University of Canberra students are stressing less with Zumba classes, movie marathons, petting zoos and puppies thanks to a week-long program aimed at reducing stress levels and improving their well-being.
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"Stress-less" week, organised by UC Life!, will feature a number of events such as a Zumba class, pop-up pub, pancake breakfast, a market day and puppy play day to de-stress students ahead of exams next week.
UC Life! event organiser Tilly Hickenbotham said the activity-filled program, which kicked off on Monday, was about giving students a break from studying and the stress of exams.
"It's also about getting them activated," she said.
"Exams have a reputation that you don't do any exercise and you eat really bad food and we're trying to flip that around and get people to take time out, to exercise. That's what I found the most beneficial with me was taking a bit of time to myself so that I was more productive when I was studying."
Tuuli Oksa, an exchange student from Finland, took part in a Zumba class as part of stress-less week on Monday.
"I saw the ad on Facebook and thought it would be nice," she said.
Ms Oksa, who is studying exercise science, said it was a great way to take a break from studying.
"Exams are coming up so it's really nice and I also love Zumba," the 26-year-old said.
University of Canberra well-being expert Thomas Nielsen said although exams could be a stressful period for students, there were "positive psychology strategies" students could use, including self-coping mechanisms such as taking care of their sleep, diet and doing some exercise.
Dr Nielsen said stress could have a detrimental impact on people's lives and it was important they remembered to take care of themselves during stressful periods.
"Stress can have an impact on emotional, physical and psychological health," he said.
"There a strong body of evidence-based research showing the areas of life which we really need to attend to and when there's stress in our life, those areas become even more important. They are things like getting enough sleep, another thing is exercise which reduces mental and mood disorders and then there are things like making sure we nourish our relationships with friends and family and making sure we laugh - laughter is important in life. Then there are things like food and hydration."
Dr Nielsen said "down time" was also important in coping with stress and some people also benefited from having a creative outlet such as art or music.
Stress-less week features different activities each day, including Tuesday's puppy day, a petting zoo and pancake breakfast on Wednesday, a free soup kitchen on Thursday and a pop-up pub on Friday.
