Wellness Journalism: What To Do?

Every summer break (or winter break, or spring break, for that matter) I get excited about all of the projects I can accomplish with my free time: re-organzing my living room, writing a manuscript, planting a garden, teaching my 5-year old to read at a 5th grade level, researching graduate schools…

…and then, before I know it, I am wondering where the time has gone. How it can be that I don’t seem to have gotten anything done?

If this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing “Temporal Obselescene in Determination of Objectives” (TODO). My To-Do List hangs on my wall in innocent expectation, quietly awaiting fulfillment, while I bounce off to run errands or meet friends or do laundry.

Some things happen in time and some things happen out of time. Let me explain.

The projects I get excited about require a certain creative energy. If I am not cultivating this specific energy, these projects will not get done. Simply making time for them isnt enough. I have to be in the right frame of mind—otherwise, I will find that I am busy doing something else.

How, then, to shift gears? One approach I am taking is to change my routine and shock my system, so to speak. Every morning when I wake up, instead of stumbling into the kitchen for a bowl of cereal, I stumble to my desk. I choose one task related to my goals, and make it a priority. I schedule my day around IT, rather than trying to fit IT into my day. I then visualize it, nurture it, feed it with my intentions and energy, do rituals and prayers and voodoo and anything else that focuses my attention on the task in new and unusual ways. I talk about it, think about it, dream about it. I make it the apple of my eye. Then comes the tricky part: I let it go. I surrender to the flow of what comes that day, trusting that it will unfold according to a master plan. I realize that the expectation of doing actually prevents being (which yields happening). Then, at the right moment, I discover the impulse—the magic mind frame—and I find that the goal is achieved almost effortlessly. It comes about in a natural sort of way, nothing like the feeling of contrivance that lingered before.

Go ahead, try it! You have nothing to lose…not even time.

Healthy on a Budget!

Be Fruit-full...

Get your summer taste buds blooming with fruit on sale for 99c a pound (or less!)

From Ralphs to Whole Foods to Farmer’s Markets, fill your baskets with affordable fruit during the summer months. This time of year, you can find peaches and nectarines on sale for around 88c a pound at Henry’s market, and bananas for 19c each at Trader Joe’s. Loaded with vitamins and fiber, fruit is a great alternative to refined sugars when you are in the mood for a sweet treat!

Ready for an Outback Adventure?

Summer offers fabulous opportunities to frolic outside. Here are a few common questions and answers from the folks at Outback Adventures to help get you out the door!

1) Q: I am interested in trying out a new outdoor activity, but I am unsure how to go about it. Are there any tips to help me get started?

A: Outdoor activities like kayaking and rock climbing may be a little intimidating to the beginner. However, surrounding each of these are entire communities of friendly, helpful people who are eager to teach others about the tricks of their trade. One such community can be found right here at UCSD-- at Outback Adventures. Outback Adventures is a student group on campus comprised of rock climbers, backpackers, kayakers, surfers, and overall outdoor lovers. Throughout the year, we provide a multitude of opportunities to get newcomers and old-timers alike outdoors and having fun. Each quarter, our team of experienced guides facilitates trips for all skill levels that encompass all types of outdoor activities. We also operate the Outback Climbing Center and Challenge Course for people wanting to hone their climbing skills. No matter what activity you are looking at getting into, there are people willing to support, guide, and teach you all you need to know in order to be successful and have fun outdoors.

2) Q: What kinds of activities can be done in the outdoors? Do they incorporate all skill levels?

A: There are limitless activities you can do in the outdoors, all of which are beginner friendly. For people who have an urge to be out on the water, surfing, kayaking, and canoeing are great sports to start with. Each involves separate skill sets that are easy to pick up by those who are learning, but that also provide a challenge for those looking to advance their techniques. For those who prefer to stick to land, backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking can get you out and about and setting your own pace - from slow and steady hiking on trails to extremely technical climbing routes on rock faces. While La Jolla may never see snow in its lifetime, the mountains to the east of it get flurries every winter. To utilize this frosty playground, outdoor lovers can go downhill and cross-country skiing, as well as snowboarding. This keeps the action high even when the temperature is low. No matter what the time of year, the location, or the skill level, there is an outdoor activity that will fit perfectly with your interests.

3) Q: What are the physical benefits of outdoor recreation?

A: Just like other sports, outdoor activities can be physically demanding and rewarding. Backpacking miles a day with 40+ pounds of weight on your back can be exhaustive and climbing around on jagged rocks can put a lot of wear and tear on your hands. However, the overall benefits from these and other activities can be amazing. While most will improve your overall physical strength and endurance without a doubt, certain ones can enhance surprising areas of your body. For example, climbing can improve the strength in your hands, wrists, and back, while kayaking can develop your core. Cross country skiing can give you the same benefits of running without putting jarring stress on your joints, and mountain biking can exercise almost all of your muscle groups at the same time. Of course, injuries are a risk when participating in any outdoor sport, but by following safety guidelines, being aware of your surroundings, and knowing what your own physical limits are, you can help to prevent accidents and continue enjoying your activity.

4) Q: Are there any spiritual/emotional benefits to being in the outdoors?

A: Absolutely! Being in the outdoors, away from the stress and hubbub of everyday life, can truly alter one's life perspective. The rolling waters of the Pacific Ocean; the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevadas; the firery sunsets of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park—all of these elements can provide a chance to free your mind from your day-to-day responsibilities and allow you to to focus on truly Being. For thousands of years, people have lived and developed a working relationship with the world around them. In today's busy environment, it can sometimes feel as if this connection has been lost, but all it takes to reestablish it is to step outside and submerge yourself in the earth's splendor.

5) Q: What types of activities does Outback Adventures provide?

A: The guides at Outback Adventures lead a variety of trips, short and long, throughout the year. Our day trips range from snorkeling and kayaking off of La Jolla Shores, to hiking Cowels Mountain under a full moon and rock climbing around Mission Gorge. For those wishing to go on a weekend jaunt, we offer caving trips to Anza Borrego and climbing/backpacking trips to Joshua Tree National Park. During spring break we also facilitate week-long outings which involve surfing or kayaking in Baja California and backpacking in the Grand Canyon. Whatever your schedule, skill level, or outdoor interest, we have the perfect trip for you!

Want to know more about Outback Adventures or outdoor activities in general? Visit our website at http://recreation.ucsd.edu/outback-adventures.html or drop by the Outback Adventures headquarters located behind Sixth College.

Wellness Journalism: Whole Brain Fitness

Though the brain is an organ, it can be trained like a muscle. You can make it more flexible, strengthen its powers of concentration, or increase its weight-bearing capacity (figuratively speaking).

In an academic environment, certain parts of the brain get a lot of exercise—primarily those involved in act of studying and taking tests. There is a great deal of reading, memorizing, analyzing, reviewing, and recalling. While the intellectual prowess cultivated in the classroom is wonderfully useful in its own right, balanced mental fitness requires additional consideration.

Cranial Calisthenics for the Prevention of Lopsided Lobes

1. Read for pleasure. Browse the internet for blogs and articles that capture your interest, or pick up a book you’ve been curious about.

2. Switch up your routines. If you are right handed, use your left hand for awhile. If you always drink coffee in the morning, have a cup of tea instead.

3. Play! From sports and games to fort-building and tree-climbing, activate your imagination.

4. Engage in lively conversation and friendly debate. Challenge and explore conventional schools of thought, social norms, and institutions.

5. Reflect. Take some quiet time in the evening to think about your day—you’re likely to discover an aspect or two that’s marked for review.

6. Have new experiences. Go someplace you’ve never been, do something you’ve never done, or get to know somebody you haven’t met.

7. Create open-ended opportunities. Whether it’s drawing a picture, writing a story or poem, painting the furniture, inventing a recipe, or reorganizing your room, cultivate the creative flow.

Intellectual Wellness isn’t just getting good grades, although good grades are often a happy byproduct of Intellectual Wellness. Train the whole brain!

