professor Barz specializes in music and its place in cultures all over the globe. With his knowledge and our experience our showcase at North House will definitely be a great one!

Al Coda,

D.E.A.R. 

Dear Vanderbilt, Massage That Stress Away!

Dear Vanderbilt,

November is crunch time. Professors attempt to get in all their last minute assignments, exams, and projects without regard for any of their students' well being. Sleep becomes a last priority and well, who has time for stress management?
This month, our group focused on using aromatherapy and massage therapy to help reduce our stress. From the perspective of someone whose stress always forms knots in my back, I was very very thankful that this was massage month. Instead of using our budget to buy massages, we were lucky that the annual Mega Stress Fest was this month at the SLC. At this Mega Stress Fest we got paraffin hand treatments and massages.
While the massages felt great and the paraffin hand treatments left our hands feeling so smooth, I felt as though massage therapy was a very temporary form of stress relief. My back felt great for a day and then before I knew it, the knots were there again! Yoga and meditation were very effective long term stress reducers, while the massage therapy was a very effective short term stress reducer.

Aromatherapy is something I didn't expect to help much. But you would be surprised how relaxing walking into a pleasant smelling room after a long day of class can be. The type of smell is important, I realized. An apple cinnamon scent is a lot less calming than a cool breeze scent in my opinion.
The other members of my group had varying preferences in scents ranging lilac to french vanilla. Aromatherapy is something I think is a easy, effective, long lasting method of relaxation.

Well that's all for now Vanderbilt. Stay tuned for more!!!!
*Interviews from the Mega Stress fest are coming soon.

D.E.A.R. Vanderbilt -- October Journal

Dear Vanderbilt,

This month, we learned about yoga and meditation.  Not many of us had experience with these forms of relaxation so it was a learning experience for all of us.  I used to think that yoga was boring and served no purpose, but after attending classes at the rec, it is a better workout than I had imagined, and the stretching and deep breathing really does help manage one's stress. After yoga, we got together as a group and discussed the benefits of yoga, so we could have a better understanding of how yoga was helping our bodies and minds through increased flexibility, increased blood flow throughout the body, and harmonizing the mind and body.

After the yoga class, we decided to do yoga on our own, focusing on meditation while doing the various poses.  Our research told us that meditation during yoga would help us learn to focus our thoughts, and help us maintain focus while doing our work so we could be more efficient and productive while studying, thereby decreasing stress.  We didn't see any immediate effects after this, but of course, we weren't expecting to because this type of training takes time.  We'll keep trying and see if we can achieve this state of heightened focus.  We did decide that we felt refreshed and relaxed after yoga, though, which was  exactly what we had hoped.

Overall, in our first month of studying stress relaxation methods, we had a very successful time and we got to bond over yoga and meditation.

Next time you feel stressed, try some yoga and/or meditation and see you how you feel afterward!
Hope you had a great October and have an awesome November!

DEAR Vanderbilt, Wake Me Up When September Ends

    Midterms are upon us. This means a mad scramble to fit studying, hanging out with friends and viewing the latest episode of Big Bang Theory into the precious twenty-four hours that make-up the day. And while at times this seems impossible, thousands of Vandy students have proven that yes, it can be done!
    While laying outside of Wilson today enjoying the beautiful fall weather and studying for my International Politics exam, it became apparent to me how such small things in our daily lives can relieve stress. Even though I had a midterm that would comprise a significant portion of my grade in less than an hour, I felt at ease basking in the sunlight. Ahhh, the simple pleasures.
This month, our group DEAR Vanderbilt conducted a survey to find out the causes of students’ stress and activities they enjoy to alleviate this tension. Again I realized how the small things allow people to escape from the stresses of everyday life. Many of the participants in the survey wrote that they work-out, talk to friends and family and sleep to combat stress. While none of these responses surprised me, I was taken back by the level students chose to rate their stress. When asked to describe their stress on a scale of one to ten with one being the lowest and ten being the highest, the average was a six. Based on how much stress my friends claim to face due to homework, extracurricular activities and personal reasons, I figured the average would be higher.  When given the options of family and friends, school, social image, significant other, work and extracurricular activities as causing the most stress, participants selected school and extracurriculars. Personally I too find school and extracurricular activities the most stressful. Not saying the others aren’t stressful because they definitely stress me out from time to time, but the most prominent sources of my stress stem from school and extracurricular activities.
As I write this on a Friday afternoon (after my midterm and classes are over) and the weekend glimmers on the near horizon, stress seems far away for the moment. And even though it is, I know as soon as Monday rolls back around, it will be there to greet me again. But even though this is the case, I will enjoy every second of the weekend and when stress appears once again next week, I will at least have enjoyed my short break and the nice fall weather.

Peace out Vandy!

This pie chart represents the breakdown of the stress levels of our testing pool.


This chart shows the numerical breakdown of the causes of stress.

 

Dear Vanderbilt,

It is only the second week of school, and people are already stressed out here at Vandy! From keeping up with friends, picking out a perfect schedule, and getting to Rand to beat the lunch rush, Vanderbilt students have a lot to worry about. So what can we do about all this stress? Wait for the weekend? Count the days till summer 2010? No, there must be a better way!

Our project, DEAR Vanderbilt, is testing the levels of stress in Vanderbilt students and finding was to cope with stress effectively. We are really excited about this project because we believe this is a very relevant topic in the lives of all students, on varying degrees of course.

Our first step is to take a poll of the Vanderbilt community. This includes students, teachers, and administration. How stressed are students? What are students stressed about? How do students cope with stress?

By examining the results of the survey, we hope to seek out ways to pair stress management strategies with the specific needs of the students that will be our big goal for September.

Every so often just remember, Drop Everything And RELAX Vanderbilt!

Stay classy vandy,

Marwah Shahid

DEAR Vanderbilt

P.S. Whenever you need a study break, just pretend you are in the Maldives on the beach!