Last year, my friends and I went to Miami for spring break and while there are countless fun, crazy, sweet memories, the one which I would say was a “core memory” was going on Ferris wheel. The sun had just set and the water on the shoreline was gleaming with lights from skyscrapers. After getting into the Ferris wheel carriage, my friends and I blasted music and sang along. For those 15 minutes we sang to our hearts content, took a bunch of pictures and laughed a lot… we were truly present in the moment. It was as if we had left every worry behind us as we got into the Ferris wheel. I think a lot of us struggle with this as we are constantly thinking about the past or future. And this experience helped me realize that the fact I consider this as my “core memory” truly shows how important it is to just live in the moment and enjoy what we have at present.

My relationship with anxiety has changed drastically over the past several years. Although I finally feel as though I’m starting to develop a healthy relationship with anxiety, I’ve gone through many ups and downs especially throughout high school. After years of dealing with anxiety, I’ve learned to first acknowledge it and recognize why it’s there. For example, I tend to get really nervous before exams and presentations because I put pressure on myself to succeed in order to achieve my academic goals. 

After this recognition, I try to accept these feelings instead of fighting it. I understand that my anxiety isn’t simply going to go away if I wish it too, and have found that fighting against it can sometimes make the situation worse. It’s important to recognize it is normal to have anxiety and that it can be beneficial in many ways. So instead of wishing it away, look at the positive side. Anxiety can help us stay motivated by pushing us to study for an exam or arrive early for meetings. Although we tend to focus on the bad parts of anxiety, I believe it is prudent to always acknowledge the good as well.

A few months ago, I was mindlessly scrolling through TikTok when I saw a quick video about the “Little Treat Mentality”. I don’t remember who the creator was, but they explained that no matter what kind of day you have, you deserve a little treat.

Everybody deals with stress and anxiety, however the key is to know what to do when you're stressed out. It is not always easy to keep your feelings from getting the best of you.

People love to talk about destigmatizing mental illness. That is, the more common mental illnesses. The ones that tiktok famous girls and chronically online twitter bros have glorified and deemed acceptable. Destigmatizing anxiety and depression is important, but it shouldn’t stop there.

As an Indian woman on a pre-med track, I can’t help but feel like my path is unoriginal. My dream had its built-in checkpoints‒if I just followed what other successful students did and worked my ass off over the semester, I’d be able to “make it.” But honestly, what the hell does making it even mean? If making it meant late-night study sessions at the Union, nervous breakdowns in the dingy Chem building before exams, little time for personal hobbies, and an overall sense of exhaustion just to feel some modicum of relief after getting an above-average grade in a class, then sure, I guess I’m making it.

Have you ever felt like all the hard work you can do might never be enough? Or like the amount of hustle expected of students on a campus college like U of M is just plain unrealistic? These questions and worries come up for a lot of us as we grapple with course loads, finding jobs and internships, and the financial strain often associated with pursuing a degree. Most people have heard phrases like “you’ll get out of it what you put into it,” “no pain, no gain,” or “the best man will get the job,” all of which seem to imply that success will be experienced in direct proportion to the amount of hard work invested in our endeavors.

Wolverine Wellness is the University of Michigan’s primary organization dedicated to the health and well-being of our college community. Through wellness coaching, a course on well-being, and even destressing sessions with therapy dogs, Wolverine Wellness seeks to provide accessible resources to promote the physical and mental health of all.

I recently had an incident with a friend that I am trying to process, and I realized I couldn’t process it until I acknowledged my identity as a caregiver for someone with a mental illness. Growing up, my parents' mental health wasn’t great. I saw my father through his manic and depressed states.

There is no person in the country who has not taken a pill before. There exist pills of every size, shape, color, and magnitude, all doing something different to the human body with a scroll of legal precautions and side-effect lists. They can combat a myriad of physical plights that would take hours of home-remedies before their conception; Tylenol, for instance, is a pill people take commonly for minor pain and headaches. This kind of little capsule is considered socially-acceptable, but there exists one with a unique function that we often have trouble addressing without some discomfort: antidepressants.

