vitamins

Dealing with exam time stress


Perfect time 🕰️ for self-care. As everyone is racing to the finish line, staying up all hours to study 📚 or correct papers 📝 , I felt my eye twitching, my brain 🧠 “frying” and needed to take a walk, a break, and stop work for a couple of days … Teens feel the same way, especially those who transition into harder classes in high school. I enjoyed the re-thinking of our process and rethinking our habits that Tony Robbins teaches in his ‘training session’ with youth… and it so reminded me of the Stoics! This useful video in finding our purpose by Marcus Aurelius and his ‘meditations’ and insights of a life of virtue.

Finding our virtues… and our motivation

It is exam season for many teens and college youth! Dealing with panic 🙀 breakdowns, over-demanding procrastinators, unreasonable administrators, home 🏡 stress — this may or may not change. If you are also struggling with your finances, physical and emotional challenges but are looked upon as the “beacon” to guide and support others, you know what I mean.

Let’s remind all about these 5 steps :

1) eating well (Particularly plenty of vitamin C, foods rich in neuro-building vitamin B, and for athletes magnesium!)
2) drinking plenty of water 💦. Be cautious with caffeine — it’s still a drug. Some within a day combine with other drinks, like energy drinks, it can be dangerous; limit cups of coffee ☕️ and never after 7 pm, or not at all, as it may increase anxiety and may cause sleeplessness. See what experts recommend here.
3) taking care of their skin by washing, moisturizing, wearing sunscreen 🌤️
4) Pacing studying 📚 as cramming adds too much mental stress as often lack of enough sleep and anxiety leads to mental blockages.
5) Building up those Affirmations for mental flexibility and increasing self-esteem.

Take care of you to be able to take care of others.

Here is one for parents 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 & teachers 👨‍🏫 👩‍🏫: “I am capable and strong 💪🏼 . I am calm. I take care of myself to be able to care for and guide others.” Read more about affirmations here at BetterUp

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Peaches oh 🍑 peaches!

61ED0575-A0CD-4AD8-ACC2-0ED00F7C2AB8I’ve never met a peach I didn’t like. Can you tell the difference among white or yellow flesh type peaches, nectarines and other local varieties? I used to live in the southern U.S. “Peach State” Georgia which first got me thinking and making wonderful peach tart-pies. I also got to appreciate the rich character and identity of each place I’ve lived in. We often overlook symbols and sayings but these add value to our historical knowledge as well as likely contributing to our health literacy. Phrases like “how peachy” can be positive while saying “oh, peaches!” could be a softer more comical way to express one’s frustration. So yes, we sometimes use “fruit language” when we speak.

Not only are peaches an attractive looking fruit, they taste great, are low calorie and have necessary fiber and carbohydrates and vitamins, including potassium and Vitamins A through E to help us function better during our day — particularly good for our skin fighting against the stress of everyday pollution. Furthermore, peaches are supposedly good for those with high blood pressure but as with everything please eat in moderation…yes, if fresh peaches are not an option, eating canned peaches with strained Greek-style yogurt is a low calorie meal especially at the start of your day. If you can afford the extra calories try “peaches and cream”, another southern U.S. tradition which is especially delicious. I particularly like one variety which comes from the region of Naoussa in Northern Greece where it looks like a squished flat peach but it’s sweeter than other varieties.

Here’s a secret for a great peach tart — bake the crust for about 15 minutes before then add your peach mixture and if your peaches are tart just add some more brown sugar! Yummy…