{"id":10822,"date":"2024-12-18T13:16:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T18:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stationsme.ca\/ressource-etudiant\/fact-sheet-relaxation-and-mindfulness\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:49:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:49:41","slug":"fact-sheet-relaxation-and-mindfulness","status":"publish","type":"student-resource","link":"https:\/\/stationsme.ca\/en\/students\/taking-care-of-yourself\/tools-for-students\/fact-sheet-relaxation-and-mindfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact sheet: Relaxation and mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the hectic pace of school and everyday life, your mental load can be very high. Assignments, exams, performance, and the amount of information you have to remember are just some of the elements that create a lot of stress and have an impact on your memory and concentration. Various relaxation and meditation methods exist and have been proven to calm this mental overwhelm. You just have to try them out to find the right one for you, and gradually integrate them into your daily routine to get the most out of them.  Here are just a few examples.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calm the body<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Who hasn\u2019t been stressed to the point of head, shoulder or back pain? Yes, everyone, because stress can lodge itself in the body and cause physical tension. The principle of physical relaxation states that a person will experience less anxiety if their body and muscles are relaxed. So it\u2019s a good idea to connect with your body so that it can return to a state of relaxation. Here are some techniques  to help you do just that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardiac coherence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

People who breathe constantly with short, rapid breaths keep their nervous system under tension and on high alert. To calm the body, however, it\u2019s necessary to slow down breathing to the point of achieving what\u2019s known as cardiac coherence. Cardiac coherence means achieving an ideal heart rate by controlling your breathing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a way of breathing that allows us to slow down and has a calming effect on the body: abdominal breathing. This type of breathing consists of inhaling slowly through the nose, inflating the belly, and exhaling gently.   This sequence is illustrated in the image below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This deep, conscious breathing sends a signal to the heart and brain to calm down. Subsequently, all these elements coordinate under the principle of cardiac coherence: the heartbeat slows down and the brain goes into \u201crelax\u201d mode to unwind. It\u2019s a virtuous circle! To try it out, it\u2019s useful to remember the number 365: 3 times a day (morning, noon and evening), take 6 breaths per minute (5-second inhalation and 5-second exhalation). Psssst! It\u2019s also a good idea to start with a single 5-minute block a day to gradually build the habit into your routine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A visual aid can be useful to practice  chaining abdominal breaths together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n