Tag: balance

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Opinions

It really is easier said than done

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

One student’s realization that the balancing act is harder than she thought

Back in April, I wrote a piece in The Concordian about balancing life and school. I emphasized the importance of remembering that you can’t do better than your absolute best. What I was trying to convey could be summed up as the following: 1) make time for your friends and family; 2) don’t forget about hobbies and fitness; 3) don’t forget to work on yourself—take a break when you’re tired, sleep when you need to, take a bath or whatever else. An important final point I made was this: “It’s so utterly important to take a break and give your mind time to recuperate from the constant stress and thinking it does.”

Maybe I was naive or maybe it was because I was in my first year, when everything is arguably much easier than in second year. What I’ve come to realize is this: I’ve since become a hypocrite. I no longer stand by the idea that you can balance your school, work, and social life easily.

This semester, I somehow managed to balance five courses and three jobs, one of which was in retail, which I quit because I got a job as a journalist. Despite this, I’m still extremely worn out; I don’t have an off-button. My work day starts when I wake up, the moment I open my laptop, and it doesn’t end until I go to sleep. One of my jobs is as a research journalist, where I thoroughly research a subject about entertainment and write 3,000 words on it. My other job is a copy editor for this paper, as one of four people who makes sure there are no mistakes and everything follows our writing style. Four of my five classes require extensive writing. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, I freelance. I offer to edit my friends’s assignments, and I contribute as a writer to this paper—as I’m doing now, which I really shouldn’t be doing because I have an essay due in a few days that I haven’t started. Yet, here I am.

Some of you may think I’m crazy for taking on all these projects, but I feel like it’s part of millennial journalism culture. Last year, first year journalism students attended conferences where professionals spoke about their careers and the paths leading to where they are now. It seemed like everyone was balancing multiple projects at the same time, be it school and a job, or school and an internship, or all three. I quickly understood that, to succeed in this industry, you have to hop on the train and go full speed ahead.

At the same time, there’s also a feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out). I’ve been putting myself out there and trying to make connections in order to advance my career, but at what cost? I may be over working and overwhelming myself, with my sanity and personal life taking a considerable hit, but I don’t want to look back on my time and see missed opportunities.

By thinking so much about my future—which, in reality, isn’t so far away—I’ve neglected my own advice. I haven’t had much time for friends or family; I haven’t been active in months; and I’ve been overworking myself to hell. My mom is worried I’m on the edge of a burnout or mental breakdown, but I keep assuring her I’m not—I know it’ll be worth it in the end. While I may be suffering temporarily and am beyond exhausted all the time, I’ve made new friends, written content I’m proud of, managed to stay on top of my classes, and, all in all, I’m living my best life. But I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t acknowledge the sacrifice I now realize it takes to make all this happen.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

 

Categories
Student Life

Practicing mindfulness with Moksha

Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Take a break and reconnect with your mind, body and spirit through yoga

Juggling work, studies, and trying to maintain an active lifestyle isn’t easy. We all dream of being fit and healthy, but not everyone is up to the commitment of subscribing to a gym, paying the monthly fee, and going three to four times a week. Some people may have it all scheduled perfectly, but for those who don’t, you’re not alone.

I treasure my down time spent on the sofa, with one hand in a bag of chips and the other queuing up Netflix—heck, I need those relaxation days. But I can’t argue with studies like the ones outlined by Natalie Gil in The Guardian, that show a staggering correlation between physical activity and academic performance. According to the article, students committed to routine physical activity are more likely to possess skills such as self-discipline, time-efficiency and leadership than those who are not. The issue with these articles is that they aren’t convincing enough, at least not for me.

For those, like myself, who are not a fan of aimlessly jogging, chasing after balls in a field, or hate going to the gym, I’ve found yoga to be a great way to stay active as well as in tune with one’s mind, body and spirit. “What I love the most about yoga is that it gives me a chance to check in with myself everyday,” said Julia Speirs, a Concordia student, front office secretary and regular student at Moksha Yoga in Griffintown. “I always feel a hundred times better when I leave the class. It gives me the chance to just reconnect my mind and body and breathe for an hour.” There are Moksha Yoga locations in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) and on St-Laurent Boulevard as well.

Moksha offers hot yoga, which is different than a regular practice because the classes are held in a humid room, typically at 35 °C to 40 °C. In general, yoga is not just a great way to sweat out the toxins in your body, it’s also conducive to overall good mental health. “It helps with stress management and, especially [since] Moksha yoga is hot yoga, it’s really soothing to my muscles. Afterwards, I just feel so much healthier and so much more energetic,” said Speirs. If you’re ever having a bad day and want to get rid of some negativity, Moksha might prove to be something that works for you. Am I not convincing you to drag your butt out to the studio? I get it. It’s easier said than done.

Despite all the benefits of yoga and its trendiness in pop culture, many feel intimidated by it. We walk past Lululemon advertisements with people practicing yoga so gracefully and with such precision. We see Instagram videos of people holding handstands for minutes on end with apparent ease, while we can barely reach our toes—how can we not feel intimidated?

“I always remind myself and the clients that you don’t practice yoga to be good at yoga. You practice it for yourself and the benefits you feel from it,” said Speirs. She explained that, while practicing yoga does require strength and concentration, most importantly, it requires respect for our bodies.

“A yoga room is a place of peace. If you feel like just laying down the whole class and focusing on your breathing, that’s perfectly fine,” said Speirs. “Yoga is about connecting body and mind, and each person has [their] own way of feeling that connection.”

Some Moksha classes are $5 or pay what you can, and there is a Facebook group where instructors working towards their Moksha certification offer occasional free classes! If you don’t have your own mat and towel (and you will need a towel), they’re only $2 to rent. More information about classes offered at each Moksha location can be found on their respective websites.

