As someone who is interested in the subject of psychology, I hope to share my hobby with everyone in Engineering in a meaningful and interesting fashion. Last time, I offered some tips to help you before and during job interviews, and explained the psychology of why they are effective. This time, since first-years finished their first-ever university midterm exams—congratulations!—and upper-years are either finished or wrapping up,—you’ve got this!—this would be a good time to visit some relaxation techniques and the psychology behind why they work.
Exercise is healthy for your body and your brain. Setting the bodily benefits aside, our body releases chemicals called “endorphins” when we exercise. Endorphins interact with the opioid receptors in our brain, which reduces our perception of pain—they make us more resilient! They also stimulate a feeling of euphoria, which explains the “high” that many people describe after a solid run (the “runner’s high”) or workout. Any type of aerobic exercise at a moderate degree for a duration of 20 to 30 minutes will have this positive effect. Other benefits include better brain performance (e.g. decision making, learning), improved memory, and reduced risk of Alzheimer’s.
Obviously, the hardest part of exercise is taking the first step—getting started. My general rule of thumb is to find something that you like. Join an intramural sports team. When the weather is nice, go outside and play a couple rounds of Frisbee with your friends. Hit the gym if that’s your preference.
Spending time in nature has some restorative effects on our brain, too. The feeling that you get when your brain is just not absorbing any information is called “mental fatigue”, and spending time outdoors is the perfect way to overcome this common problem. Not only does mother nature provide tranquil environments, but it also forces us away from technology, which can be a source of stress, such as seeing your jam packed Google Calendar of lectures, tutorials, and labs, or receiving a work email over the weekend.
Deep breathing is an excellent method to destress as it is the method that you can practice pretty much anywhere. The science behind deep breathing is quite complicated since it involves numerous processes, but we will focus on the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) for the purposes of our discussion.
To use a simple analogy, the sympathetic nervous system acts as the gas pedal, whereas the parasympathetic nervous system acts as the brakes. Maintaining equilibrium is crucial to the human body. When you inhale, blood travels from the heart to the vasculature of the lungs. Consequently, the sympathetic nervous system kicks into the gear, and it causes the heart rate to increase.
When you exhale, the blood in the lungs returns to the rest of the body, and your heart rate slows down as the parasympathetic nervous system kicks back into gear.
By slowing your respiratory rate, your body has more time to emphasize the self-regulatory processes of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Particularly, when you slow down your exhalation rate, you increase the effect of the parasympathetic nervous system’s outflow.
Personally, I love listening to music because there is a wide variety of music genres to choose from, depending on my mood. There is an interesting field—one that I considered studying before I chose Engineering, actually—called Music Therapy. As you can probably deduce from the name, music therapists use the healing effects of music to help patients in a range of healthcare settings, from operating rooms to family clinics. Listening to and playing music increases the human body’s production of an antibody called “immunoglobulin A” and “natural killer cells” (these cells attack viruses that invade the body and boost the immune system’s performance). Music also reduces levels of cortisol, which is known to most as “the stress hormone”.
These are some personal music suggestions from me, depending on your state:
If you want to be productive, classical music is a classic choice. I would further suggest Mozart, Beethoven (piano concertos, symphonies), and Chopin (Mazurkas).
If you want to relax, listen to jazz.
If you need to blow off some steam, listen to something loud. A while back, I was listening to the soundtrack of an animated show that is made by Rooster Teeth called RWBY.
Finally, because we are in Engineering, I would strongly suggest pursuing a creative hobby of some sort. I cannot speak for everyone in Engineering, but I need opportunities to take a break from the Science and Mathematics that goes into our courses for the sake of my sanity. For me, thinking is taxing, but singing along to my favourite jams or colouring in my adult colouring book is easy. My brain is still activated, but different parts of it are activated during a creative activity rather than a hardcore, academic activity.
Thanks for reading! Take care of your mind—it is, arguably, the greatest asset that you can ever have in your lifetime. No matter which strategy you try—be it exercise, wanders in nature, listening to music, or pursuing a creative hobby—do something that you love! If you find another activity that works for you that isn’t on my list, do it instead. That way, it sticks, and you can give your brain much deserved pampering for a lifetime.
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