Blog Sophie McGrath

Easy Exercises To Beat Exam Anxiety and Stress


With exam period slowly approaching, many students will see their stress levels starting to increase. Sophrology can help both parents and students to beat stress, improve memory, focus, recuperation and optimise best chances for success!

Today at BeSophro, we have decided to give you some very simple Sophrology tips to drastically reduce exam anxiety so you can stay on top of your game!

1) Don’t be shy – VISUALISE SUCCESS!
Start by finding a comfortable position and scan your body from head to toe, noticing tensions if there are any. Pay attention to your breath and invite relaxation in the different parts of your body. Once you feel more relaxed, imagine yourself very calm on the day of your exam. Picture the environment around you during the exam and visualise that everything goes well, you feel calm and reassured. See yourself being able to use all the knowledge you have and your mind being very clear; imagine that you answer all the questions one after the other, peacefully.

Then imagine that you receive the results and feel the joy of finding out that you passed! Or that you received exactly the grade you wanted, or even better! Visualise that you did it and you can feel proud! Breathe in slowly this great sensation of success into your body, and when you breathe out, let success travel into your entire body, feeling confident and relaxed. Don’t be shy and programme your brain for success!


2) When stress becomes a bit too intense – learn how to breathe!
Simple breathing techniques that you can do anytime and anywhere (including on the day of the exam) can really help you when stress becomes intense. You can simply imagine you’re breathing through a little straw. Breathe in as normal, and breathe out very slowly “through the straw” for as long as you can. A long exhale will instantly calm your body and your mind. You can practice breathing on a regular basis, and it will work even better!

At the same time, you can also let a positive word come to your mind when you breathe in, such as CALM, RELAX or FOCUS and let the word travel into your body when you exhale. Very simple! Once you feel calmer, it will be easier to focus and keep going!


3) Don’t forget the importance of RECUPERATION
Finally don’t forget to take time for recuperation, especially if you have several exams back to back. You can use the technique of tension/release in order to release all muscular and emotional tensions before they build up!

Tension/release is very simple and works effectively by either tensing your whole body at once or successively tensing different parts of your body:

1) you breathe in and tense your muscles,

2) hold your breath and retain the tension for a few seconds,

3) release everything and breathe out!

Do it as many times as you want and as often as needed!

And of course, before an exam, keep some time for regular breaks and watch your sleep. Sleep really helps resetting the body and the mind: it helps memorising, organising your thoughts and your knowledge, be more focused and full of energy! To prepare yourself, think of athletes and how they prepare for a competition, it can be very inspiring!

For more information on Sophrology and how it can help, please visit 

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