Wellness Journalism: The Power of Thought

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Contemplations on the power of thought

Thoughts are your consciousness interface with the environment. If you begin to watch your thoughts, you’ll notice that your thoughts can generally be divided into two camps: productive thoughts and consumptive thoughts. Productive thoughts are those which create, build up, encourage, look forward, motivate, or inspire. Consumptive thoughts, on the other hand, tear down, discourage, or cast judgment. They tend to be self-destructive, self-defeating, or self-discouraging.

Consumptive thinking is not efficient—in fact, it’s usually not even logical. Yet for some reason, consumptive thoughts have a way of eating at the mind, costing a lot of valuable energy, eroding at mental vitality. You mind is a garden and your thoughts are your seeds. Will you harvest flowers or weeds?

When you can hear yourself think, you can begin to identifying that which supports your well-being and happiness, and drive your decisions accordingly. Maybe you pursue a career that you love because you think you deserve it and can do it well, instead of choosing a job for security because you figure your bills will be paid. Perhaps you decide to be single because you’re discovering and defining yourself on your own terms, and not according to what a potential partner may want.

Then there is that magical moment when you catch yourself thinking you can’t do something, only to remind yourself that you can. Remember “The Little Engine That Could?” We encounter this story frequently as children, but it seems to drift into the past as we emerge into a world where the messages of society do not always reinforce this lesson. We learn instead that “life is hard.” This can make things difficult. In fact, life doesn’t have to be a crisis—though it can certainly be a challenge. Think of it as something to rise to instead of resign to.

Having the freedom to think—and flexing your power—is at the heart of Intellectual Wellness. Reserve the right to your thoughts. The potency of free-thinkers is so strong that oppressive governments over the course of history have feared them; “intellectuals” were persecuted, even killed. Those who dared to contradict the system were disempowered and disenfranchised. You are in the university, a naturally occurring think-tank. Explore.

Finally, thoughts are not predetermined. You are not destined to think tomorrow what you thought yesterday. If there is an area of your life you aren’t happy with, consider changing the way you think about it. Remember: what you think determines your feelings, behaviors, actions, decisions—it steers the course of your life. To maximize your mileage, optimize your thoughts.

Study Tips for Finals!

Finals are here again! You might be running on overdrive in an effort to get everything accomplished. Here are some helpful things to remember this week:

Time management & prioritizing. While you are studying, apply quality of attention control. Do not do the semi-study with one eye on your phone and the other on Facebook. When it comes to final exams, the major source of stress is feeling ill-prepared and worrying about whether you had time to study enough. Don’t waste your energy worrying. Plan your study time and trust yourself to focus. (Hint: FOCUS!)

Take study breaks. When you are digesting information at a rapid pace, it’s important to take breaks! Your brain requires a re-fresh: get up, stretch, or stare off into space. One of the most efficient ways to relax your mind muscle is to bring your attention into your body, breathing with awareness. It’s reasonable to think of spending approximately ten minutes on break for every hour of study.

Eat plenty of health snacks. If you want to maximize your mental efforts, avoid refined sugars and processed food. Instead, stock up on whole foods: complete grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy protein sources. Foods that are high in healthy omega fats—nuts, avocado, fish—are thought to grease your gears. What’s good for the body is good for the brain.

Utilize study sheets and study groups. Make study guides and read them first thing in the morning when you wake up, before other impressions have a chance to settle in. Study groups are also very effective, especially if you have a tendency to fall asleep when studying alone. Just be mindful that the group stays on task.

Get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep at night is a real pickler when it comes to performance. Sleep deprivation decreases motivation, concentration, attention, and coherent reasoning. It decreases memory, self-control, and speed of thinking. This is the last thing you want to do to yourself before a big test—so put a good night’s sleep first on your list.

Exercise. One of the best ways to increase the flow of oxygen to your neurons after staring at a screen or book for many hours is to get up and move around. Cardiovascular exercise such as walking, running, or biking, will restore brain function. Enhance your educational endurance with exercise!

Ask your professor for help. If you aren’t sure about a particular point, don’t wait until the last minute—your study group partners might not understand it either. Approach your professor or TA ahead of time and ask for clarification.

Keep things in perspective. In all likelihood, this final is not going to be the defining moment of your life, or even your academic career. If you don’t get the score you hoped for, don’t lose your head over it.