For Students: Transitioning Back To School With Ease
As summer comes to an end, so do the lazy days of freedom from rigid schedules and school commitments. For some of us, this transition can come with anxiety and dread. All of sudden we are thrown back into homework, events, and packed calendars! It can be helpful to reflect on how you may transition back into your school year with ease.
I urge you to consider taking some pieces of summer with you into your school year. What are you most afraid of losing and how can you creatively incorporate that into your life year round? For example if you enjoyed your lazy mornings during the summer, maybe you wake up earlier than usual to ease into your day slowly. If you enjoyed the freedom of not having anything scheduled, make sure a good portion of your weekend allows for some spontaneity by setting boundaries with others. If you enjoyed regularly attending your yoga class, make sure you get a couple classes in a week or download classes to practice at home after you finish school!
Below are some more tips for easing into your school year:
1. Reflect on when you’re being spread too thin: Take a moment to pause every now and again and notice if you’re over committing. You may notice feelings of stress, tension, or obligation creeping up. Pay attention to what these emotions are telling you, and cut commitments out of your life that are not serving you. Pruning your schedule can help alleviate that distress and make you more functional in tasks that are worth it for you!
2. Show compassion to yourself: With the start of the school year, we can start to put pressure on ourselves to be the perfect student, perfect athlete, etc. Catch yourself when you are setting the bar impossibly high. Tell yourself you are human, and you deserve to give yourself some grace! Here is a link to my favorite self-compassion resource: http://self-compassion.org/
3. Find your support: When you surround yourself with supportive friends, role models, and professionals (key word being supportive) you are setting yourself up for success. Get as many healthy, supportive people on your team as possible. Anytime we are going through a transition, the supportive people in our lives are crucial for helping us ground, get out of our anxiety brain, and provide us with empathic connection.
4. Make time for yourself: This goes without saying, but setting aside time to fill up your gas tank is invaluable as your schedule starts to fill up. If that means scheduling your self-care time then do it! Make sure you’re sticking to a self-care schedule that promotes your health and wellness and set boundaries on that time. It’s easy to let other commitments seep into our self-care time, so protect it with strong boundaries.
Best wishes as you return to your school year. Connect with us if you need support throughout this transition.
Authored by Anna Zapata, LPC