In summer 2009 I was tutoring an adult ESL learner who had lived in America for 4 years. She was originally from Egypt, her native tongue being Arabic, and she desperately wanted to improve her English language skills in order to pass a test to be licensed as a pharmacist in America. She already held advanced degrees in her country and was successfully completing a master’s program in business; obviously her English language skills were quite high and she was very capable of success. However, when we worked on TOEFL preparation, as we did in our weekly tutorials, I witnessed a mental and physical shift in this otherwise confident and self-possessed woman.

The idea of a grueling, 4-hour standardized test was enough to tip this student into panic mode and cause a wave of anxiety to course through her, setting off a ripple effect that impacted her learning and her ability to comprehend and produce language. In general conversation, this student could respond to questions and speak with almost native fluency, yet when I gave a TOEFL exam prompt, set a timer, and recorded her replies, she became flustered, searched for words, and answered in faltering phrases that in no way illustrated her actual ability. I could see the shift in her physical body― the drop in her confidence and general demeanor―when we began to role-play actual test scenarios.

This student confided in me that when she sat the TOEFL 3 years prior she almost didn’t make it. While preparing, she became violently ill. The night before the Saturday morning test, she experienced heart palpitations, shortness of breath, nausea, and feelings of extreme anxiety. Her physical symptoms were so severe that her husband took her to the emergency room where she was given oxygen; doctors also ran a battery of tests to rule out any serious cardiac problems. In the end, nothing was really wrong with her and she was diagnosed as experiencing a panic attack. After hearing about her horrible pretest experience, I begin to talk with her about yoga, the connection of mind and body, and to discuss methods, such as variable breathing exercises, positive mantras, and visualization techniques, she could employ to control her breath and to calm herself in stressful situations. Working with this student raised some compelling issues for me, and I began to think more seriously about how the mind affects the body and how stress and anxiety can impact us in very real and debilitating ways.

I felt for this woman who had worked so hard to learn English, to alter her life, and to strive toward her goals. I felt somewhat frustrated by a system of standardized testing that can open doors or shut them completely for students. Being a poor test-taker myself, I truly empathized with this student’s plight and began to think about ways to help her ― and hopefully others ― begin to alleviate their fears and to calm themselves when faced with anxiety-producing situations.

At the same time I was tutoring this person, I was also teaching a small intensive English program at my college. I decided to take an informal poll of this diverse group of students about their experiences with the TOEFL exam or other such comprehensive tests. As expected, the students grimaced and groaned when I asked about their test-taking history. Though some had fared quite well on standardized tests, usually as a result of some kind of specialized preparation, all stated that they felt some nervousness and anxiety when faced with the challenge of test-taking.

In order to dig deeper, I asked students to write out their “techniques” for reducing nervousness on test day. Most admitted to having no technique. One student wrote, “I feels [sic] stress for a week before a big test.” In order to counter it, he exercised and did not drink coffee. Another young woman stated that she felt “extremely excited” to take the TOEFL exam because she had prepped for so long at a special school; however, when she was before the computer she “was very distracted by the time limit . . . and was very nervous.” A few other students commented on how they prepared for a test via rote memorization and doing practice problems. One even noted that when she was answering questions, she would “close her eyes and rethink of what [she had] studied for the test.” This kind of visualization can be very helpful in recall but it does little to calm anxiety. I was intrigued by all of these answers and even more intrigued that no one spoke of the most basic calming mechanism available to us at all times: our breath.

When faced with a challenge some nervousness is welcome. The kind of excitement we feel when we are about to perform, be it on a sports field, on a stage, or in a classroom, is a good kind of energy that can stimulate and motivate us. A small amount of adrenaline is healthy. However, if one’s body senses real fear, then this adrenaline can kick into “overdrive,” signaling danger, preparing the body for fight or flight. When this occurs, a person naturally begins to breathe in short, fast gulps of air, which decreases the amount of oxygen getting to the brain. This is where a panic attack originates; this is where a student faced with extreme test-taking anxiety can begin to work to alleviate unwanted symptoms.

By alerting students to the “naturalness” of anxiety and sharing with them some of the chemical and neurological reactions occurring within them when something triggers “fear,” we arm them with valuable information and can help them manage their minds and bodies more effectively. The next step after understanding the body’s natural reaction to fear is to learn how to control it through breathing. Clinical studies support that yoga postures, meditation, and controlled breathing practices can alleviate stress and anxiety (2005). In a test-taking situation, control over one’s own breath is the most feasible and direct method to begin to reduce nervousness.

The following simple breathing exercises, gleaned from yogic practices thousands of years old, offer agitated students concrete steps to begin self-calming, which will help them to settle down and refocus their energy to the appropriate task. With each breath, we exhale carbon dioxide and take in fresh oxygen to feed our brain and organs; we also slow the heart rate and relax the senses (www.mayoclinic.org/health/yoga.htm). The goal of yogic breathing, or pranayama, is to train the mind to focus on the breath, not the stressful situation, and by practicing these techniques daily, a person can learn how to better regulate his or her bodily reaction to anxiety (Devi).

