January’s Promises to Self!

Posted on January 14, 2016 by University of Reading

January the 1st is, for the Western World, the beginning of a New Year and an opportunity to review events and achievements from the past year and to plan how we would like this year to go. How many of us have made promises to ourselves in the past only to find that we were not able to keep them for very long at all! This is called “being human” so we have all done this at some point.

Returning to University, lectures, seminars and deadlines can feel a bit harder in winter due to the well- known tendency to Hibernate like bears or dormice during the colder, darker weeks of the Christmas break. Here are some ideas to help get your motivation up and running again:

Mindful Decluttering
A tidy space to live and study in helps you to focus more effectively and once it’s done you will use far less time on looking for lost things and having distracting thoughts about needing to tidy up. Perhaps your living space could do with a bit of rearranging so that you have clear study and living areas? The Chinese art of Feng Sui teaches us that you can increase positive harmonious effects by having clear energy paths in our environment thus decluttering the mind at the same time.

working in a tidy living space can make a real difference

Study Habits
We can all get into some pretty stuck habits sometimes and this can apply to studying too. Do you have some study habits that need a bit of a shake up? Things like leaving writing up until the last minute? Or maybe you have that habit of trying to study throughout the night and then feeling exhausted for days afterwards? Would a change of scenery help the creative process, maybe finding a different place to study will give you a different outlook?

Healthy Eating
The winter period, previously referred to as Hibernation, can be a time when it’s tempting to eat more unhealthy foods such as snacks, cake and chocolates. Each food we eat has a different effect on our mind as well as body and so trying to switch back to brain foods such as oily fish, whole grain rice and breads and fruits such as blueberries and blackberries can help you feel mentally and physically energised. Maybe agree with some flatmates that you will cook interesting and healthy meals together a couple of times a week?

Socialising

Too much or too little? Maybe you have always wanted to join a particular club or group but something has got in the way or held you back, perhaps now could be a good opportunity to give it a go. You will never know if it’s for you if you don’t give it a try. Or perhaps you have the opposite problem, being easily derailed from essential tasks by the lure of the night out! Easily done we know. Perhaps this term is the time to be selective in the options you take up. You might enjoy the events even more if you know you have done all the other things you need to as well.

Just some suggestions for promises to Self, no one has to know unless you want them too ! Spring is approaching, the days will get longer and all hibernators can emerge refreshed and energised for the new year !

‘Hygge’ yourself…

Posted on January 6, 2016 by wellbeing

What’s ‘Hygge’?

This is the time of the year when it often feels grey and cold

Hygge, pronounced ‘hoo-ga’, is a Danish word which in translation refers to the concept of ‘cosiness of the soul’. And they should know, Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world (World Happiness Report 2015).
Around this time of year, as the nights draw in and it becomes colder and greyer, it’s a really good excuse for us to wrap up, keep warm and cosy.

These things can be good for our wellbeing. Instead of feeling low about the lack of sun, feel grateful that you can make a nutritious home-made soup (see recipe below), and snuggle under a blanket in the evening with a good book or box set. Share your soup or hot chocolate with some friends and enjoy a card game or just chat.

take time to share a hot drink with friends or just have a chat

There is a vintage feel about Hygge, taking us back to a time when people would sit in front of the fire in winter, telling stories and eating cinnamon pastries. We can create the same soothing effect with fairy lights and nice cup of tea.
So get on your old woolly jumper, fluffy socks and snuggle up…ahhhhhh.

Hygge Soup
A simple soup that takes 20 mins to prepare and can be frozen and stored for up to 3 months.

