Relaxing and Meditation

Being an international student, it was quite hard for me to deal with graduate studies because I found the education system and academic practices completely new when I started. During my first year, I was entirely focusing on my work and I had very few social and entertaining activities during that time. Also during my first year, I was very enthusiastic because it was just a beginning of my studies, but since my program was at least four years, I realized that I could not continue at that rapid pace. I was affecting my health and also struggling to manage my studies because I was overwhelmed.

During my second year, I consulted with my colleagues and I also visited the Montclair State Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) for stress management. They told me to do some meditation, spend some time in a natural environment, and especially value the time that I spent outside of academia. I had no idea how helpful meditation was for me and it consumed almost no-time. For instance, I started taking a short break during my work and I took long deep breaths a couple of times during the work. I created an account on YogaGlo, which provides 18 days free access to hundreds of meditation practices. Using that website proved to be extremely useful. I was so surprised how the things changed, and I improved my health and work productivity at the same time. I felt more relaxed and motivated. More importantly, there was a change in perception that there is a substantial value to spending time outside my studies, which helped me regroup myself and made me ready for each extensive work day. These small changes brought a positive overall change in my life and personal development. I have decided to continue these practices for the rest of my life.