Spring 2021

Moving into week 2 of our exploration of YouTube Videos. Take a look through our top picks to help with various stress related feelings and events. This week we look at Cooking, Sustainability & Nature, Science & Experiments, Media and International. Maybe your find something new to try out or a way to expand upon current interests. Most importantly make time for yourself, sit back and relax.

We all have different views of cooking and food preparation, some of us love it and some of us don’t. No matter how we feel, its interesting to know the idea of cooking has been considered a good example of therapy to help with mental health. It can help to occupy your mind and relax you, while working towards preventing or reducing stress and anxiety.

Its always good to have a helping hand when it comes from cooking; it can give us the encouragement to try new things and honestly feel we can achieve something. YouTube can be a great companion to this, running various cooking ideas alongside us.

So these two channels are not only setup to help you start with the basics, but also provide low costing options for students to try. Those apple slices are making my mouth water as I type!

But then not everything is about the cooking or the preparation of food. There is a lot of information out there about the various benefits that food has on our body and mind; this could be especially useful during exam time, check out the video above to boost brain power through food.

There are so many aspects of nature that we should all appreciate and look after. In return nature can help us all to relax, to enjoy and to escape. One of the many ways in which we can do this is through becoming more sustainable in our lives or helping with sustainable programs in place to protect the natural world around us.

Now it might be strange that we are talking about nature, but giving you ways to stay indoors and watch videos. But there are quite a few options and ideas flowing through YouTube, so it is worth having a look.

This channel is all about simple up cycling ideas and ways to reduce waste by re-purposing what we throw away. Some of these life hacks are so simple and so beneficial its worth have a look and seeing what you can try.

Have you ever considered having a go at growing your own fruits and vegetables? It can be surprisingly straight forward to do. It can also be a great way to save money, focusing on those items that are a regular part of your shopping bill. You don’t need to have a garden or large outside space to achieve this either, just look at this video. Provides some simple, easy to grow products that can be done from inside your home. All that focus you put into growing and nurturing these plants well do wonders for your mental health.

The wonderful thing about YouTube is the number of videos that have been created to help with stress relief and mindfulness. There surely must be something for everyone if you just know where to look. For me anything water related seems to do the trick and really help me to relax. Now I usually just focus on the sound effects or musical videos, but this one has some wonderful imagery to run along side it. Try it out and go on an underwater adventure!

People really love watching cute and funny animal videos. There does seem to be something for everyone out there, for every animal around. However, pets do tend to be the favorites, with cats and dogs taking the lead. In the end, feeling all cosy inside or having a good life is a great way to relieve stress and anxiety.

We have all, most likely, found ways to relax and de-stress through the use of media. There are so many options out there that we all probably have our favorites, possibly by interest or type. The one thing with media, is that we do have to be careful in its use, overuse of certain media could result in a negative impact on our mental health rather than the positive. Enjoy but be careful.

So YouTube is a form of media in itself focusing on video and audio. This can be great as you can pretty much find something on anything, but try not to get too absorbed.

• Film & Television – You can often find behind the scenes videos, facts on your favorite shows, bloopers or documentaries. Depending on when the film or show was made, you could also come across a version on YouTube.
• Music – No matter what genre of music you like, you should be able to find music videos, cover videos, instrumental videos, even karaoke versions.
• Audio Books & Podcasts – There are a great range of audio books that have now been added to YouTube in video format, so sit back and listen. Alternatively, with the growing popularity of podcasts versions of these have been heading to YouTube, quite often with additional video content as the presenters chat.
• Games – So you can’t play video games on YouTube. However, the enjoyment of video games has become a lot more than that. You can sit back and watch gameplay, often with commentary, game reviews, game music, game documentaries, retro themes and people sharing general game tips or examples of how they have played a particular game.
• Apps – Many of us use smart phones these days and so the use of apps have generally just become a part of life. It can be so annoying downloading an app, that seems great at first, but eventually doesn’t do what its suppose to or in the way you wanted. Why not have a look at the videos on YouTube exploring and reviewing these apps before hand.

Many might consider the idea of science boring or not compatible with the idea of relaxation. However, when you think about it science is all around us and can most definitely be used to help us relax, from the rolling shapes of clouds to laying back and enjoying the night sky. Even the most obvious, simple things can’t help us.

Don’t forget there can also be a fun and messy side to science, especially when exploring through experimentation. It might be successful, it might not, but either way i’m sure you will have a laugh trying.

The above two videos provide you with a huge range of simple and easy experiments to try out, at home, usually with things you can find in the household. There are so many more videos and ideas like this on YouTube, I recommend to anyone that is interested to have a good search.

I must admit, I am definitely one for staring up at the sky, whether its watching the clouds go by on a sunny day or looking out into the vastness of space. It can be difficult, with so many lights being around, to get a good view these days (I appear to be fortunate to have a back garden with limited interruption from street lights etc). But, when you get out into nature, away from the craziness of towns and cities, it opens up a whole new perspective.

Taking the night sky one step further; why not sit back and enjoy some inter-stellar pictures and videos, while listening to some nice relaxing music, to help you unwind and chill out.

We take so many things for granted, actions, reactions, they are all just apart of life. Its something that happens and we move on. These guys have taken every day events and occurrences and recorded them in slow motion. The videos they have produced are amazing and really make you think differently about what’s going on around you. Its also strange, but watching these slow motion videos can have a calming affect.

As the above

Everyone is different, be it from where in the world they live, to the separate regions of each country. This often brings with it different ways of life, different upbringings and different beliefs. However, with all the differences there are still plenty of similarities, when it comes to the human race. We all have emotions and feelings, which in turn means we can all experience stress, anxiety and other problems that can affect our work.

Around the world people have come up with numerous ways and methods to overcome these feelings. But, if you look further, at culture, language, food, environment you can find many more options to overcome stress.

Around this planet exist so many fantastic cultures, which in turn contains a vast array of language, ever expanding once you start to look at regional dialects. For most of us, we will only ever fully learn one language, with the ability to learn more getting harder and harder as we age. But, whether you can speak/understand the language or not, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy its tones, its sounds and use it as a form to aid relaxation.

Looking at those regions and countries from around the world, you can find such natural wonder, such greatness within the natural world, that is quite unbelievable. be it icy planes or sandy, deep forests or caverns. They all hold the power to relax and calm the mind, be it through sight or sound.

Lets not forget about the world created by the humans that have lived upon this planet. The huge, ancient cities and buildings. The great wonders of the world, and other fantastical builds created by our ancestors own hands. Whether you get to explore these in person or with so many things these days virtually. These majestic, wonderous places can replace a stressful mind, with one full of wonder.

I’m sure we all know of various relaxation methods such as meditation and yoga. All these originated in various countries of the world, and over time have become so well known that they are now global in use and popularity. Interestingly, may of these relaxation methods are so easy to explore, with very little, if any resources required. Take for example this Japanese hand technique.

So, we have reached the end of our week 2 exploration of YouTube. I hope you have enjoyed these blogs and found atleast one thing that has held your interest and give you help in dealing with stress.

Drop us a comment below if you enjoyed any of our videos in particular or share your nominations for other videos that could meet the themes and stressless concept. Also, let us know if you tried any of the creative activities (please share a picture) would be great to see what you achieved.

Don’t forget to check out our other social media channels on Twitter and facebook for related stressless information and links.

Until next time

Jason