Anxiety

Do you worry so much that it is hard for you to concentrate?
Are you easily discouraged about grades?
Do you have anxiety when taking tests?
Do you have performance anxiety due to familial pressures to “do well” in college?
Are you tense or anxious when approaching an academic task, or negative about your abilities?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should develop techniques for coping positively with anxiety.  You can reduce your worry by learning to focus on the task, not the anxiety. 

Relaxation Techniques

The information below briefly describes several relaxation techniques.  To learn more about a particular method of achieving relaxation techniques.  To learn more about a particular method of achieving relaxation either consult with your study skills advisor and/or the university personnel counselors or psychiatrists. 

Meditation.  Meditation involves focusing on something unchanging (such as a spot on the wall) or something repetitive (such as repeating a word – a mantra).  When you realize your mind has wandered, merely return to repeating the word.  There are many web resources on meditation practices.

Imagery.  Imagery can be guided or unguided.  When guided, someone else determines which image you should keep in mind when trying to relax.  When unguided, you decide what image would be relaxing.  If possible, it is best to choose your own image since you have a better idea of what you find relaxing than does someone else.  Some images people generally find relaxing are sunshine warming the body, a day at the beach, a rippling lake, a walk in the woods, the surf rolling on the shore, birds flying through the air, a carpeted room warmed by a fire, and a sailboat floating on the water.

Autogenic Training.  Autogenic training requires you to imagine your arms and legs feel heavy, warm and tingly.  By doing this, blood flow increases to these body parts due to a dilation (widening) of blood vessels in the arms and legs.  This is part of the relaxation response.  After the body is relaxed this way, the mind is calmed by adding images of relaxing scenes.  Imagery that is part of autogenic training is called autogenic mediation.

Progressive Relaxation.  Progressive relaxation teaches the sensation of muscular contraction by focusing attention on the feeling of the muscles as they are tensed throughout the body.  It then teaches the sensation to your more tense parts.  The relaxed sensation can be imagined to be a warm ball that travels to various bodily locations warming and relaxing them.

Diaphragmatic Breathing.  Relaxed breathing occurs as a result of the diaphragm expanding, as opposed to stressful breathing that is a function of the chest expanding.  Relaxed breathing is called Diaphragmatic Breathing.  To try Diaphragmatic Breathing, lie on your back and place your hands on your abdomen.  As you breathe you should feel your abdomen rise and your chest remain fairly stable.

Quieting Reflex.  With practice, this technique is said to relax a person in just six seconds.  The Quieting Reflex is done as follows:
     1. Think about something that makes you afraid or anxious.
     2. Smile inside.  This breaks up the anxious facial muscle tension.
     3. Tell yourself, “I can keep a calm body in an alert mind.”
     4. Let your jaw go loose as you exhale, keeping your lower and
         upper teeth slightly apart.
     5. Imagine heaviness and warmth moving throughout your body, from head to
        toe.

Instant Calming Sequence.  Another relaxation technique said to take just seconds to elicit the relaxation response is the Instant Calming Sequence. 

     Step 1: Uninterrupted Breathing. In the face of the stressor, keep breathing
                smoothly, deeply and evenly.

     Step 2: Positive Face. Flash a slight smile as soon as you recognize you are being
                 stressed.

     Step 3: Balanced Posture. Keep your chest high, your head up, neck long, chin, 
                and in other ways balanced.  Imagine being lifted from a hook at the top
                of your head.

     Step 4: Bathe in a Wave of Relaxation.  “Imagine you’re standing under a
                waterfall that washes away your tension.”

     Step 5: Acknowledge Reality.  Face your causes of stress head-on.  Don’t try to
                deny it or wish that it hadn’t happened.  Think: “This is real.  I can handle
                it.  I’m finding the best possible way to cope right now.”

      Step 6: Reassert Control. Instead of fretting about how the stressor had robbed
                 you of control, focus on what you can control and take appropriate
                 action.  Also, think clear-headed, honest thoughts instead of distorted
                 ones. 

Anxiety Resources: