Relaxation

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Anxiety and Panic

Anxiety is a common student problem, especially during exams. You can handle mild anxiety and stress:

  1. cognitively Ð by facing your fears with more constructive self-talk
  2. behaviourally Ð by sticking to an effective study and relaxation programme
  3. emotionally Ð by containing your fears using insight and foresight: using self-monitoring, distraction and relaxation strategies, and in some cases medication.

If you are suffering extreme anxiety or panic attacks, a GP may be able to help either with medication or other useful coping strategies. If you intend to fill in a mitigating circumstances form, a note from your GP will be regarded as evidence of anxiety.

Relaxation Methods

Each of the following approaches has its own value and applications. You'll need to experiment and then practise your favourite techniques well before the exam - taking advantage of mini crises during the revision period.

Meditation

There are various kinds of meditation techniques which generally induce an altered state which is normally relaxing and beneficial. However, anyone with a mental illness, prone to reality confusion, depersonalization etc. should seek medical advice before trying out such techniques.

Benson's "Relaxation Response"

  1. Once or preferably twice a day, sit comfortably with eyes closed, for 15 - 20 minutes
  2. become aware of your breathing. Breathe easily and naturally; and with every out breath mentally repeat your mantra - a sound or word like "relax", "one" or "om".
  3. maintain a passive, accepting attitude - e.g. have no goals or expectations, other than comfortably following the procedure; don't try to resist other thoughts or strain to think your mantra clearly.
  4. when aware of having been distracted by other thoughts, simply switch your attention back to the mantra.

Imagery

  1. Sit comfortably with eyes closed
  2. Notice bodily sensations, and let go of any tension. As you breathe out, imagine tension flowing out through your hands and feet. Enjoy a sensation of warmth and heaviness or lightness, going through the body in waves of relaxation.
  3. Imagine the body filling up with a healing white or blue light.
  4. Let the light radiate around you and transport you to a real or imaginary place - your ideal relaxation sanctuary. Vividly imagine actually being there, absorbing it with all your senses.
  5. Feel the sense of absolute peacefulness and calm, for some minutes. Then gradually bring yourself back to your present situation, with a lingering sense of calmness and inner radiance.
  6. Do this once a day in a leisurely way; and touch base with your sanctuary at odd moments, for a boost.

    7. Muscular Relaxation

    For those unable to distinguish sufficiently between tension and relaxation, a useful approach is to exaggerate and feel the tension for a slow count of five, then letting go and enjoying the sense of release and relaxation for a minute or so, systematically, through different muscle groups. The following sequence can be remembered using the phrase "All New Exercises Must Take Longer":

    All - Arms and hands

    New - Neck & shoulders

    Exercises - Eye-brows, eye-lids & forehead

    Must - Mouth, lips, tongue & throat

    Take - trunk -chest, abdomen, hips

    Longer - Legs

    Tension is produced by clenching fists; bending or extending arms; pushing head against support; shrugging shoulders; raising eyebrows; frowning; tightly closing eyes; biting teeth together; pressing tongue against mouth; pressing lips tightly; holding a deep breath; flattening in the stomach; squeezing buttocks together; stretching legs and toes. Note: with tensing techniques, stay relaxing much longer than tensing! After a little practice you should find it possible to relax without any prior tensing, simply by focusing on the same muscle sequence and allowing each to unwind and relax. This quick and easy relaxation skill can then be used whenever needed, in daily life. Isometric Exercise This can be used when sitting at a desk during revision or exams:

    1. Pull in stomach muscles tightly; hold for a count of 5; release and relax
    2. Clench fist tightly; hold; relax.
    3. Extend fingers; hold; relax.
    4. Grasp below seat of chair; pull up & hold; relax.
    5. Press elbows tightly into side of body; hold; relax,
    6. Push foot hard into floor; hold; relax.
    7. Relax briefly with dangling arms, or resting head in arms, on desk.

    Exercise

    Exercise can burn off tension, and counterbalances the passivity of studying and relaxation. Walking through a park or doing simple yoga are also effective alternatives.

    Mental rehearsal

    Having achieved some degree of relaxation using one of the above techniques, it is useful then to imagine oneself "doing" the dreaded thing, in this case the exam, visualizing oneself emotionally "coping". With eyes closed, run through the whole exam situation, watching it unravel as if on a screen, mentally step into the screen, with a sense of calm and composure; take in the scene with different sensory organs, all the while imagining coping with the exam and with surges of anxiety. This can be a fairly brief mental exercise. It can also be used to visualize oneself coping differently, more positively, in other problematic situations e.g. to counter negativity during revision.