Author Archives: Elizabeth Sharp

Massage and Learning Some Stress Relief Techniques

Posted on by

Last week I received a chair massage. Even though it was only ten minutes long, I nearly fell asleep.  I don’t really realize it from day to day, but the stress of school tends to find itself in my neck and shoulders and it was very relaxing to have someone begin to relieve that.

The lady who gave the massage noted that my left shoulder was much more tense than my right and I initially wrote it off to the fact that I am left-handed. However she said it was more likely to how I carry my backpack. A lot of people carry their heavy bags on only one shoulder, especially when they go to open doors or in the case of a backpack, for a period of time before putting the weight equally on both shoulders. This can lead to unnecessary pain and tension. I noticed as I walked out of the room at the end that out of habit, I immediately swung my backpack onto my left shoulder. Her comments made me much more aware of how I wear my backpack to and from all my activities and mindful about making sure I evenly balance the weight so I don’t continue to strain myself.

She also told me to think about using heating pads when I felt particularly tense as a way to help relax my muscles. I have little microwaveable heating pads but up until then, I hadn’t really been using them for muscle pain. I found that they helped a lot and are a good technique for general stress for me. I think I will continue to use them as I head into finals week which is a stressful time when a lot of tension tends to sneak up on me.

Rest and Relaxation through Yoga

Posted on by

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a yoga session. The instructor led us through a Vinyasa flow sequence and we did a variety of poses that help with stress relief. During prelim season, it was a really nice way to begin my Saturday which I normally devote to studying by taking time to purposely relax. The deep breathing helped calm me down and feel better overall and allowed me to not have to focus on prelims, projects, and papers for a little bit. The stretching was also helpful after carrying around my backpack all week and stressing about work, it was great to be able to release some of the tension in my body. The music the instructor used had lots of supportive mantras in it like “I am perfect the way I am” which I thought was a nice way to bring good thoughts into the experience and also added to the positive experience.

Fort Building for Into the Streets

Posted on by

This past weekend I participated in Into the Streets, a day of volunteering around Tompkins County. My group was assigned to the YMCA outdoor education centre. There were a variety of projects for us to do and my group began to work on completing a small hut made out of grape vines while other groups did organization, collected firewood and performed other similar tasks. Our goal was to make the hut more watertight by weaving in new vines. We worked together for most of the afternoon until we used up the pile of vines we had been given to use. After we ran out of vines, some of us went into the woods and after being shown how, began to collect more vines. The vines grew upwards, high into the trees and needed to be pulled down. It was hard work and required teamwork from the other volunteers to get the vines. In between, I got to swing on the vines which was a lot of fun. We then as the entire group of volunteers went out to help clear a field that will eventually be for playing in for the campers who come in the summer.

Overall the experience was quite fun (despite requiring a reasonable amount of physical effort) and a good teamwork exercise. It was very cool to see how much we accomplished in four hours and that we helped improve a resource for the community.

Enjoying the Arts Quad while Sketching

Posted on by

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of going to the arts quad to draw some of the buildings and learn more about sketching techniques. When we first got to the arts quad, we were given a brief overview on how to use perspective. Two and one point vanishing point techniques were shown before we picked what we wanted to draw and began. As someone who took a lot of art classes in high school and occasionally paints now in college, I liked having the refresher and tips before I began sketching buildings. For my drawing, I chose to draw the edifice of Goldwin Smith. At the end, it was really interesting to see how different people captured similar parts of the campus in their own style.

The event was a really nice chance to enjoy the fall beauty and to take a few hours to relax during a busy period of the school year. I personally find drawing to be a good way to come to a place of peace because it requires such a focus on technique and the subject. Having the opportunity to enjoy a warm, sunny morning outside getting lost in art was a very enjoyable experience

Eco-anxiety and cutting out beef

Posted on by

This past Monday, I went to a table talk about eco-anxiety and a proposed method to help combat it. The discussion was based off an article that suggested that by substituting eating beans instead of beef we could dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We talked about how culture is deeply tied to our food consumption patterns, the economics of making the choice to switch on both a personal and large scale level, the ethics behind different diets, and even some compromises such as meat grown in a lab and other ways to reduce eco-anxiety and/or emissions for people who didn’t want to give up beef entirely.

One interesting thing we talked about is how it is easier to make a change to one’s lifestyle when they have support from other people in their lives and how to see a large number of people take up this initiative support from groups and in one example universities would be necessary. Another was how big industry helps keep us consuming meat and dairy products and how that impacts not only us, but the animals who end up being food.

The Botanical Gardens and Science

Posted on by

This past weekend I went on a tour of the Cornell Botanical Gardens. At this time of year, they are especially beautiful and the walk was a nice break during the beginning of prelim season. We had a very knowledgable guide who pointed out and explained so many interesting things about the history of the gardens. One of the places she mentioned was Barbara McClintock’s field and field house where the first jumping genes were identified. It was really cool to see a place where research was done that ultimately lead to a Nobel Prize. McClintock’s work at a time when women were not allowed to do that kind of research was inspiring, that with persistence, women can continue to made strides in science in the face of stereotypes and resistance. It was also a reminder of how diverse and talented the Cornell community can be and that the work we do here can have a real and meaningful impact on the world.