The smell of lavender has long been thought to have a calming effect, and some studies show that it can offer some relief for mild anxiety or sleep disruptions. I decided to try three relatively inexpensive lavender-scented skin care items, to see if they are more calming than their non-lavender counterparts.

While doing research for a project about human physiology, I came across a man named Wim Hof, who claimed that his breathing technique could aid people both physically and psychologically. He claimed that his method aided sleep, energy, and concentration and eased symptoms of depression and anxiety. He also said that it would make exercising easier - at one point he claims that doing these breathing exercises will increase the number of push-ups that one can do until exhaustion.

When I started this week-long experiment, I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out. How could posing for a few minutes in the morning noticeably change my day? Despite my hesitations, I went into the week with an open mind, and boy am I glad I did.

DAMN. opens with a question proposed to its audience – “Is it wickedness? Is it weakness?” and Kenny provides us with an immediate answer – “you decide.” Is this referring to his own demons? Is this referring to American struggles? Maybe it’s both?

Danny Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition is first and foremost one of the most unique albums I’ve ever listened to. Danny has always been an artist that a lot of people don’t actively listen to because of the shrill voice he uses when he raps and the heavily explicit subject matter of his music. I’ll readily admit that before Atrocity Exhibition, I thought most of his work felt annoying and excessive.

Fall is for Lovers

A playlist for the deep breath you take after having a moment:

with school starting up again and fall just around the corner, these are songs that help me destress after a busy day but also fill me with energy in the autumn air

These songs are a mix of moods but they all kind of help create a slower vibe that I think can be relaxing! Good for everyday, nothing super crazy energetic.

Spring seems delayed this year, but these songs remind me of flowers while I wait for them to bloom.

Just a collection of instrumental pop covers and chill beats for when you’re trying to grind. 

Sometimes real life can feel mundane. There are few things I can do to make it feel more magical, but listening to this playlist is one of them.

Here's some shoegaze songs to make you wonder about life and your own mortality. Get comfy in bed and enjoy the soothing guitar and vocals while you think about the endless possibilities in your life!

Chill songs for that lovely holiday feeling

For those looking for a clean EDM drop, these songs all have spicy build-ups with satisfying drops. Perfect for feeling hype or just enjoying a bop. � All these have a lot of energy - they create a dancefloor in your head.

"Every moment in our lives is a miracle we should enjoy instead of ignoring"

- Yoko  Ono

By: Hailey Prokop

I took this picture a few weeks ago when my friends and I visited the Arb. It was one of the most serene moments. Dipping my feet in the water and feeling the slight ripples against my feet felt like it was washing away all my worries :) And it’s always fun when you have close friends with you as you are enjoying the beauty of nature around you! 

“Pizza sponsored by Trader Joe’s. Thank you Joseph for your service.”

By: Lejla Pargan

I took this picture a few weeks ago when I visited the Detroit Zoo. I don’t know what compelled me to capture this moment, but I’m glad I did because it makes me think of myself as the school year winds down. Regardless of how stressful my weeks might be, I’m going to let this penguin remind me that sometimes it’s a mood to just chill. 

At the University of Michigan, the Law Quadrangle in the snow is one of my favorite things to experience. There is something so peaceful about strolling down the shoveled path, with the ornate and gorgeous buildings of your school on all sides, while delicate snowflakes drift to the ground around you. This was the exact scene when I took this picture over the past weekend. It was a magical moment for me, because although the past three weeks of school had been such a whirlwind of assignments and meetings, I was able to take a moment just for myself, breathe deeply, and appreciate my surroundings.

After a long week of classes, my favorite thing to do to relax is to take a long, hot shower and curl up with a good book.

