Ten Ways to Find a Sense of Calm While Studying
Breathe like a singer.
Instead of taking shallow breaths into the top of your lungs as you do with normal breathing, with diaphragmatic breathing you take the breath as far down into your lungs as possible and then breathe out slowly. Singers use diaphragmatic breathing before they go on stage: it has the twin benefits of helping lung capacity so they can sing better, and calming them down so stage-fright doesn’t hit so hard.
Put one hand on the top of your chest and the other hand on your belly.
Breathe in as deeply as you can, trying not to move your upper hand. Your lower hand should move out as your lungs fill with air.
Breathe in for a count of seven, but don’t hold your breath.
Breathe out very slowly for a count of 11. Don’t worry if you can’t manage all the way up to 11 — just breathe out for as long as you can and make a note to breathe more slowly next time.
Keep doing this for a minute or so and you’ll feel your heart rate drop and your head start to clear. A clear head makes maths a lot easier.