Breathing Through The Bar Exam: How To Stay Calm

Breathing Through The Bar Exam: How To Stay Calm

Studying for the bar exam presents both physical and mental challenges.  Retaining a lot of information requires retaining a lot of focus, and focus can be incredibly difficult if you’re not sleeping or eating well.  For some great tips on how to stay healthy while studying for the bar exam, take a look at this earlier post. In this post, we give tips, including breathing through the bar, to help you stay calm!

Breathing Through The Bar Exam: How To Stay Calm

Visualize Passing the Bar

A great way to set yourself up for success is to start visualizing yourself on test day.  And get detailed—very detailed.  See the outfit you’re going to wear, the lunch you’re going to eat, and the success you’re going to have.  You may visualize how you will celebrate completing the bar exam, and you may imagine the relief that you will feel when you no longer have to study.  Whatever it is that is important to you, try to visualize yourself doing just that.

Create Powerful Affirmations

In addition to visualization, stating out loud your successes (passing the bar exam, remaining calm during the bar exam, etc.) can be incredibly empowering, especially if it’s done in the third person and in the past tense.  Affirmations are a great way to get you (and your mind) ready for the bar exam.  If you need inspiration for your affirmations, check out our incredibly useful Bar Exam Daily Affirmations post.

Once you’ve identified your affirmation or affirmations, try this exercise (for purposes of this exercise let’s pretend your name is Leslie).  It’s two months before the bar exam and you begin working on daily bar exam affirmations.  It could be something like this.

• I passed the bar exam.
• Leslie passed the bar exam.
• Leslie passed the bar exam!

Your mind will begin to think you have already experienced the success, making you feel more comfortable before you even take the bar exam.

Breathing through the Bar Exam

Now. Let’s focus on breathing through the bar exam.  That’s right.  Breathing.  For example, when people are nervous, they tend to take shallow breaths which can contribute to anxiety.  Focusing on your breathing well in advance of the bar exam will help you to keep a steady breathing pattern that will then, in turn, help you to stay calm on test day.  Sounds simple enough, but nevertheless, our breathing is often overlooked.

One great breathing technique is called box breathing.  It’s a simple method that focuses the mind and regulates your nervous system.  The easiest way to practice is to imagine drawing a box, with your breath.  Inhale to a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale to a count of four, and then complete the box by holding for a count of four.  When you’ve done that, you’ve completed one round.  Aim for 10 (or more) rounds a day.  In time your breath capacity will increase and the size of your box (as in the number of breaths) can also increase.

Some people find a technique called alternate nostril breathing extremely helpful.  Place your right forefinger on your left nostril and press.  Breathe in through your right nostril, and then when you reach the top of your breath, switch your thumb to your right nostril and exhale out of your left nostril.  Next, breathe in through your left nostril, and when your reach the top of your breath, switch your thumb to your right nostril and repeat.

By staying focused on your breathing through the bar exam, your mind (and body) will be poised to perform at its best.

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