Ingredients
1 Medium Onion Chopped
2 Carrots Peeled and chopped into 1 cm dice
4-5 Large Florets of Cauliflower chopped into small bite size pieces
4-5 Large Florets of Broccoli chopped into small bite size pieces
1 Large Potato peeled and chopped into 2cm dice
1 Handful Frozen Peas
1 Vegetable stock cube
1 Kettle of boiling water
15ml oil

1) In a saucepan on a gentle heat add the oil then add the chopped onion and carrot, and stir for 3-4 mins trying not to colour them in the oil.
2) Add the cauliflower and continue to stir.
3) Add the stock cube, and stir for 30 secs then add 500 ml of the boiling water, so the veg in the pan are just covered.
4) Simmer for 5-10 mins
5) Add the Potato and simmer for a further 5 mins, add more water if required to keep all the contents just covered.
6) Add the Broccoli and Peas and simmer for a further 5 mins, again add water if required.
7) Once all the veg are tender (sample a piece of each), remove from the heat.
8) Check the broth for seasoning, do not add salt before this point, and always taste first as stock cubes are naturally salty
9) Spoon into a bowl and add a sprinkle of grated cheese (optional)

Making the most of your Christmas break

Posted on November 30, 2015 by wellbeing

Christmas is coming, the end of term is fast approaching. When you look back on how you’ve been this Autumn Term, are there any changes you’d like to make for the rest of the academic year to come – your approach to studies; attitude to friends; way of socialising ….? The holiday break could be your opportunity to start doing something differently.

Feeling exhausted?Let go of stress about your studies, decide to give yourself the break you need. Recharge your study batteries by giving yourself time to relax. This’ll help you face the Spring Term with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

The Chaplaincy centre on the Whiteknights campus, near to Park House and behind the main Library

Nowhere to go for Christmas? The Chaplaincy Centre has a list of various activities happening locally during the holiday period, and offers a proper English Christmas lunch on 25th December – find company, and perhaps someone to hang out with on another day, too. http://www.reading.ac.uk/chaplaincy/

Missed deadlines? This could be the time to catch up on reading you’ve missed during the term, so you can return feeling on top of your work. If you’re going home, could you ask someone there to help you schedule in some study time? If you’re staying in Reading, how about booking a Study Advice appointment, during this quiet period?
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/IndividualAdvice/sta-booking_1.aspx

Feel like volunteering?Helping someone else is a great feeling, and lots of charities are looking for extra volunteering staff at this time of year. A good addition to your c.v. too.http://www.iberkshire.co.uk/local/charities-and-voluntary-organisations/Reading/

Lost touch with important people? Special people in your life are likely to understand how busy you’ve been at uni. How about setting aside time to re-connect properly, and letting them know how much you value them.

Wish you’d been eating more healthily? Time to learn to cook? Can you ask a friend or relative for some simple but attractive recipes? Do you want to branch out next term and try cooking dishes from a different culture? Put a recipe book on your wish list and pave the way to a healthier you!

What is this mysterious thing called Mindfulness ?

Posted on November 12, 2015 by wellbeing

So, you’ve heard this word ‘Mindfulness’ a zillion times now and are curious about what it actually is and whether it might be something that can help you get through the stressful moments that inevitably happen during your life at University.

Well here are the basics :

Mindfulness has its origins in the Eastern traditions of Buddhism but refers to a secular practice of meditations and relaxation exercises. Mindfulness means quite simply being aware of what you are experiencing in the moment as opposed to the mindlessness with which we ordinarily approach the day! How many of us run from one task to the next never really concentrating on the actual moment but thinking ahead or behind of us, maybe multitasking and not really listening to each other or to our own experience of the moment. If you recognise yourself in this description then Mindfulness may help.

So how can it help me ?

People who practice mindfulness regularly, even for a short time each day notice the following benefits :

Less anxiety
Less depressed
Better memory and concentration and
Less easily upset by everyday things that go wrong
Better sleep patterns
Better problem solving skills improved immune system so fewer bugs!

But I haven’t got time to practice relaxing and awareness …..

Well of course you do have a lot of things to balance whilst at University, studying, making new friends, learning new skills, looking after your own finances, eating healthily and getting used to independent living away from home. However putting a small bit of time aside each day, maybe 5 minutes, can benefit you in the longer term and help you to manage all the other things a bit easier.

So how do I find out more?

