LRC Exam stress & wellbeing guide

A visualisation for exam day Sit comfortably and take some deep, relaxing breaths. Scan your body from top to bottom and notice any areas you feel tension. Allow each area to relax. Slowly begin to focus on your breath… In… out… in… out….. If worries enter your mind during this exercise, that’s okay. Acknowledge them and allow your attention to come back to your breath… In… out… in… out…..

Imagine it’s the day of your test… You feel some nerves, but you really want to do well and are looking forwards to getting started. Feel the desire to show everything that you know, and to prove to yourself how well you can do. Imagine you calmly find your desk in the exam room and take a seat. You hear other students, footsteps, the scraping of chairs and the shuffling of papers. You continue to focus on taking relaxed, deep breaths. You notice the feel of the floor beneath your feet… the feel of the desk… the pen in your hand. You calmly listen to the instructions, and they begin to hand out the papers. You feel a hint of anxiety rising, which you expected. You say to yourself ‘this anxiety is normal, but I can deal with this. It isn’t going to stop me from doing well!’. Calmly and confidently, you scan over the paper in front of you. You realise you know many of the answers. You begin to organise your time and you remind yourself “I will focus on one thing at a time, and I won’t let my anxiety take over”. You take a long deep breath, and feel your body relax. You then take the first step answering the first question. Small step by small step, you make your way through the exam paper, taking deep relaxing breaths when you feel any tension or worry. There are some challenging questions, so you take time to gather your thoughts and write the information you know. As the test finishes, you feel relieved and proud. You stayed calm, and expressed everything you could. Enjoy the feeling of being done! You were able to manage your anxiety and that helped you to focus! You look forwards to taking some time to relax and celebrate your hard work, now the test is done. Wiggle your fingers…your toes. Feel your body waking up. Bring yourself back to this present moment. You are ready to return to your day feeling calm and focused. Adapted from content on www.anxietycanada.com

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