Being in school can cause a lot of stress, and you sometimes just need to relax and calm yourself down. Having multiple tests every week can become mentally draining. Having six classes at least four times a week with homework every night can start to weigh on your brain and make you tired. These five exercises guide you through some of the easiest and most effective ways for you to relax your mind. 

1. Say your ABC’s backwards

This may seem like a silly thing to do, but the real meaning behind it is to distract your mind and make it easier for you to focus back on the work you have to do. After you take some of your time to just slowly say the ABC’s backwards, you will feel more calm and ready to take on your next challenge. 

2. Focus on your breathing: a quick breathing exercise

Connecting with your breath can help with a lot of things, including putting yourself in a  meditative state that helps you relax. You are already breathing, but if you are holding your breath (which some people do subconsciously), you are gonna want to breathe in slowly and hold your breath for three seconds, and then out. Continue this process for two to three minutes and you will quickly feel more relaxed. 

3. Write your feelings down on paper

Sometimes in order to lower your stress or relax yourself, you can write or draw out your feelings and emotions with pen and paper. It may seem like a weird thing to do, but in reality it is a very relieving feeling to just let your emotions out by physically drawing or writing them. It helps relieve you of some of the burdens you are carrying, and it gives you a little bit of time to focus on yourself. 

4. Close your eyes and imagine what you are wanting

Being busy and constantly having things going on prevents you from having any down time, or could even stop you from accomplishing a goal, or doing something you are excited about. In this instance it is harder to do the things you want, but if you take a few minutes to just close your eyes and relax and not focus on what’s around you, it can give you almost an immediate relief. While closing your eyes, you don’t want to fall asleep, but imagine what you are wanting to do so you can feel as if you aren’t in reality and have that moment away to freshen yourself up to finish what you need to get done according to greatist.com. Greatist is a Newsletter website of all different types of current/trending articles. 

5. Listen to your favorite music

This is one of the most common ways used to relax your mind. Roughly 90.15% of our world population uses this technique in order to put their mind in a calmer state according to classicfm.com. Classic FM is a website that is full of music related articles. Stuff like new songs coming out, awards, and most famous soundtracks from movies and television shows. The most effective thing about this technique is that you don’t need to always take time out of getting something done in order to relax. Simply you can listen to your favorite tunes while you are doing your work. It can just relax your body and make it feel like you are enjoying yourself. This may not work for all people and some may find it distracting, but it is a great technique to help calm your mind.