Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or just stretched too thin? You're not alone—and there's a better way to handle it. In this hands-on, movement-filled Project Week, we’ll explore what stress really is, how it affects both your mind and body, and which tools actually help you manage it. From mindfulness and journaling to yoga, hiking, and high-energy workouts, you’ll test out a wide variety of stress-relief strategies to find what works for you. You’ll also build a “Stress Relief Toolkit” and put your new skills to use by leading a wellness activity for younger students or our broader community. Whether you're looking to feel more balanced, sleep better, or just take care of yourself and others, Stressed Out will give you the knowledge, habits, and confidence to take control of your stress—not the other way around.
DAY #1 - What is Stress?
For day 1 of Stressed Out, we started with a classroom meeting. During this meeting, we broke off into pairs and researched 6 different topics regarding stress. Each group created a poster which summarized this topic (eg: How stress affects mental health, how stress affects the brain, etc). Each pair then presented their poster with the group, and we discussed these stress subjects.
After lunch, we regrouped outside for a physical fitness vitamin D hour. To conclude the day Mr. Henry put the group through a journalling workshop that helped teach the different styles of journalling and ways we can incorporate journalling strategies into our lives.
DAY #2 - How do we cope with stress?
Day 2 was yet another successful day de-stressing and learning how to manage our thoughts and emotions! We started the day in the classroom beginning with a mindful moment practicing some meditation with a podcast from the app, Headspace. We then researched some healthy snack recipes that we will be recreating tomorrow.
The group met with head strength and conditioning coach, Tony Mure, who gave an insightful speech on managing the mental side of athletic performance. We took a brief break for lunch before meeting on the turf for an awesome vitamin D hour, soaking up the UV rays before they’re gone! We enjoyed husky miles, lacrosse, reading, music, and of course sunbathing.
To conclude our day, we researched the health benefits of gratitude. To practice, we spent time writing some meaningful gratitude letters and thank you notes of our own to special people in our lives. Overall, we had a wonderful day full of lots of serotonin, sun, and no stress!!
DAY #3 - Get Creative!
Today in stressed out, we did arts and crafts. There were three stations, including making stress balls, making a poem, and making friendship bracelets. All three of these activities really calmed our minds and made us forget about everything else that was going on. We were extremely stress-free! After we made all these arts and crafts, we did a 30-minute yoga session. We learned how to restore the body through movement which really helped us relax. We did many poses ranging from downward dog to cobra. after the yoga, arts, and crafts, we had a good healthy lunch, including potatoes, corn, and carrots. During the second part of the day, we made some quick healthy snacks! Some groups made simple trail mix, while others made protein balls and pretzel bark. The process of making these was really destressing and allowed us to focus on one thing at a time, slowing down our racing minds. Once we had all tried one another's healthy snack, we ended the day with journaling. We wrote about what we feared the most and ways to get over this fear!
DAY #4 - Giving Back
Today the group went on an excursion and worked with a class of preschoolers at Red Oak Montessori School in Franklin, NH. We had so much fun with the kids and were able to bond with them. It was amazing to see how present the kids were and their excitement. Later in the day we did a 30-minute peloton workout which helped us get our heart rate up which is proven to reduce stress! Mr. Henry then led us into a 10-minute abb workout and stretching routine. To finish up our stress-relieving day, we journaled for 10 minutes about what we did with the kids and how it impacted our feelings. Today was an awesome day!
DAY #5 - Rage Room Fun!
We began Day 5 with preparation for the project week symposium. Half the group created a presentation for our symposium table while the other half worked on building stress balls to pass out.
Next, we went out to eat at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester, where the newfound relationships and connections within the group were on full display. As we ate, we laughed about stories from the previous 4 days, and it was clear that stress was at an all time low within the group. Finally, we headed to a rage room to blow off some steam and release any leftover stress!
Credits:
Created with images by doucefleur - "depressed Asian woman in deep many thoughts, having problem with over thinking" • StockPhotoPro - "Women doing yoga training together" • Sergio - "Man in leather brown winter boots walking on snowy road outdoors, back view.,Close-up of modern warm men's shoes.,Selective focus on right shoe, embossed sole.,Low angle view" • silatip - "Notenook and coffee cup on wood table" • Touchr - "Hand squeezing a red stress ball isolated on black background with clipping path." • kireewongfoto - "young woman meditation yoga pose on tropical beach with sunlight in background"