DEEP DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING

One of the most basic yet necessary breaths to remember is deep diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing), which is the most basic calming breath. When under stress, most people’s breath tends to be fast and shallow, causing hyperventilation. The goal here is to deepen and slow down the breath, to focus solely on it. To practice deep breathing, sit in a comfortable position; inhale through the nose and allow the belly to fill and rise. This action allows the diaphragm muscle to descend and the lungs to expand. Exhale through the nose, allowing the belly to relax and move inward. Some people prefer to rest a hand on the abdomen and another on the heart. The chest cavity should remain still, with only the diaphragm rising and falling. Repeat slowly, even counting out the inhalations and exhalations if desired, until calmer.

DIRGHA BREATHING

Dirgha is also a form of deep breathing but in this version the person learns to fill the belly and the lungs. It is often called “three-part” breath. Sit up straight in a chair and take in a deep breath, filling the belly as in diaphragmatic breathing. However, instead of keeping the chest still, in dirgha pranayama you want to fill the lower and upper chambers of the lungs, thus producing a rise and fall of the belly, chest, and clavicles. Breathe deeply and slowly, moving the breath through all three chambers to reduce anxiety and gain clarity.

UJJAYI BREATHING

This style of breathing is deeper, slower, and a bit more noisy (although it can be done softly). Because of the sound being made in the back of the throat, some practitioners call this “Darth Vader Breath” or compare Ujjayi breath to the sounds of the ocean waves. While breathing, gently constrict the opening of the throat, creating slight resistance to the passage of air. Practice pulling the breath in and pushing the breath out. By slightly constricting the throat and breathing with sound, a person is encouraged to focus more intently and thus becomes calmer and more attentive to the moment.

NADI SHODHANA

Nadi Shodhana, the “sweet breath” or alternate nostril breathing, is very soothing. Sit up straight in a chair and block your right nostril using your right thumb. Inhale fully through your left nostril only. With your right index finger, close the left nostril and gently hold the breath for as long as is comfortable. Next, release just the right nostril and exhale fully. Let go of your nose and hold the breath out for as long as is comfortable. Then block the left nostril with your index finger and inhale fully through the right nostril. Again, close the nose and hold the breath in. Release the left nostril, exhale fully, and hold the breath out. Continue alternating sides.

SUMMARY

The four exercises outlined above are not exhaustive of the breathing techniques available, of course. They are simply a start to increased bodily awareness and can be a useful tool for self-calming for anyone faced with a stressful situation, including language learners who are being limited by socioaffective principles (language ego, willingness to communicate, language-cultural connection) that are deeply tied to emotional involvement with how they feel about themselves, using the target language within a community of learners, and their relationship with language and their own culture or worldview (2007).

The beauty of these techniques is that they are readily available to everyone, every minute of every day. For students, especially second-language learners who are often in situations that produce anxiety (in-class tests, standardized exams such as the TOEFL or SAT, oral presentations, social conversations), knowing these basic yoga breaths can be the difference between success and failure. For a nervous student, or anyone who knows too well how anxiety manifests itself in the body and mind, the knowledge that something as simple as breathing differently can produce a different physical and mental response is quite powerful. To know how to use the strength of our own breath to calm and regulate anxiety is valuable information and something to consider when we work with students who exhibit test-taking or language-related anxiety.

Working with the Egyptian student mentioned above, I saw first-hand how debilitating stress and anxiety can be on one’s ability to recall information or to perform tasks that normally would be simple. Luckily, this student was open to exploring her test anxiety and to doing the hard mental and physical work to prepare for the TOEFL. We spent 3 months meeting, going over practice tests, and focusing on reducing the panic she felt when she thought about this test and all it represented to her. I am happy to report that after nine attempts at the TOEFL in the past 18 months, she has met her goal. She called me one day, ecstatic, as she had just received the latest test results from ETS. She had passed in all four categories, and her scores were high enough to move her to the next stage of her career. “I cannot believe it,” she said. “I am so happy and it’s just like I pictured it would be.” I could believe it, as I knew her intelligence and her level of language proficiency. Once we could quiet her mind and calm her anxiety, her strong voice and deep command of the English language were able to be expressed.

RESOURCES

Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (3rd ed.). New York: Pearson Longman.

Brown, R., & P. Gerbarg. (2005). “Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety and depression” [Electronic version]. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, II(4): 711-717.

Devi, J. (2000). The healing path of yoga. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Tap into the many health benefits of yoga. www.mayoclinic.org/health/yoga.htm

NOTE TO READERS: This article was published first in TESOL Connections, February 2011.

Carole Poppleton, carolepoppleton@comcast.net, has taught language arts and ESOL at Maryland Institute College of Art since 1996. She is a visual artist, writer, and avid traveler who especially enjoys adding stamps to her passport. Her interests include Asian cultures, world literature, and learning more about the connections between mind and body.