Working out is a great stress reliever (which as busy college students we all know we need often).  On the flip side, as a busy college student we don’t always have time to get to the gym or work out in between classes, homework, meetings, and trying to find time to eat.

Another way to relive stress is by meditating and focusing on the mental aspect of stress.  There are a number of techniques that one can use to do this, but I’m just going to talk about one of my favorites.

When you do yoga, a big part of the reason you do such complicated poses is to get your energy out and focused on your body so your mind can relax and go blank (this is not easy).  Which is why, while you’re doing the poses you have to remember to breathe and focus on your breathing. This helps ease your mind because you are focusing on something constant.

This method incorporates counting our inhales and exhales.  Try to exhale for double the amount that you inhale.  For example, if you inhale through your nose for three seconds, exhale through your mouth for six seconds. As you do this, imaging your body (during each inhale) filling with gold and “good.”  As you exhale, imagine all of the black or the negative in your life draining from your body.  This exercise calms you down using your breath, reminds you to focus on what’s stable (your breath), and to focus on filling your mind and body with good positive intentions while removing those that are negative and bad.