My mind's been in the past this week, thinking of summer. It happens a lot this time of year, as stress looms like a storm on the horizon. I close my eyes to see happier days behind the lids. The problem is when I get stuck there. Trapped in the rooms of memory, content to exist in the past. Where memories are painted over by the nostalgia that smooths their hard edges, dulling the pain and brightening the joy. This photo represents one such memory. Of long hikes in the summer sun. Of getting lost and laughing with friends. I've been slipping into those memories quite often, letting the remnants of their joy wash over me. In this period of stress and uncertainty it serves as a reminder of a peace that awaits once the storm settles.

This was a photo took a while ago during the peak of fall when the leaves held their oranges and yellows before turning brown as they are now. Walking through such a scene always feelings calming to me, like no matter what I am feeling the cycle of nature will go on.

I’ve read Belle Hooks' All About Love recently, and I expected a lot from it, considering I’ve heard a lot about how prolific an author Belle Hooks is. I was not disappointed picking up this read, as it took a lot of the thoughts I was feeling and said them with significantly more eloquence. Love is an interesting concept in modern society and Belle Hooks delves into it beautifully. She describes how we are both greedy for love and afraid of it. While it may seem paradoxical, it is a truth many of us live in.

I discovered Sarah Marshall through her podcast, You’re Wrong About. Listening to early episodes of the show, which featured Sarah and her former co-host, Michael Hobbes, I learned in-depth about topics like the life of Princess Diana, the story that led up to the OJ Simpson trial, and the moral panic-ridden narratives about gangs in popular culture and political discourse.

I recently finished reading Dolly Alderton’s memoir “All I Know About Love” and walked away from it feeling quite reflective. Previous to having picked up her novel, I didn’t know much at all about Alderton, but her book came up a lot on “Best Reads for 20-somethings”. Having read it, I can see why.

he first song I remember hearing by Julia Michaels was “Issues.” I was in the awkward

throes of early high school and to me it was just another pretty-good pop song in the

background of rides to school, the pop station perpetually played at my weekend job, and the

occasional high school dance at which I was honestly less focused on the music and more

focused on how to wear heels without tripping in front of the guy I liked.

Lizzo has achieved an iconic level of fame both on- and off-stage. While she’s widely

known for her creative songwriting and powerhouse vocals, she’s also been an outspoken

advocate for body acceptance and positivity, and her inclusive approach to engaging with these

issues has often thrust her into the spotlight as as an emblem of something that shouldn’t be

radical but often is perceived as such: taking up space.

His name is Mikael Temrowski, but we don’t know him by that; to us, he is Quinn XCII (ninety-two, not “ex-see-eye-eye” as he reminds us on his Tik Tok and Twitter). His reggae-esque, smooth-like-butter songs, like “Straightjacket” and “Another Day in Paradise,” leave listeners feeling like they are laying on the beach with a cold beverage in hand, and his relatable and candid social media presence is sure to give you a good laugh.

Dave Grohl is a popular musician, singer, and songwriter known for his role as Nirvana’s drummer from 1990-94, and the frontman of The Foo Fighters from 1994 to present. In 1994, Nirvana’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain, passed away from suicide after struggling with depression, a heroin addiction, and the pressures of fame.

When you hear the word Bollywood, it’s automatically associated with Shah Rukh Khan. But if you dig deeper into the industry, you’ll not only forget about the king of Bollywood but also stumble upon the modern-day queen herself: Deepika Padukone.

Since his joining “SNL” in 2014, Pete Davidson has risen to fame for his self-deprecating humor. Often, this includes jokes about his own mental health struggles. He is very candid in sharing his experiences living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and depression. So much so, that this is the 3rd Speak Out Sunday recognizing his contributions to the conversation of mental health.

If you watch TV and movies, you’ve probably heard of Kristen Bell. She’s been Eleanor in the Good Place, Anna from Frozen, and the titular character in Veronica Mars. It’s safe to say she has been in the industry for a while now, and being in a high-stress industry like entertainment is bound to take a toll on one’s mental health. This is true for Kristen Bell who has described facing issues with her mental health throughout various points in her life.