Stress and Coping: Two-Week Physical Activity Project
This reflection paper documents a personal two-week stress management and relaxation project in which the author engaged in physical activities — including golf, exercise, and meditation — as well as spiritual practices such as attending church and reading the Bible. Daily mood and feelings were self-rated on a scale of 1 to 10, showing steady improvement from day one through the end of the project. The paper evaluates how these activities affected psychological well-being, reviews supporting literature on physical activity, meditation, and religious involvement, and discusses the challenges of overcoming initial laziness. The author concludes with an intention to continue these practices based on their demonstrated physical and mental health benefits.
- Project Overview: Purpose, methods, and scope of two-week project
- Description of Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques: Golf, meditation, exercise, and spiritual activities chosen
- Daily Record of Mood and Feelings: Self-rated mood and feelings table across 14 days
- Evaluation of Mood and Feelings Over Two Weeks: Narrative interpretation of daily rating changes
- Overview of Relaxation Techniques for Psychological Well-Being: Literature support for golf, meditation, and religion
- Challenges Encountered and Lessons Learned: Overcoming laziness and insights gained from experience
- Conclusion: Intent to continue activities for long-term well-being
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper blends personal self-tracking data (daily mood ratings on a 1–10 scale) with peer-reviewed literature, grounding subjective experience in academic evidence.
- The narrative arc — moving from low motivation and a rating of 1 to sustained positivity at 10 — gives the reflection clear structure and emotional credibility.
- The author draws on three distinct domains of stress relief (physical activity, meditation, and spiritual practice), supported by separate scholarly citations for each, demonstrating breadth of research engagement.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates reflective self-study supported by evidence synthesis. Rather than simply narrating personal experience, the author links each chosen activity (golf, meditation, church attendance) to published research findings, showing how practitioner experience can be evaluated against the scholarly literature. This mirrors the approach used in health and behavioral science research that validates self-report data through corroborating studies.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an introduction establishing why stress management matters, followed by a description of the chosen techniques and the rationale for selecting them. A daily mood-and-feelings table provides quantitative self-assessment data. An evaluation section interprets the changes observed across the two weeks. A literature review section supports each technique with academic sources. Separate sections address challenges faced and lessons learned, before a brief conclusion and a works-cited list in MLA format.
Project Overview
Stress management is an important feature of everyday life, as it helps people lead happier and healthier lives. Managing stress aids in relaxing and enjoying activities with friends and family, so that even those around us benefit when we are resilient enough to handle pressure. Coping with stress prepares a person to accept challenges in life, boost the immune system, improve blood regulation, strengthen disease-fighting hormones, and stimulate glands that support psychological well-being. Exercise is considered one of the best ways the body releases endorphins that empower the neurological system. Engaging in 20–30 minutes of exercise daily is an effective strategy for coping with and recovering from daily stress.
This project focuses on the importance of engagement in physical activity and its effect on psychological well-being. The aim is personal management of stress through relaxation techniques practiced for 10–15 minutes per day, along with a report on personal experience. For this purpose, I engaged in physical and spiritual activities over two weeks, including playing golf, eating well, meditating, attending church, and reading the Bible. I recorded my daily mood and feelings on a scale of 1 to 10. The findings were then evaluated based on daily progress in physical activity, motivation, stress levels, and overall psychological impact. Supporting literature on the chosen stress management techniques is also presented, followed by a discussion of the challenges I faced and how I overcame them. The paper concludes with a reflection on whether I intend to continue these activities given their impact on my physical and psychological health.
Description of Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques
The stress management and relaxation techniques I chose to carry out for fourteen days — at least 10–15 minutes per day — were playing golf, exercising, and meditation. I also planned to engage in religious activities such as attending church on Sundays and reading the Bible. I selected these activities because I was traveling to San Antonio and planned to play golf there. I knew that if I did not meditate during my days off, I would feel worse — I have noticed that when I eat poorly, I feel sluggish and lack mental clarity. I understand the importance of working out and know that I will not perform as well in golf if I do not exercise regularly. I am also convinced that meditation is beneficial, and I supplemented it with religious activities by attending church every Sunday and reading the Bible.
Daily Record of Mood and Feelings
The table below shows self-reported ratings for mood and overall feelings each day, on a scale of 1 to 10. Mood: 1 = very negative, 5 = neutral, 10 = very positive. Feel: 1 = very agitated, 5 = neutral, 10 = very calm.
Day 1: Mood — 1 | Feel — 1
Day 2: Mood — 1 | Feel — 1
Day 3: Mood — 3 | Feel — 3
Day 4: Mood — 4 | Feel — 4
Day 5: Mood — 6 | Feel — 6
Day 6: Mood — 7 | Feel — 7
Day 7: Mood — 8 | Feel — 8
Day 8: Mood — 9 | Feel — 9
Day 9: Mood — 10 | Feel — 10
Day 10: Mood — 10 | Feel — 10
Day 11: Mood — 10 | Feel — 10
Day 12: Mood — 10 | Feel — 10
Day 13: Mood — 10 | Feel — 10
Day 14: Mood — 10 | Feel — 10
Evaluation of Mood and Feelings Over Two Weeks
My mood and feelings were rated at 1 on day 1 because I felt negative about my health. Since I had not been engaged in any regular workout routine before, I was reluctant to implement this new routine. My mood and feelings remained the same on the second day, as it was still difficult to overcome my laziness; I had to fight with myself, which left me feeling agitated.
On the third day, I rated myself a 3 for both mood and feel, as I had begun to feel more positive about my daily routine after seeing other people running and jogging nearby who appeared fit. That observation motivated me and improved my disposition. My ratings continued to increase for this reason through the eighth day. After one week, I could observe that I felt more positive than before regarding my fitness, health, and emotional and psychological well-being. I felt fresh and motivated.
From the ninth day onward, I gave myself a rating of 10, meaning I was extremely confident about my mood and feelings regarding the relaxation techniques I had chosen. I had developed an optimistic outlook and planned to stay healthy and active in the future. Planning is a source of strength, which I embraced for my personal well-being — particularly for emotional, physical, and psychological comfort. This was an attitude I had not expected to find in myself when I began the two-week routine, and I was genuinely surprised to discover it.
Conclusion
Being engaged in physical activity and exercise is good for both physical and mental health. Meditation and involvement in spiritual activities create a soothing effect on the mind and body, as they are among the strongest stress management and relaxation techniques. I intend to continue these practices in the future, as I now want to prevent stress and anxiety — especially having experienced firsthand the effect of physical and spiritual activities on my mental well-being.
Works Cited
Francis, Leslie, and P. Kaldor. "The Relationship between Psychological Wellbeing and Christian Faith and Practice in an Australian Population Sample." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 41, no. 1, Mar. 2002, pp. 179–184, doi:10.1111/1468-5906.00109.
Murray, A. D., et al. "The Relationships between Golf and Health: A Scoping Review." British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 51, no. 1, Oct. 2017, pp. 12–19, doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096625.
Vijayaraghavan, N., and M. Chandran. "Effect of Meditation on Psychological Wellbeing." The International Journal of Indian Psychology, vol. 7, Apr.–Jun. 2019, pp. 673–678, doi:10.25215/0702.080.
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