Many people are not aware of the existence of Math Anxiety. People seem to adhere to the fact that being bad at math is very common nowadays. However, many students are probably good at it if only they are receiving positive reinforcement when it comes to solving math problems.
In many cultures especially around Asia, being good at math is equivalent to being smart. Although being good at math shows one’s superiority in critical thinking and problem solving, the notion that it automatically means that one is smart is not always true with some people. This is because some people are experiencing academic anxiety that hinders them to release their full academic performance.
With that being said, how are we supposed to overcome math anxiety? There are various ways that you can do to conquer anxiety and that’s what I’ll be teaching you in this post. Learning to leash your anxiety can be a great help especially with your performance in every academic subjects. This will also help you in improving your self-confidence that you will need later on in life.
Tips in conquering Math Anxiety:
- Perform short breathing exercises – Breathing exercises calms the mind as well as the nerves helping you to remember information better.
- Write down your worries – Writing down your worries in a journal type or a diary type notebook will help you overcome anxiety because this technique gives you the chance to reevaluate every stressful experience in your life and it also gives you the chance to think through that problem and find ways in solving them.
- Brisk Walking – Brisk walking helps relieve muscle tension and deepens your breathing making you more relaxed and comfortable in your thoughts.
- Change your mindset – There is a psychological principle called the growth mindset wherein it is believed that thinking of improving will actually lead to growing and improving. So if you are someone who believes that you are bad at something, then you are not allowing your brain to grow and develop. It is time to change that mindset. Start thinking positive and believe that you can conquer everything.
Source: Ted-Ed