For Exam Stress Relief, University of Michigan Students Try Saagara’s Pranayama App
We are lying on our backs in the studio. The lights have been dimmed.
Place your hands on your ribs or over your head or by your side. Breathe. Watch your breath from your lungs’ perspective. Your body did a lot of work today. Sometimes we have to breathe to activate the mind.
This was the end of our hour-and-a-half yoga practice. And prior to, I did have a lot on my mind. I have sixty student essays to grade; I have work emails to respond to; I have Christmas shopping to do; a six-hundred mile car ride to make in a week; and it’s freezing outside.
‘Tis the season for stress and poor health—best treated with chocolate, popcorn, Monday night House, Wednesday night Glee, Thursday night Gray’s Anatomy, and on Friday, a few glasses of wine. Those things carry me through the week just fine. My students, my poor students, who are cooped up in libraries and study rooms until all hours of the night, splurge with a “night on the town” – and sometimes, too many nights on the town; they say “a break,” I say “procrastination.”
During my 9am class, they arrive and immediately slump down into their seats (poor posture, tired bodies). Some of the students space out, some make poignant observations about our current book of discussion—Dave Egger’s Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius. I see a few students pop out their planners and calendars to ferociously add to their to-do lists. On our last meeting of the semester, I changed my routine. Instead of looking over my lecture notes, or taking attendance, or writing on the board, I listened to them chat across the table. Economics, I hear, is a killer class. One of my students spent the night at the library; of course, she doesn’t look tired—eighteen year old vibrancy.
At ten after, on Michigan time, I start class. I ask them how they are doing, as I always do, and then I instruct one of the boys in the back to turn off the light. Since it’s the last day of class, I told them we could have an end-of-term party; there are plates and bottles full of sugary temptations in front of us.
“Before we enjoy our yearly supply of sugar, we are going to pay attention to our breath.” I announce with a two-cups-of-coffee glow. Some of them think I’m crazy— sarcastic smiles and lifted eyes—implicit are you serious faces. “Ok…I write for a company blog” I admit. “How many of you would like to help me review this app?” They think this is super cool.
With my iPad, I explain Saagara’s Health Through Breath – Pranayama app, the health benefits: stress relief, focus, and energy. This is what they crave during peak exam time. Everyone is on board. They close their eyes and inhale for three seconds, retain for three and exhale for six. We do this for five minutes.
“What do you think?” I ask them while we all sit in darkness. They smile. Show signs of relief. They sit up to explain their reactions.
“It’s magical” one student says.
“You have to focus on your breath; it draws your concentration to that.” He’s always good at telling things like they are.
“Yeah, I feel relaxed.” Another smiles.
“It was nice to forget about my exam, to clear my mind.”
“It’s like carrying a personal yoga class with you.”
“Yeah, I could do this in the library!”
They have all kinds of ideas. These are just some of their comments. We turn on the lights, squint in surprise of its interruption, and, yes, we still open the frosting-coated cookies, the candy canes, the soda. We splurge and laugh and focus on what we are there to do: to participate in a community of learning.
I repeat to them as we wrap-up: “Sometimes you have to pay attention to your breath to activate your mind.” They say thank you.
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