By Hannah Doolin
What comes with the end of class and finals is unavoidable stress. Centering yourself is a great way to help you tackle your homework, presentations, and exams with clarity and calmness. It can increase focus and energy and decrease stress and anxiety!
Before learning how to center yourself, it is important to first understand what it actually is. According to the American Psychological Association, centering is “a technique whose aim is to increase and focus attention and energy, to provide relief from stress and anxiety, or both.”
It is essentially a way to control your emotions.
1. Conscious Breathing: Three-Count Breath
Humans breathe ALL the time — it’s how we live — but rarely do we ever deliberately breathe. Conscious breathing is the act of recognizing your breath as you inhale and exhale. By practicing conscious breathing, you can become more present and calm. Even more, it can improve your sleep, mood, focus, blood pressure, and more!
One way to practice conscious breathing is by doing three-count breath! Fun fact: this breathing technique is often the first breathing exercise taught to yoga beginners.
At its most basic practice, three-count breath is when you find a comfortable position and begin to breathe through your nose. During your inhalations and exhalations, you want to focus your attention on the movement of your belly, chest, and ribs — these are the three things that you “count” in three-count breathing.
2. The 5–4–3–2–1 Technique
This is a technique that is kind of like a fun game that helps with centering! First, you start with five and count backwards. Find 5 things that you can see. Find 4 things you can touch. Listen for 3 things that you can hear. Notice 2 things that you can smell. And finally, notice 1 thing you can taste.
Doing all of these things can help a racing mind calm down and find its center.
3. Mindful Walking
Mindful walking is as simple as it sounds. It is the practice of being aware of your surroundings and your movement. One of the blessings of living in Buena Vista and attending Southern Virginia University is that there is beautiful scenery to be aware of while walking. You can combine mindful walking with tip number two: the 5–4–3–2–1 technique!
While walking to your classes, hiking the Chessie trail, or strolling in Downtown Buena Vista, you can notice what you can see, textures you can feel, noises you can hear, and things you can smell! As for taste, maybe your walk will take you to Five & Dime or JJ’s Meat Shack.
4. Practice Gratitude
There have been more and more studies that reveal the benefits of practicing gratitude. One of the perks of practicing gratitude is that it can help you center yourself!
You can practice gratitude by writing a list of the things you are grateful for or call/text someone to express why you are grateful for them.
5. Journaling
The Center for Mental Health says, “Journaling is an active approach to mental health that allows you to keep your emotional well-being front and center. Writing down your thoughts can help you cope with everything from the struggles of day-to-day life to more serious mental or physical concerns.”
Fun fact: there was a study done by UChicago researchers that found when students who experienced anxiety about taking tests took ten minutes to write down the cause for the anxiety, their grades went up in accuracy by 5%!
Check out the full article here!
Most of these tips can be done in five to ten minutes, but the effects that they can have on your mental health (and even test scores!) are more long-lasting. If you are stressed about finals — or anything in your life — try one of these five tips to help you decrease your stress and regain your center.
How to Center Yourself was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