Feature image by Alex Hutchins

Categories
Opinions

You can’t do better than your best

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Finding balance in life is important, but make sure not to fall over the edge  

Being a student is stressful. You have classes to think about and all of the work that comes with them. You likely have a job on the side. Not to mention, you have a social life, a family, hobbies, maybe a sport or some form of exercise you like to do to unwind and de-stress. There’s so much going on in our lives—how can we balance it all?

There’s no easy answer to this. In fact, there isn’t one. Someone once told me: “You can’t do better than your best,” and I think that’s the best motto to live by, not just as a student but for the rest of your life. There will be times when you’ll be so overwhelmed that one aspect of your life might have to take a hit, be it your sleep schedule, job or social life. If you try to get everything done perfectly, your health—either physical or mental—will be affected. It’s important to know your limits so you don’t push yourself to the point of a nervous breakdown (they aren’t pleasant).

I’m well aware that school is important. I’ve been an A student most of my life; I know the pressure that comes with maintaining good grades and being the best you can be. The thing is, though, many aspects in our lives are so much more difficult than they were in high school or CEGEP. University is harder. We’re adults with responsibilities now. We have a lot more going on in our lives. It might not be as feasible to expect A’s on every assignment or exam in every class.

It’s okay if you get a C on an assignment you worked really hard on. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for doing our best. We’re often too focused on the final grade instead of the effort we put in. It’s important to remember your worth as a person is not defined by your grades, and a handful of C’s won’t ruin your career. Make time for friends and family, because they are the ones who will be there for you when school is out for the summer, and when you finally graduate. They’re the ones who will help you have fun and relieve your stress when you need it the most.

Don’t forget to leave time for hobbies when you’re busy, because they can help you unwind and relax. Fitness, for example, can directly impact your health and stress levels in a positive way, and it’s important to make time for exercise if you enjoy it. Those few hours a week effortlessly doing what you love will help clear your mind at the end of a stressful week, or between the last-minute grinds of final projects.

Don’t forget to work on yourself too. Take a break when you get tired, call up your family when you get lonely, sleep all day if you need to, take a bath, do yoga or kickboxing, go for coffee with a friend. It’s so important to give your mind time to recuperate from the constant stress and thinking.

By reminding myself that I can’t do better than my best, I’ve learned to better understand my limitations, to know when it’s time to take a break and regroup. I am and always have been a perfectionist; anyone who knows me also knows I always put too much on my plate. I like everything to be organized and perfect. Yet, I’ve realized and learned that I can’t control everything. I’ve learned how to make time for myself. I’m now able to say no to certain things to avoid spreading myself too thin.

It’s okay not to be 100 per cent all the time, as long as you’re doing your best and taking care of yourself. You can’t always balance everything; but remember things will always balance themselves out in the end.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Categories
Opinions

Striking a balance between good news and bad

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

Why The Goodnewspaper’s disregard of the negative isn’t the solution to improving society

So, what do you want to hear first: the good news or the bad news?

With all that is upsetting in the world today, from natural disasters and terrorism to politics and
everyday life, it’s understandable that many people feel powerless whenever they see the news. The scales of justice and equality seem to be tipped down, and it’s getting hard to imagine they could ever lift back up. A new quarterly publication called The Goodnewspaper aims to change this by only printing “good news.”

What falls under this category are mainly stories about people who “[cut] through the negativity by doing something different. They focus on hope and goodness and happiness,” according to the newspaper’s founder, Branden Harvey, on his podcast, Sounds Good. The idea is to motivate and inspire readers by sharing these positive stories, and help them see the world in a more positive way.  The Goodnewspaper also offers a weekly newsletter that claims to feature the most inspiring and positive news from around the globe. Although this may sound like a good idea in theory, it certainly isn’t in reality.

Ultimately, I don’t think this newsletter should be seen as a legitimate news source, given it is censored to purposely avoid any bad news. In an attempt to avoid upsetting readers, The Goodnewspaper fails to tackle everyday issues like unproportional government services, poverty and injustice. Instead, it focuses solely on stories about people who have used a positive outlook to change their life.

The Goodnewspaper targets people looking for hope rather than negative news. Yet the problem with only hearing about success stories is they can make other shortcomings look colossal in comparison. It can be hard for everyday people to relate to these grand success stories, especially if they don’t have the same resources or opportunities. This newspaper brings attention to the fact that it’s a privileged idea to think everyone has time, money and physical abilities to do good deeds. The truth is, not a lot of people do.

In contrast, local and national news report things that affect regular people. These outlets reinforce the idea that, as a community, we are all partly responsible for what happens around us. It’s hard to hear about tragedies, to learn about the low points of society and to wonder how to make the world a better place. And remaining an informed citizen in today’s fast-paced world doesn’t make any of this easier. But being aware about bad situations is a good thing. It’s what gets people motivated to change the situations around them.

The news today may seem negative, but it’s important to remember the stories being told are ones we need to be talking about. And contrary to what The Goodnewspaper suggests, most of the news stories published or broadcasted aren’t meant to make people feel bad. Rather, exposing yourself to the bad news is an opportunity to learn about your community and question what can be changed.

People who stress out about world events would certainly benefit from this newsletter, but there are also a lot of people who will use it to ignore their responsibilities. It can be hard to motivate yourself to be an agent for change, but avoiding reality will limit your ability to question why things happen and make it harder to change these bad news stories into good ones.

We shouldn’t cut negativity out of our lives—we should learn from it. Every serious news story directly affects real people, and reading The Goodnewspaper won’t fix their problems. The truth is, there will never be a perfect balance between good and bad news, but as a society, we need both to survive.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

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