Stress during Exams  - Dr Neelam Kewlani, Holistic Healer. Article published in Stayfit Magazine - March 2009

Its examination time again and the pressure is building up for children and their parents. The pressure is there to perform well and stand first in the class. The entire modern society today runs on the concept of competition. Your kids have to out beat other students in their class in order to shine in your eyes. But in every class (say of 50 students) only 1 student will secure first position. So there is very little (2% in 50 student class) chance of every student to come first. This competition makes them go through tremendous pressure and stress throughout the year, but it exponentially heightens up during the examinations. Even the student who comes first remains under stress to retain his/her position next time.

The pressure to out perform others further adds up when parents, relatives and teachers set up very high expectations from the kids. Even though the expectations are set with good intentions, little do they know that it makes kids as well as parents very stressed? We often find parents asking their kids to study more and longer hours having no better idea of how else to help their kids. No doubt there is a need for kids to be disciplined and committed towards their studies; however this has to be balanced with lighter facets of life, i.e. enjoyment, fun, love and care. The stressed lifestyle of kids and their parents give birth to plenty of diseases which needs to be avoided.

You can be the most important instrument for your kid to do well in the examination without any stress. What you need is a completely different technique than what most of us are used to. Stephen Covey, author of books like ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ and ‘7 habits of highly effective kids’ says that the best way to make your kids learn and do well in exams is to ask them to teach you. He further says that human mind learns most when we teach others. And asking your kids to teach you their subjects 1 hour every day will make tremendous improvement in their results.

You should also try and keep your kids happy and relaxed during the exams instead of creating tremendous pressure on them. There is a close association of emotions and energy. Enthusiasm brings in energy in the body and stress saps the energy from the body. Here are some techniques which help you to keep your child relaxed during the exam time and perform better.

• Brahma Muhurat that is 4-6 AM is considered the best time for studies. Encourage your child to get up early in the morning instead of studying late hours.
• Yoga helps keep one relaxed even under pressure and strengthens focus. Following yoga techniques can help de-stress your kids during examination.
• Instant Relaxation technique helps to relax the whole body in a minute. This technique requires one to lie down in shavasana and tighten all parts of the body, starting from toes to the head. Once all parts are tightened, you should relax and let go the whole body instantaneously.
  
• Quick relaxation technique also requires one to lie down in shavasana. Feel the abdominal movements and synchronize these movements with deep breathing. As you inhale deeply and slowly energize the body; feel the lightness. As you exhale chant ‘AAA’ in low pitch and feel the vibrations in the lower parts of the body.
• Deep relaxation technique is another similar technique of relaxation in which the whole body is tightened and then relaxed followed by chanting of AUM.
• Pranayama – Nadi shuddi pranayama and Bhramari pranayama creates a soothing effect on the nervous system. It induces tranquility, clarity of thought and concentration. Encourage your child to do Pranayama 15 mins every day as it improves the memory.
• Jyoti Trataka is a yogic exercise that reduces the eye strain by improving the stamina of the eye muscle and giving it a deep relaxation. It also helps to improve concentration and memory. Trataka involves focusing and de- focusing the eyes on a particular object.
• Meditation is a yogic practice of providing deep rest to the system by allowing the mind to calm down. Meditation for 15 min. gives more relaxation than 3 hours of sound sleep.
• You can also give Reiki to the head region and Aagya Chakra of your kid. This will helps in improving his/her intellectual and will power. Reiki is a positive healing energy that removes the negative congestions from the Aura and the chakras. Giving 30 mins of Reiki healing during exams can make a marked difference. Reiki can be given even when your kids are relaxing or sleeping taking no time out of their study hours.
• Emotional empowerment technique is practiced widely by Energy healers. It is done by stimulating certain energy points and it helps in overcoming emotions like fear, anger, worry, tension, anxiety and depression.
• You can also give 15 minutes Ayurvedic Head Massage to your kid daily during exams. This is very beneficial to relieve mental tension and promote sound sleep.
• Ayurveda also prescribes Brahmi, Shankpushpi and Pumpkin to improve the Memory.
  

These techniques can bring most result when done in a proper way under the guidance of well experienced holistic healer. It is also recommended that parent(s) should do these techniques along with the kids. This instills bonding between parents and kids and brings some lightness to kids’ study-heavy routine.

Every child is a gift of God and have inborn talent. We should give them our unconditional love and support, work on their abilities and help them discover themselves. They will definitely come out with flying colors.