Well there are lots of free resources on line that enable you to listen to a mindfulness meditation in your own time at home, for eg: www.franticworld.com or www.stressreductiontapes.com and if you just put mindfulness into a search you are bound to be able to check out other options you may prefer.

There is also a ‘Life Tools Talk’ on Wednesday 18^th November at 1.00pm in Palmer Building room 103 – “ An Introduction to Mindfulness Part 2-Keeping Going”. ( Don’t worry if you didn’t attend part one, it doesn’t matter – you can still come along and find out more.)

Choosing your student house

Posted on November 5, 2015 by wellbeing

If you’re a First year, you may already be thinking it’s time to choose who you want to live with, and where. You probably know some people much better than others. Will you choose to share with people from your course, or this year’s flatmates? Perhaps you’d prefer a big house, or a smaller one, or staying in halls sounds appealing.

Although it may feel urgent to get out there and find a good place before they all get snapped up, it’s sensible to think hard before deciding who you’re going to be sharing with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sharing a bathroom, kitchen and the bills is bound to cause some tension before you all get used to each other’s lifestyles. But having your own place is fun too! Make sure you discuss some house rules – whatever’s important to you – before you even view a property. That way you can find out whose lifestyles are similar to your own.

Think about setting up a way of dividing the bills fairly, like the app https://www.splitwise.com/ where you and your housemates can see who’s paid for what, and what you owe each other. This takes away the scenario of heated arguments over money – important when you’re on a student budget.

You may have found the love of your life at uni, and want to jump at the opportunity to live with her/him. It might be an idea instead to find separate places nearby, so you can see each other as often as you want, while still having a personal space when you need it.

During the revision period and exams it’s difficult not to be distracted if your girlfriend/boyfriend is constantly around and not necessarily taking exams on the same days.

So before you sign any contracts or agree to share, why not go long to the Life Tools talk on House Sharing: how to make it work on Wednesday 11 November, at 2.00pm in Carrington 101.

Take a trip into RUSU or look online at www.rusu.co.uk/advice/housing_advice/ and see what’s available, and how to get started. RUSU and Student Wellbeing both have helpful leaflets on every aspect of looking for a house, what to check for when you’re viewing a place, dealing with the landlord/landlady, getting to grips with bills, and more.

Can’t get started? Always finding other things that need doing?

Posted on October 21, 2015 by wellbeing

It’s an all too familiar story. We have the best of intentions to get cracking on that assignment and then, having tidied up our room, made that all important trip to the gym and yes of course…”I can’t start this before sending those urgent emails and replying to texts” – suddenly it’s well after 10pm and there are no words in your Word document.

suddenly it’s late and there are no words in your Word document!

It’s so draining sitting in front of your laptop all day and achieving little. The task can hang over you, spoiling your fun and making you feel guilty for not having done it by now. So…how do we conquer procrastination, ignite our enthusiasm and recapture our ability to concentrate?

Helpful tips:

 Try meeting a study buddy from your course or form a group. Sit down together and chat about the topic, throw some ideas around and answer each other’s questions. Soon enough confusing aspects become clear and you will feel more motivated.
 Galvanise your inspiration, begin with the part of the subject that you find most interesting, then add the other bits around it.
 Break down the assignment into short, bite-sized chunks that are easier to manage. Then give yourself limited timed targets in which to complete them. In this time let nothing distract you, just focus on the task and enjoy the distractions in your breaks – which brings us on to…
 Take regular breaks to recharge your batteries and improve your ability to concentrate.

The university campus has some great places to take break, have a walk and recharge your batteries

 Calling all perfectionists out there – Good enough is good enough. Waiting for that light-bulb moment so that it’ll be ‘perfect’, can block you from getting started. You’re not writing the definitive work on the subject…yet! Just get writing and you can edit it at the end.
 Make your targets SMART: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; Timeframe. By gaining a sense of satisfaction from completing something in the time boundary, we feel more motivated to do it again another time.
 Remember to reward yourself in some way for your accomplishments. It’s encouraging to have something to look forward to, and the ‘procrastinator’ part of you will soon learn that it’s worthwhile to get on with things.

