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Exam Breakdowns
Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:46 pm
by Guest Posts
My daughter always puts herself under so much pressure at exam time and it gets worse the older she gets. She recently had to delay some of her uni exams to take them this month with the resits. However every time she sits down to work she has a breakdown and can't study. She is reluctant to talk to anyone and I've heard that acupuncture might help. Do you have any strategies that I could work through with her to help her calm herself down?
Many thanks Lorna
Re: Exam Breakdowns
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 1:38 pm
by Fran McElwaine
Dear Lorna,
I can sympathise with your concern for your daughter.
There is a fantastic and very simple practice that works absolute wonders in lowering stress (it has also been known to lower blood pressure and also help promote sleep). It is so easy to do and something I recommend to many clients - as it helps to put them back in control of their stress response, which is the first step to alleviating stress completely.
This is the technique, it is called the 4:7:8 breath:
Breath in through your nose for a slow count of 4.
Hold your breath for a slow count of 7
Then exhale through your mouth for a slow count of 8.
Repeat for a maximum of 4 times.
Try and do this 2 or 3 times a day, or for your daughter, whenever she sits down to do her revision.
While you are doing this exercise, you are switching off the stress response and that allows the body to relax. This simple exercise also help with focus and concentration, so well worth giving it a go.
Thinking of you both
Fran