I'm about 10 weeks into my SUPA Psychology class. I honestly love the class and look forward to going everyday. In one of the first units we covered, the topic of meditation came up. We watched a video about Burton High School in San Francisco, California. This video documented how the high school was not the best place- it was even deemed the "fight school."

Then, faculty started teaching their students how to meditate. Soon, there were required meditation periods before classes. The school saw immense change in students grades and the social interactions taking place. The message this got across to me was that our lives are how we make them. It's all about mind over matter and the fact that we control our destiny. I knew I had a huge week ahead of me- like my college portfolio review (which got accepted!) and sectional championship volleyball game (which we lost...). I decided that I'd try meditation to help me get through the week more relaxed. I've included the links to the meditation guides I used!

Sunday night

Tomorrow was the big day. My official college portfolio review at RIT. I went online and searched up meditation. I ended up completing a breathing exercise that actually really calmed me down. I went to bed easier that night and felt distracted from the reality of life after doing this. LOL.

Rating: 8/10

Breathing meditation: http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22

Monday night

This was a long day of excitement! I got my hair cut and colored by an amazing hairdresser in Rochester (shoutout Infiniti Salon!), then headed to RIT for the review. It went really well, and I headed home for volleyball practice. After practice, I went home and after being congratulated by my family, went to my room to meditate. Honestly, I wasn't feeling it. I was too tired and just wanted to lay on my phone. But, I still persevered through and did some visual guided meditation. I was so happy I ended up doing it because it calmed me down a lot from my busy day. By day 2 I was already learning that it was a good choice to stick with meditating, even when you don't feel like it- because in the long-run, it helps.

Rating: 9.5/10

Calming down meditation:

Tuesday night

Tomorrow was another big day! Nothing really happened today that's worth telling, but I did meditate after my practice. I used the same video that I did last night since it worked so well. I got a good sleep, too.

Wednesday afternoon

I came home one period early from school because I felt so nervous that I was sick. I had a headache and I got the worst nervous stomachache, as well. I've never played in a sectional championship, a I'm a senior- so if we lost it'd be my last high school volleyball game ever. We usually lost to this team ins season, but we were still hopeful and put in hard work through the weeks. When I got home, I looked up pre-game meditation and OMG did it work. All my nerves went away as I focused on what was being said. I immediately felt relaxed!

Rating: 11/10

Pre-game meditation: https://www.yogaglo.com/preview/class/895

Thursday night

We don't have school tomorrow. Usually, I would be really thankful and happy at the fact I don't have to wake up early and spend 6 hours at school, but thinking about it, I wouldn't really mind waking up and going through school tomorrow. I feel renewed and refreshed after this (almost) week of meditation. I'm not as tired as I normally would be after a week like this! I did the same breathing meditation as I did on Sunday night.

Friday night

Tonight I tried a positive thinking meditation. The voice of the lady that narrated it was really creepy and I didn't get too far through it.

Rating: 4/10

Positive thinking meditation:

Saturday morning

I ended off the week with a hypnosis for clearing my subconscious negativity. I really liked this one. I used headphones like suggested. I was fully emerged into this one and the hypnosis worked. I was so distracted for the 20 minutes I listened to.This was another favorite for me!

Rating: 10/10

Hypnosis for clearing subconscious negativity:

Overall, this week was made more relaxing with the help of simple meditation. After learning that it really DOES take stressful feelings out of my life, I found the time to complete it each day. Honestly, my favorite part was coming home from a busy day at school, or a psychically draining practice and meditating. I felt all my worries and thoughts go away for that time. Then, when I was done, I was in an overall good mood for the rest of the day/night. I think I was a lot nice and patient with people throughout this week! I definitely am going to look into an app with easy access guided meditation. I hope you try meditation and find the time to incorporate it into your life like I did!