Friday, March 29Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Author: Elena Mccaffrey

Experiences with Meditation
Lifestyle

Experiences with Meditation

I sat down with Jack, former president of The University of Exeter Meditation Society and co-founder of ComingUp festival - which explores meditation and psychedelics, over FaceTime to gain some insights into his mediation practice.  E: When did you begin to meditate? J: I was first introduced to meditation around 5 years ago when I was in sixth form after my mental health had deteriorated and I’d been struggling with anxiety and low mood. My GP recommended a 6-week mindfulness course which ultimately is why we’re having this conversation, though I would like to avoid a framing of meditation that focuses solely on what we might typically understand as mental health. E: Did it click for you straight away? J: My practice didn’t really click until I joined my university’s meditat...
Lockdown Lovin’
Lifestyle

Lockdown Lovin’

Lockdown got you feeling meh about love? Have no fear. This is a time for you to take it old school with your love affairs. Tinder dating culture has left us rushing into rather disappointing one-night stands, dates that make us feel a bit nervy, and tiresome ghosting. It’s time to re-think how we date. I find online dating an absolute minefield. There is so much unspoken pressure to design a profile that draws someone in. Then begins the trial of sorting through mind-numbing conversations to find someone interesting. The exciting part is next, interesting conversations and compliments, but some tend to disappear after a half-arsed shag.  After this cycle I normally delete the app because I find it emotionally draining. But, sooner or later boredom creeps in, my need for valida...
Santa Wants You to Shop Small This Christmas!
Lifestyle

Santa Wants You to Shop Small This Christmas!

Elena McCaffrey As I’m writing this, the chaos of Black Friday – Fast Fashion’s favourite day – has just begun. However, in the year that Amazon has reigned supreme, we should be doing everything we can to support small businesses. A thing to remember is that small businesses often process their Christmas stock really early, so if you’ve missed your chance, don’t be afraid to get your loved ones a gift card. This could feel like a cop out, but the right card can make a really lovely gift.  Here are some of my favourite small businesses:  Oski Studios: www.oskistudio.co.uk Instagram: @oski.studio There is nothing better than receiving a gorgeous piece of jewellery as a Christmas present. What’s even better is knowing that it was made sustainably and came from a pla...
Women, Doing It For Themselves
Lifestyle

Women, Doing It For Themselves

I think we’ve all been there, while glaring at the smooth, perfectly toned model in barely-there underwear we feel a blanket of self-loathing surrounds us. For me, the questioning always begins with, ‘How on earth am I meant to get my boobs in there without them dangling down by my knees?’ I find myself in a difficult battle with saucy underwear. Sometimes it feels so badass to be wearing something that makes me feel sexy. But then I question myself.  Who am I wearing it for? and Why does shopping for it make me feel so sh*t? Ever since we were little we’ve been told to strive to look like the ideal woman: tanned…but not too dark, skinny…but not too skinny, big boobs…but perky, curvy…but only in the right places, hairless…but without any signs of removal. All in all we must be eff...
Twilight Is The Reason For All My Troubles In Love
Lifestyle

Twilight Is The Reason For All My Troubles In Love

With this summer’s release of Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun came a glorious Twilight Renaissance. Those who first discovered the magic of Twilight in their early teens have re-fallen in love with the saga. From Instagram to TikTok our feeds have been blessed with Twilight memes. And I am HERE for it; however, it made me realise that those juicy, dark and quite blatantly toxic love triangles have had a massive impact on my love life. After discovering Twilight at the merry young age of 12 I was enthralled in finding this love that never ends. Real passionate love was to be filled with pain, discomfort and a whole heap of emotional manipulation, right? WRONG.  The desire for never-ending love gifted me with an inability to leave emotionally abusive and toxic relationships. Even whe...
How Crochet and Embroidery Saved Me
Lifestyle

How Crochet and Embroidery Saved Me

Crafts are back and in full force. Not only are we seeing crochet featured in Vogue and on catwalks, but business savvy creatives have set up flourishing Instagrams of them doing hobbies normally reserved for our nanas. From gay pride embroidery to boob pots celebrating body positivity, you can find it all on Instagram and expect to be welcomed with open arms. Crochet and embroidery came into my life during a pretty turbulent year. I was ungraciously dumped for another women (AT CHRISTMAS), then I got an orange to the face for which I needed three stitches (I looked like Harry Potter for a while, but it’s okay now), and to top it all off I was attacked and mugged whilst entering my home (genuinely horrific but being driven around the city in a police car was pretty groovy). After all o...