My tips for preparing physically and mentally for exam day

Exams are already stressful, so you want to do everything within your control to make that day go as smooth as possible. Below are my tips for preparing for your exam day both mentally and physically.

Physical preparation

-Plan to have a filling but not heavy breakfast (my favourite is a smoothie) even if you don't feel like eating you might want to eat because once the nerves settle you will start to get hungry and that might happen in the middle of your exam.

-Make sure you go to bed early the night before your exam, a good nights sleep can make a huge difference.

-When you get to the studio, start by doing a light warm up (rolling your neck, arm circles, stretching your back, rolling your ankles, and finish with 8-16 slow rises).

-You may go over exercises before your exam, but I would recommend only doing things once and marking anything like jumps or turns. The warm up should be about refreshing your memory and warming up your body. If you do too much you might exhaust yourself before your exam. Be aware of how you're feeling and take a break if you need to.

Mental preparation:

-Make sure your bag is packed the night before and your clothes are out and ready to wear (I would recommend bringing water, a snack, and comfy warm clothes and slippers to wear over your leotard and tights).

-Practice doing some slow breathing by inhaling for 4 seconds and exhaling for 4 seconds, this will help you when you start to feel those exam nerves kick in.

-Having something encouraging to say to yourself when you need a little support can also help. It might sound corny but I love a good inspirational quote, one of my favourites is from Bethany Hamilton "Courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid, courage means you don't let fear stop you".

-Another tip that has helped me is to think back about all the work I've done to achieve the goal I am trying to achieve, knowing that I've put in the work always gives me that extra boost to be able feel fully confident in myself and my ability to achieve whatever I set out to do.

-It is also important to remember that if you're doing a ballet exam, it is because your teacher fully believes in you and has done everything within their control to make sure you know all your exercises when you walk in to your exam.

-Finally, if you feel nervous it's important to remember that most people get nervous during exams (even if they say they don't). The good thing is, you will have your teacher your peers there to support you if you need a little extra encouragement (one important note is that, in exams, teachers are not allowed in the room but will be there before and after the exam).