If you would like more support with organising your academic work, please see the Study Advisers’ webpage: http://www.reading.ac.uk/studyadvice which is packed with loads of helpful information.

Tired of being Tired?

Posted on October 6, 2015 by wellbeing

Don’t let your bed space get taken over by the rest of your life!

After a summer away from uni, perhaps working full-time, or reverting back to family routines, the return to student life, let alone Welcome Week, can come as a bit of a shock to the system! One issue that is consistently brought to us here in the Counselling Department, is the difficulty that many students have with their sleep patterns. Unfortunately student life is not really conducive to a regular 9 – 5 lifestyle, and thus it can be really easy to slip into a habit of late nights, and long lie-ins…and then struggle when 9am lectures are scheduled.
If this sounds like you, try the following tips:
• Keep to a set bed-time; if you are a night owl and prefer to go to bed around midnight, that’s fine, but make sure that you don’t then over-compensate by getting up at lunch-time the following day. Our bodies produce a hormone called melatonin that helps us to sleep; levels start to rise as the sun goes down, and then decrease as the sun rises meaning that you will be working against, instead of with, your natural sleep hormones if you go to bed as the sun is coming up.

use an alarm clock – not your mobile phone and try to get up when your alarm goes off

• Get up when your alarm goes off; repeatedly hitting snooze doesn’t provide you with refreshing sleep, it just messes up your ability to go to sleep in the evening! Our bodies are designed to get the most refreshing sleep early on in our sleep cycle, so dozing does not provide the quality of sleep that you need. It’s better to get up when the alarm goes off, and if you still feel tired, just schedule in an earlier bedtime.

• Use an alarm clock, not your phone – that way you will not be tempted to check it through the night, and you won’t be woken up by alerts sounding during the small hours. Although research is conflicting on this, there is also some evidence to suggest that the blue-light of the phone screen can interfere with your production of melatonin as well.

Wondering who to hang out with?

So, you’ve come to Reading Uni. Well done for making it here!

You’ve brought things that are important to you, you’ve got paper, files and pens, stuff that’s necessary, and things to personalise your room, to make it your “home from home”.

NOW WHAT? What events to go to? Check out the events schedule at the Uni site and the Students’ Union site:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/welcome/Onceyourehere/ww-welcome-week.aspx
https://www.rusu.co.uk/freshers/

Who to hang out with?
• Being at uni can feel great – free at last! It can also feel quite weird – being away from everything you know. Most likely, everyone who’s here for the first time is feeling a mix of these emotions, as they’ve all left important people and places behind. Plus, there’s a mass of information to take in.
• Take each day as it comes, and sift out what went well so you can retain the information you’ve learnt today: people’s names, where they come from, where the library is, which flatmates prefer coffee to tea, who’s studying what, who stays up till late and who prefers socialising in a quieter way….
• Notice one or two people who are on your wavelength. Start trying to be around when they are. Do you prefer clubbing, or watching films together?
• Be prepared to share a bit about your personal life back home, so others can get to know you.
It takes time to settle in, so although you might feel a bit up and down for a while, remember it’s normal when you’ve been ‘transplanted’. Everyone needs a while to put roots down. Once you have, you’ll notice yourself feeling less blown around by your emotions, getting steadier, and feeling you made the right choice.

Everyone needs a while to put roots down!

Well done and Welcome to our new students!

Today is ‘A-level’ results day and many of you now know for certain that you are coming to study at Reading University in September. Congratulations and welcome to all of you. As I sit here now I can see the wonderful ‘award winning’ Whiteknights campus which is looking amazing – at its summer best despite the rain! When you come to Reading, don’t forget to take some time out in Welcome Week to explore the campus – take a walk round the lakes, enjoy the wonderful nature and relax. Here are a few photos which show what you have to look forward to. See you all soon.

The Harris Garden

Whiteknights campus near the lake

Woodland walks through the Whiteknights campus

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