From the Deputy Principal – Students (K-12)

Mind Body Spirit tip of the week – dealing with stress and uncertainty

As our lockdown and all the uncertainty around it continues, it is understandable that students of all ages may be feeling frustrated, stressed or overwhelmed at times. 

In the lead-up to this week’s HSC Trial examinations for our Year 12 girls, I put together a few tips and strategies, which you might also like to share with your daughter to help her feel a little more grounded or centred during these uncertain times.  

Use your senses to help calm your mind 

  • SMELL: place something pleasant to smell, like a diffuser, candle or fresh flowers, in your room or workspace. When you enter the room or sit down at your desk, take a moment to breathe in the scent. 
  • TASTE: make a cup of tea or hot chocolate. Take time to appreciate the warmth of the cup held in your hands, breathe in the smell, and finally notice the taste when you take a sip. Try different flavours to increase the effect. 
  • SOUND: make your own family playlist on a music app of your choice. Think of each person when their favourite tunes are played. You might even include a classical piece or a punk song for variety. 
  • TOUCH: give yourself the gift of a good night’s sleep, using all of these tools to help you unwind at the end of the day and wrapping yourself in comfort – your favourite PJs, hoodie, oversized Oodie, fluffy blanket or doona. 

Retrain your breathing 

  • Our body’s response to stress is governed by our sympathetic nervous system, which we also refer to as our “fight or flight” response. Retraining our breathing can help settle this system and allow us to feel calmer and more focused again. 
  • A simple way to try this is to sit comfortably and then breathe in for four seconds through our nose, hold it for two seconds, then exhale for six seconds. 
  • When you are breathing, remember to use a stomach breathing style rather than a chest breathing style. You can check this by placing one hand on your stomach and one hand on your chest. Only the hand on your stomach should rise when you breathe in. 

I also stumbled across a fantastic resource for families from Education Queensland. Please click on this link https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculums/learningfromhome/wellbeing-activities-booklet.pdf to discover more ideas to help get the whole family on track to a more positive mindset. The yoga description is particularly useful! 

Finally, please remember that, even though we are off-campus and working online, we are still here for you and your daughter. If you are concerned about your daughter, please get in touch with me, her Head of Year, Deputy Head of School or Head of School. If your daughter needs to speak with one of our College psychologists, we can facilitate this for her.  

I hope the mid-term break allows you and your daughter to enjoy some downtime together as a family. 

Ms Lamia Rockwell
Deputy Principal – Students (K-12)