Be mindful

By María Teresa Victoria

This guide was originally designed and tailored to teach ESL students in Spain (Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas) some useful tools and strategies to destress and focus during exam period, however, any student aiming at achieving their best result in exams is encouraged to follow this "Easy guide on reducing anxiety and coping with examination stress". Ideal for non-native English language speakers worldwide taking major international standardised tests of English language. "One easy guide on reducing anxiety and coping with examination stress" may also help students of any discipline increase productivity, a documented benefit of Mindfulness that comes alongside decreased stress.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Exlibric
• Release date: Nov 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9788418912092

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One easy guide on reducing anxiety

and coping with examination stress

MARÍA TERESA VICTORIA

One easy guide on reducing anxiety

and coping with examination stress

EXLIBRIC

ANTEQUERA 2021

BE MINDFUL. ONE EASY GUIDE ON REDUCING ANXIETY AND COPING WITH EXAMINATION STRESS

© María Teresa Roura Vivas

© de las ilustraciones: Pixabay, Jon Davis (Advocate Art)

Diseño de portada: Dpto. de Diseño Gráfico Exlibric

Iª edición

© ExLibric, 2021.

Editado por: ExLibric

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ISBN: 978-84-18912-09-2

MARÍA TERESA VICTORIA

One easy guide on reducing anxiety

and coping with examination stress

Índice

Prologue

Foreword

Mindfulness: definition and concept

Introduction

Session one: from doing to being

Session two: befriending silence

Session three: attention regulation

Session four: emotion regulation

Session five: exam time management

Session six: cultivating resilience

Session seven: loving kindness

Session eight: closing up

Programs and Interventions of Mindfulness in Education

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Prologue

María Teresa Roura Vivas has been trying to help her students get their best results in standardised tests since the Junta de Andalucia new regulations in 2012. It was a major task for her to try and de-stress classroom climates during examination periods for which reason she trained her students well beforehand on how to regulate high emotions and feelings of anxiety.

As a professional it felt extremely frustrating for her to see well-prepared students, who had worked hard all through their academic course, failing to sit their final exams or simply just giving in at the last minute or not turning up (specially at their oral examinations). This gave her the determination to continue her research on discovering optimal ways, tools and strategies that students could hold on to during high peaks of anxiety in exam period. Coping mechanisms to deal with those hard instances of examination stress and finally manage to concentrate and focus on doing their best and getting the best result possible. That is how Be Mindful was born.

Based on the PINEP program (below) which she became familiar with during her postgraduate Master’s studies at the University of Málaga (2018), One easy guide on reducing anxiety and coping with examination stress offers applicants to standardised ESL tests worldwide, a brief introduction to the origins of the millenary practice of Mindfulness where the user will learn how to befriend silence and slowly encounter their own ability to focus using simple concentration techniques that will help them become more aligned and focused through basic breathing exercises.

Potential examinees will also navigate through uncomplicated attention and emotion self-regulation practices that will help them later on during high moments of examination stress or anxiety when they need the support. The intention of all this being to achieve the best result possible. These comments from students acquiring the practice speak by themselves: ‘I feel relaxed and energized after the practice, fully recharged to start work’ or ‘Great practice. It gets easier and feels better each time. These techniques are not only good for oral exams!’ and ‘Mindfulness practices help clear my mind and fully concentrate’ as well as ‘Mindfulness practice helps us to be more calm