As a graduate student juggling the pressures of school, the demands of social relationships, the desire to maintain time for personal care, and the challenges of remaining involved in family life from across the country, stress is a common feeling for me. As a student who came here from Florida solely for school, it has been incredibly challenging to leave my entire support system behind and attempt to adjust to a new culture and lifestyle while also absorbing the stressors associated with being a student. Although I knew that my toolbox included a mixture of both positive and negative coping strategies, this semester of intense and intentional reflection brought that more to the forefront. One positive strategy that I have used …show more content…
According to the American Heart Association (2015), finding the most ideal time of day to exercise is a very personalized decision and is based on many factors. Research exists to support both exercising in the morning and in the evening (Chomistek & Shiroma, 2016; Di Blasio et al., 2010). Overall, they state that the best time is a time when you can be consistent with incorporating the exercise, and so by trying different times I will be able to find the best time for …show more content…
I then reflected to determine the symptoms of stress I experience. I found that when I am stressed I am more likely to hold tension in my neck, have headaches, worry, act and feel grumpy, feel restless, have cognitive fatigue, and find it difficult to sleep. While I knew I was stressed, and I knew the combination of graduate school and living in Los Angeles had increased my stress, I was shocked to realize how many symptoms I experience semi-regularly that could partly originate from my