Student Blog
Life Hacks

New Occupations ⟩
September 10, 2012, by Paula

Life Hacks Living in LA School/Life Balance

With the start of another new semester, I was concerned about missing out on the luxury of free time that I enjoyed during the two-week break between summer fieldwork and the start of classes. As a result, I have made a goal for myself to find one new, fun activity to enjoy each week so that I don’t get too comfortable or bored with my routine. First of all, so you know a bit more about me, I am a list person. When I feel stressed or busy, I make a list! You don’t want to know how many different lists I have floating around in different notebooks & sticky notes. It is how I maintain structure and balance regardless of my everyday chaos. 😊 Luckily I have been making a “bucket list” of sorts involving activities in Los Angeles that I have been meaning to get around to but always end up putting off, so I have many, many options of activities to choose from. Last week, I finally went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for a movie with some friends! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this location, movie screenings are regularly shown by projector in a grassy area of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Viewers attend and picnic prior to the film’s showing. I found this experience to be enjoyable on so many levels! The abundant culture, energy, and the shared appreciation of a new experience in such a unique environment was felt throughout the evening. I highly recommend it to those who are looking for something new, or for those of you who have attended in the past but haven’t been back in a while.

I look forward to continuing to make new occupations and adventures a part of my week and finally crossing some of those items off of my list(s).

⋯

Time Well Spent With Me Myself and I ⟩
April 16, 2012, by Floyd

Life Hacks School/Life Balance

I can only please one person a day, and today, I choose me.

Sometimes you just need time for yourself without any distractions of deadlines, projects, and assignments. And this weekend, I did just that . . . nothing! All weekend, I had the “Don’t bother me unless I am needed for surgery” mentality. It was awesome!!!

I got to sleep in, catch up on TV shows, read the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy, and ate ice cream. It feels great because I am refreshed and reenergized for the week to come. I know there will be a lot to do this week, but I don’t let it stress me because I know it will come and go in a flash. Hopefully I make the most of the last few weeks of school. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am skipping along, while stopping to smell the roses. Gosh they smell good!

⋯

Living Green ⟩
April 13, 2012, by Kimberly

Life Hacks

This week in my Lifestyle Redesign class we learned about the rejuvenating effects of nature on our health and well-being. We all know that it feels good to be in the outdoors, but it’s actually backed by science! Research has shown that hospital patients who are in a room with a window overlooking nature recover faster, have less pain, and complain less than patients with windows looking out into a wall or cityscape. Other studies show that living in areas with more trees affects satisfaction levels, stress levels, and quality of life. Even things like having a nature scene as your desktop background can affect your day to day mood. Interacting with pets has the same effect as interacting with nature as well. So next time you take a coffee break from work or find yourself overstimulated by all of our various communication tools, walk outside for 10 minutes. Will do you lots more good than you might have thought!

⋯

Self Love ⟩
February 14, 2012, by Kimberly

Getting Involved Life Hacks

This semester I have taken on running groups for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. Once or twice a month I go to Rancho Los Amigos Hospital and work with community members who are diagnosed with MS. Each group is different and has their own goals and needs. This month’s theme for the group is — bet you can guess it — love! It is a common theme for the month, but is somewhat hard to match to all the goals we are working on with the particular groups. So for this week I have decided to take the route of focusing on self-love. This is something we all need to get better at doing: taking time to thank ourselves for the work we do, planning some pampering every once in a while, making sure we take the time we need to ourselves away from tiring responsibilities, and overall acknowledging the fact that we need love ourselves to be able to love and attend to those around us. Self-love also helps us to feel in control of our own emotions, capabilities, and life. I’m excited to bring this to the group and see what personal goals they come up with.

I want to challenge you to do the same! Here are some ideas to get you started:

Watch your favorite film
Make a valentine to yourself
Write down the things you love about you, then work on remembering them when times are lower
After a work-out, thank your body
Make a fabulous meal, just for you
Meet up with a friend who brings you joy
Think of a way to make life easier and take steps to make it so
Try something new

How will you love yourself more?

⋯

New Year, New Teachers ⟩
February 2, 2012, by Alix

Life Hacks

Since moving to LA a couple years ago, I’ve been faithfully going to Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, a great yoga studio in Santa Monica. Some of my favorite teachers — Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, and Erich Schiffmann, to name a few — teach there, and it’s really close to my house. But for 2012, I wanted to branch out and try something new. So I’ve started going to a new studio, Santa Monica Yoga, and I’m remembering now just how much a new teacher helps to revitalize my practice. The classes are smaller and more intimate, so I’m getting lots of great adjustments. And I’m learning even more about teaching techniques, which helps me to be a better instructor for my students. (Also, the teachers at SMY have really good playlists, which helps.) With the help of one of my new teachers, I’ve even able to achieve one of my 2012 goals: freestanding pincha mayurasana!

⋯