Meditation for reducing study stress and fear of failure

Fear of failure

A lot is asked of children and young people socially, emotionally and intellectually. Performing as well as possible at school, checking social media out of school and, of course, playing sports or chilling with friends. Many children and adolescents feel pressure to conform to a perfect picture. A picture painted by society or by their parents.

On top of that, many children are little perfectionists and set the bar high. This perfectionism is often linked to fear of failure. Fear of not fitting in, not being good enough or doing the wrong things. Perfectionism and fear of failure have a paralyzing effect and can cause a lot of stress, which affects taking tests, giving talks/presentations or making decisions.

Everything is just a thought

As annoying as study stress and fear of failure are, they are ultimately just thoughts. The situation remains - tests have to be taken anyway - but it is the way these situations are handled. It is not the situation, but the negative thoughts that cause stress and tension. i'm never going to pass this exam", "I'm not good enough", "If I don't get a high grade now, I won't belong anymore".

Learn to de-stress

And it is precisely with these negative thoughts that meditation can help. Meditation can teach kids and adolescents to deal with these thoughts. With meditation, they learn to observe positive and negative thoughts without getting sucked into them.

It is like watching very busy traffic. On the road different kinds of cars are driving, honking, racing. And you are sitting on the shoulder of the road watching this traffic. The cars drive by - like thoughts - and all you are doing during meditation is observing this. You don't push the cars away, but you look at them and let them drive by.

This can help kids and young people be more in the "now. While learning for or taking a test, tension is not at all wrong, this actually helps to stay focused, but anxiety about whether you will pass or worry about whether it went well are unnecessary. This anxiety or fretting is replaced with peace and calm with the help of meditation.

Breathing: an important tool

Breathing is one of the reasons why meditation is so powerful. While meditating, you try to experience complete stillness within yourself. You can do this by focusing your attention on something, such as your breathing.

We often take our breathing for granted, but it is an incredibly important part of our lives. It is the basis of our system, our life energy. We all breathe, but not always optimally. Especially when we experience stress, we breathe differently, more quickly and shallowly.

If kids and adolescents learn how to use their breath as a form of meditation, they have a very nice tool to apply during a test or in a difficult situation.

By focusing on their breathing, they bring their attention to the "here and now" and their mind becomes still and relaxed. They always have their breath with them, so this form of meditation can be applied anytime, anywhere.

Breathing Exercise Against Stress

This is an example of a breathing exercise you can do during a difficult moment.

1. Sit properly, with your back straight and feet on the ground.
2. Close your eyes and breathe in through your belly for 4 seconds.
3. Exhale through your belly for 5 seconds.
4. Make sure you breathe in an even motion and find a rhythm in this.
5. Keep your attention on your breathing and notice your belly going up and down.
6. Do your thoughts drift? Then bring your attention back to your breathing.
7. Repeat this 10 times and then quietly open your eyes.

Meditations for kids and adolescents

A breathing exercise is nice to use when things get a little too much. But even better is to use meditation to prevent such moments. The Meditation Moments app contains guided meditations for kids and adolescents/adults.

The more often you meditate, the more benefits you will experience. This applies to both adults and kids. This is why regularity in meditations is so important. The app contains guided meditations of different lengths and for different moments, so that meditation can be applied anytime and anywhere. Kids just need to listen and relax.