Relax

          Me and my friends sit in our deep pits of anxiety. Hands twitch and shake, and feet tap softly on the carpeted floor. Our Spanish teacher takes his time with the attendance. We all laugh nervously at his jokes. Finally he rolls the twelve sided dice on his desk. He looks at the name of students in my class and calls out a name. A girl shuffles to the front of the class. He calls out a second name and the blood match begins. That's how our Spanish speaking midterm went. I sat looking around the classroom at my fellow classmates slowly tearing away at their insides with stress. Somehow during this test I managed to control my stress. I'll tell you how I did it. It started this morning. I got to sleep-in, but I woke up during the night full of anxiety. I ended up rehearsing my entire Spanish skit at two in the morning. Only then could I get back to sleep. By eight I was watching Aziz Ansari's comedy performance in New York (good way to start the day if I don't say so myself). I highly recommend watching some of his skits. He integrates racism, sexism, and dating problems into every single performance he does. After that I had a good breakfast, and my friend's mom drove us to school. I practiced again with a friend, and then went to my Spanish classroom. I sat watching as students nervously shifted in their seats. I laid back in my seat and breathed. I had prepared, I had practiced, and I was going to do fine, I told myself. The anxiety disappeared, as I focused my attention on breathing and relaxing. I ended up doing really well, and received a one hundred. This was one of the first tests this year where I was able to relax. I think the most important part of my process was remembering to breath. Although a simple act, sometimes we don't do a good job of taking in enough oxygen to supply to our cells. When I experience anxiety my head becomes clouded and I don't perform as well, so it was great that I was able to stay calm during this test. I learned another way to become relaxed from a running buddy of mine. He said that whenever he is tired during a race he'll start smiling. He told me that smiling actually releases something in your body that gives you the illusion of happiness. So if you take anything from this post, remember to smile.