LVN Exams: Surmounting the Daunting Testing Process with Ease
Date: March 1, 2019
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to conquer testing anxiety by implementing three simple steps? If not addressed early in LVN or LPN schools, improperly managed test anxiety can lead to the failure of an LVN or LVN program. A simple yet powerful technique that can differentiate between failing or passing is practicing the word “no.
Recently, I heard someone say that they couldn’t say “no. If you wanted to play the piano, would you go ahead, saying, “I can’t play the piano, or would you start practicing? Saying “no” to anxiety-provoking thoughts takes practice, whereas ideas of “can’t lead to defeat. The first suggestion toward managing anxiety is to start your day by saying “no to what you don’t want to think about and saying, “yes” to the needs that you want to be connected with.
This morning practice will set the stage for your day and bring you closer to your goal of managing fears associated with becoming an LVN. Using the word “no by itself without following up with “yes, can lead to even more repetition of negative thoughts.
Think of an anxious thought as someone who is knocking at your front door. As soon as you hear the rapid knock, give yourself a choice to open the door or not. If you open the door immediately, your ability to decide if you want to let the visitor becomes much more complicated than if you had first looked through the peephole. The boundary and the visitor’s distance increase your ability to decide a place of observation instead of an automatic reaction.
The image of taking the time to peer through the peephole takes us to the second step: slowing down your response. Permitting yourself to slow down your breath and movement instead of making decisions within the hectic-paced life provides time to process and make decisions that support your needs. When you take a test and your intrusive thoughts stimulate your heart to beat faster, it’s not too late to turn things around with a slow, deep exhalation.
In the Behavioral Medicine Institute of Australia’s article Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Dr. Robert Nolan states, “The rhythm of the heart is primarily under the control of the vagus nerve, which inhibits heart rate and the force of [heart] contraction. When we inhale, the vagus nerve activity is impeded, and the heart rate begins to increase. When we exhale, this pattern is reversed.
Observe what happens to your anxiety when you take your next test with slow, deep exhalations, move your pencil at the pace of a snail, and slow your thoughts down to the rate of a slow-motion recording. Hopefully, your anxious thoughts will exit out the back door, and you might start laughing at yourself. Your laughter will take you naturally into the third step of managing your anxiety.
According to Pragito Dove’s article “Three Tips for Reducing Anxiety” on www.intent.com, “Laughter acts as a bridge to bring you down from the head into your heart and deeper into your inner silence and wisdom. To shift toward freedom from test anxiety, remember to practice these natural steps:
- Say “no!” to what you don’t want, “yes!” to what you need.
- Slow down your breathing, movement, & thoughts.
- Laugh a lot.
