Every year there’s the typical back-to-school shopping scene. It’s where the hunger for the academically appealing pencils and TI-84 calculators takes over with the aftermath of a Target section that’s completely emptied by late August.
I find that self-care is just as important, and often overlooked when shopping for school though, which is why I’ve come up with a list of 5 hidden gems that can help you get through this school year. These are all the products not placed in those sections and likewise not often thought of during the academic season.
The Happy Light can be found almost anywhere like online or in local stores. Its purpose is to create natural sunlight and help adjust your circadian rhythm. Seasonal depression is common in the New England area due to reasons such as sunlight deprivation, and this is a great tool to help you cope. The happy light helps to alleviate the struggle of studying on a rainy or dark day. It’s vital to readjust your self-care habits seasonally, the same way you would a wardrobe.
Meditation is one of the best forms of self-care and is not practiced enough in college. The app Calm is a great way to start your mindfulness journey. It provides you with guided meditations that can help you with areas such as improving your sleep quality, reducing stress/anxiety, improving focus, and self-improvement. It’s something that you can bring with you anywhere you go from then on.
The self-care cookbook by Gemma Ogston is a great way to get into cooking. Food is a source of fuel and energy and can completely turn around a day. Cooking itself can even be a stress reliever and is a great skill to learn in college. This cookbook provides you with recipes that are simple to make and are good for you.
There’s a multitude of self-care journals, but recently, this one has been a game changer. The 300 Things To Make Me Happy journal provides you with 300 prompts that are more-so activities. For example, one of them is to celebrate your own accomplishments and reflect on that very feeling. During the school year, it’s easy to find yourself only completing a to-do list of your never-ending academic assignments. This journal overall is a great way to create more of a balanced checklist and to help find time each day to work solely on you.
Lastly, weighted blankets not only provide you with more comfort, but are known to boost your serotonin and lower your stress and anxiety. After a hard day, this is something great to snuggle up in while reading a good book or watching a movie.