We’ve all been there: your heart’s racing, your palms are sweaty, and your brain feels like it’s forgotten everything you studied for the SAT. Test anxiety is real, and it can make even the most prepared students feel like they’re spiraling. But don’t worry—there are two surprisingly simple techniques that can help calm your nerves and get you back in control. These ideas come straight from Melissa Tiers’ fantastic book, The Anti-Anxiety Toolkit, which is packed with practical tools for managing anxiety. Let’s talk about the “Jaw Dropping Moment” and “Widening Your Window.”
The Jaw Dropping Moment: Relax and Reset
When anxiety hits, it’s like your body forgets how to relax. Your muscles tense, your breathing gets shallow, and your mind races. One simple way to start calming down is what Tiers calls the jaw dropping moment. Here’s how it works:
- Drop Your Jaw: Take a moment to relax your jaw completely, as if it’s melting off your face and hitting the floor. Seriously—let it go limp.
- Take a Deep Breath: Once your jaw is loose, take a long, deep breath in. Let your lungs expand as much as possible, and then pause for a count of three.
- Exhale Slowly: Breathe out through your nose, making your exhale twice as long as your inhale. For example, if you breathe in for four counts, exhale for eight. This slower breathing helps your body engage the parasympathetic nervous system (a fancy term for the part of your body that tells you it’s okay to relax).
As Tiers explains, when you drop your jaw, you stimulate the vagus nerve—a key player in calming the fight-or-flight response. This triggers the release of feel-good chemicals and tells your brain that you’re safe. After a few rounds of this technique, you’ll notice your test anxiety or SAT anxiety starting to melt away.
Widening Your Window: How Peripheral Vision Calms the Mind
The second technique, also from The Anti-Anxiety Toolkit, is all about using your eyes to quiet that inner mental chatter that often fuels anxiety. Tiers refers to this process as widening your window, and it’s surprisingly effective at pulling you out of those spiraling thoughts. Here’s how to do it:
- Pick a Focal Point: Start by focusing on one spot in front of you. It could be a dot on the wall, a light switch, or even the corner of your desk.
- Expand Your Vision: Without moving your eyes, begin to widen your awareness to include the space around that focal point. Notice what’s in your peripheral vision—the edges of the room, objects to the sides, or even the floor and ceiling.
- Keep Expanding: Slowly, expand your awareness even further. Imagine you can sense the entire room around you, maybe even the space behind you. Let your vision open up as much as possible.
Tiers explains that this technique helps because it forces your brain to switch gears. Instead of focusing on a specific worry like “What if I fail this test?”, your mind shifts into a calmer, more present state. By widening your window of awareness, you step out of the narrow tunnel of anxiety and into a broader, more grounded perspective. The best part? You can do this anywhere—whether you’re sitting in a classroom or pacing around your living room.
Why These Techniques Work
Both the jaw-dropping moment and widening your window techniques work because they interrupt the patterns of anxiety in the brain. Anxiety thrives on tension—tight muscles, shallow breathing, and racing thoughts. By loosening your jaw and breathing deeply, or by opening up your visual awareness, you’re telling your body and brain to hit the brakes. This creates space for calm to take over, even in high-pressure situations like a big test.
When to Use These Tools
The great thing about these techniques is that they’re quick and portable. Use them:
- Before a Test: Spend a minute practicing one of these techniques in the hallway or car to calm pre-test jitters.
- During a Test: If anxiety creeps up while you’re working on a tricky problem, pause for a few seconds and use one of these tools to reset.
- While Studying: If the thought of SAT prep makes your brain feel like it’s overheating, these techniques can help you focus and stay calm.
Final Thoughts
Test anxiety and SAT anxiety don’t have to control you. With simple tools like the jaw-dropping moment and widening your window, you can create a sense of calm and clarity whenever you need it most. Melissa Tiers’ The Anti-Anxiety Toolkit is full of practical, easy-to-use techniques like these that can help you take back control. The best part? These methods don’t require any special equipment or hours of practice—just a few seconds of your time and a willingness to try. So, next time you feel that familiar wave of stress creeping in, give these methods a shot. You might just surprise yourself with how quickly they work!