For teachers and students alike, gearing up to go back to school is not the most exciting thing in the world. Besides seeing your friends and meeting new teachers, the school year brings stress and anxiety for everyone.

Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever gone to sleep before midnight on the first-day-of-school-eve as I lie in bed, anxiously contemplating what will happen the next day and where my summer had gone.

It's common for you or your children to feel stressed on the first day; who am I going to sit with at lunch? What if my teachers don’t like me? What if I fall down the stairs and make a complete fool of myself? With this, the cycle of stressful classes, homework and tests also begins. And to make a healthy learning environment, we need to eliminate some of that stress. Here are a few tips to help you or your child transition into a stress free school year:

Tips to Handle Teen Stress

1. Be organized! Keeping separate folders or binders for different subjects will help organization and will eliminate the panic attack resulting from not being able to find your homework. In addition, an organized working space (such as a clean desk or study area) is very important in staying focused to get work done. After all, clutter only causes more stress.

2. Visualization. Visualizing yourself giving a presentation and performing well on a test is proven to help attain those outcomes and lower stress levels regarding the task. By imagining the events from your perspectives makes your brain believe it can truly be realized.

3. Breath. A deep breath can calm your mind and slow the frantic thoughts that anxiety brings. Calming your mind and focusing on breath, like in yoga, will allow you to be present and will calm you down before a test.

4. Music. Listening to a favorite tune can take your mind off stressful thoughts or can get you excited to perform your best.

5. Come to yoga! Scheduling time to be on your mat can provide a fun mental break. Whether you do a few sun salutations each morning or schedule evening classes here at the studio, yoga is the perfect way to relieve stress, combining breath with exercise as an outlet to let go of anxiety.

That being said, if you are a parent and your child is stressed out for the new school year, share these tips and bring them along to your next class. School should be fun, so help them enjoy it to the fullest, being stress free!