Mindfulness can be developed through the practice of meditation. Mindful meditation skills have been seen to reduce test anxiety and overall anxiety in students with academic anxiety. The practice of mindfulness in itself is the practice of experiencing thoughts, feelings, emotions, and mental processes in the present moment, not allowing one to be caught up or overwhelmed and it is easy to see how these skills can be highly valuable to a student experiencing disrupting levels of anxiety (Lothes & Mochrie, 2017).

Through the practice of yoga, one can exercise the body and the mind and hone meditation skills. Yoga and meditation has been found to be effective in reducing student stress and anxiety, have a positive impact on interpersonal relationships, adjustment in first-year students, enhanced sense of well-being, alertness and vigilance, better sleep quality, and breathing exercises in calming the sympathetic nervous system determined through measurement of heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate (Cieslak et al., 2016; Kanojia et al., 2018; Lemay et al., 2019).

Yoga is not the only way exercise can benefit students. Regular exercise in general has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety in students. Anxiety and self-esteem have been identified as the two most important psychological aspects, particularly in college students. Regular exercise has been seen to boost self-esteem and decrease anxiety. Regular exercise can be achieved through a variety of ways. At TCNJ, the gym is free and the pool can be utilized during open swim hours by students for free as well and this may be the case at other colleges as well. Group fitness classes and club sports are both ways to get regular exercise and can be a great way to spend time with friends or meet new friends. Having a few friends to walk around campus with a few times a week is a great way to exercise and can be utilized as a study break as well (Hamidah et al., 2015;

Sources for students to learn about practicing mindfulness and meditation:

Meditation & Mindfulness on Campus: A Student Guide to Going Zen

The (Nontraditional) College Student’s Guide to Mindfulness