What is the best way to use yoga for exam stress?
Exam season is a stressful time not only for students, but also for their parents and teachers! It is even possible for younger siblings to be affected, as they can pick up on the stress of other family members and become unsettled as a result.
To help calm and focus during exams, try yoga & breathing exercises individually or as a class (or as a family).
There are two ways in which these activities can help:
- As you revise, yoga postures help you feel more energised and grounded
- Prior to or during an exam, breathing exercises can help calm and clear your mind
Apply yoga in revision
Research shows that it’s important to stay active while studying and take regular exercise breaks.
Relaxed muscles, in turn, help relax the mind. Therefore, simple yoga stretches are perfect for a movement break. Forward bends help calm, and inverted poses (like the dog looking down) provide fresh blood flow to the brain, which in turn helps the thinking process. Neck rolls, wrist rotations, and twists (like the swinging tree pose and the seahorse) counteract the stiffness that comes from sitting for long periods of time.
Yoga against exam stress
Many yoga poses stimulate the proprioceptive sense, which can help reduce anxiety and help the child achieve and maintain an optimal level of alertness for learning by improving concentration and focus. The following poses all activate the proprioceptive sense and are therefore perfect for relieving exam stress and supporting learning.
4 yoga poses to support learning
- dog pose
- mouse pose
- crab pose
- mountain pose
The power of breath
Breath is an important means of regulating emotions. During exam time, proper breathing is the most important means of calming the nerves and focusing the mind.
Proper breathing is the most important thing we can do to relieve stress. And it’s easy to learn and apply. Breathing fully (filling WHOLE the lungs and expelling ALL the air) is called diaphragmatic breathing. This slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, clears the head and relaxes the muscles.
How to use breath to beat exam stress:
- Lie down or sit down and close your eyes if you can.
- Breathe through your nose (with your mouth closed) and focus your attention on the space between your nostrils. Feel the coolness of the air coming in and the warmth of the air going out. This will help you to block out other thoughts and calm the mind.
- Now focus on breathing from the diaphragm. Relax your abdomen and place your right hand on your belly button and your left hand on your heart. Imagine that you are blowing up a balloon in your belly. Your hand on your heart should remain still.
- Take 3-5 breaths.
Breathing ideas for young children:
For young children who may be afraid of the SATs, try these suggestions to help them breathe properly:
- Place an object (such as a duck) on the child’s stomach. Then test to see if the duck can float up and down.
- Blow bubbles together
- Make feathers float by blowing long, slow breaths
- It’s great to calm the whole family, or the entire class, with buzzing bee breath
Finally, try simply sitting and listening to your breath. Try to breathe out to a count of five. Breathing slowly slows the mind, allowing coherent thoughts to emerge.
When using yoga for exam stress and revision, we hope these suggestions are helpful.
You cannot be tested on your courage, kindness, imagination, resilience, friendship, or integrity in exams.
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