Stress Management

Proper diet, exercise, sleep.

The first two will happen automatically. The last one will be a struggle.

Look into yoga or meditation - there appears to be nearby businesses for this.
 
Opentoideas said:
Any advice for stress management while at West Point?
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I am a heathen so Sunday mornings were mine to do with as I pleased when I was at West Point. Everyone else was at church services and the barracks were quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
My Sunday morning self care was to spend the morning getting brunch from the mess hall, downing a big cup of coffee, reading the Sunday New York Times at a leisurely pace, and going for a long run. That would get me through lunch and was my way of decompressing. The rest of the week was at a breakneck pace.
 
Opentoideas said:
Any advice for stress management while at West Point?
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If you are a cadet at West Point now, remember there are only a couple weeks left in the semester. Every college kid in America is stressed right now, trying to finish the school year. Suck it up. Stay focused on the present. Get to the next meal. Also sounds like a solid plan that was used to get someone thru enlisted basic training.
 
In truth, if 'sleep routine, nutritious diet, and regular exercise' are not enough there are also resources for cadets like the CEP, Center for Enhanced Performance that is designed to help cadets navigate things esp when they start to get overwhelmed. You will be ok. The CBT portion of the summer is designed to be stressful--in different ways--and then you are just living to the next meal, the next downtime, the next night of sleep. That ends pretty quickly.
Edited to all: IT IS NORMAL TO REGRET ALL OF YOUR LIFE'S CHOICES DURING BEAST. You may find yourself in bed at night staring at the ceiling w/ quiet tears rolling down your face. You are NORMAL. This is normal. You will be fine. Just stay the course and have faith in yourself. It will get better soon. Promise.
 
All Things Must Pass - George Harrison. I float whenever I listen to it. Helps me a lot.
 
Have a schedule, have designated break times and activities. Other than that there isn't a lot you can do.

Get sleep, get food, get exercise. You'll learn a lot about H2F in BEAST and PE215. It sounds cheesy and gets repetitive but it's right. You need to be balanced.
 
One of the lessons an SA is trying to each is the experience of stress, being a little overwhelmed, and how to handle it. It may help to put some boundaries around the stress if you can step back and see it as another training goal. Give yourself some regular breaks, try not to spend them wallowing in unhealthy self-pity and keep scratching off the days. For good or ill the time will pass and you'll be on the other side, so do your best and your work will stand and be judged. (If you're still worried just keep repeating, "Cs get degrees, live to fight another day, no boards no problems, next semester will be better." This isn't high school, no one is getting those grades again.)

EDIT: All the academies have extensive resources for any area of your life that you might be worried about. There are people to improve your physical conditioning, lots of tutors to help your grades, and chaplains and counselors to help you sort your mind and heart when you're uncertain (or too certain) about what's going on around you. If your conditioning or grades are not up to par some of this help will invite itself into your life, but another of the academies' goals is to teach students how to recognize when help is needed and how to reach out for it. Self-awareness and pride are things to be grappled with and understood, and managing stress may fall into this area for you. If you want to talk to someone there are resources out there for a reason. Use them.
 
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