A Simple way to ease anxiety at exam time

Blog post written 24th February 2017

I was coaching some 6th form students before half term, and unsurprisingly the main theme that came up in almost every session was anxiety. Some of them were anxious because they didn’t know where to start with their revision, some were so anxious it was stopping them from coming to school on some days, some were even being prescribed medication for their anxiety. I asked each one of them ‘Has anyone ever explained to you how anxiety works, what goes on in your body and mind when you get anxious?’ and all of them said ‘no’. I only had half an hour with each student, but just by explaining a little bit about how anxiety works and showing them one simple breathing exercise they can practice anytime, anywhere was really reassuring for them.

So I want to share this exercise with you, so if you’re a parent or teacher you can teach it to your kids, if you’re a students you can practice it for yourselves or share it with anyone you know that struggles with anxiety.
I have put it into a short video, so I can take you through it and you can practice it with me until you have it nailed for yourself.

One thing I always say about this simple breathing exercise is that it’s not a magic wand to rid you of anxiety. It’s something that takes practice and best done daily at a time you already feel relaxed! So practice it at the beginning of class, when you get up in the morning, before bed at night, on the bus, anywhere where you can take a few minutes to pause.

Here it is. Let me know how you get on….