Above photo: Susan Harvey, Olivia Gorton and Jamie Byrne surfing the calming waves of HeartMath® together.
I was standing in line in the foyer of the Great Hall waiting for the doors to open for our latest university mathematics exam. I was VERY NERVOUS. I did not know what I know now with respect to studying mathematics, and I most certainly did not know what I know now about sitting for mathematics exams. THEN I was a highly talented victim. NOW I inspire students in how not to be the younger me. I inspire students to embrace personal empowerment and to take charge of examinations rather than allow the examinations to take charge of them.
As I stood there in arctic panic in the foyer of the Great Hall, an eighteen-year-old with long blonde hair came crashing through the doorway behind me in an almighty rush. His hair was wet. ‘Are you running late from the shower?’, I asked. ‘No,’ he said, ‘Been for a surf!’ He went on to win the university medal in mathematics. Compared to him I felt BORED and BORING! The contrast between our examination preparations could not have been more different. I was a nervous wreck, having swatted up on formulae and set methods for much of the night before, he was as calm as calm could be, having risen at dawn to be one with the sea.
Tusk students can experience such calmness and resilience without necessarily getting their hair wet by joining one of Susan Harvey’s HeartMath® groups. Susan, too, stood in the foyer of that very same Great Hall waiting for mathematics exams. And she, like I, recalls youthful feelings of anxiety and ‘not having a clue’ about examination empowerment strategies. A lot has changed for Susan and Paul since then. We have both dedicated much of our professional life to learning from such youthful mistakes and sharing what we have learned with our still youthful students. HeartMath is a case in point.
Susan writes: ‘When I first used the HeartMath techniques I was struck by how simple and effective they were; how they changed the way that I felt in the moment; that I could practise them anywhere for a short or a long period of time. They were in fact empowering. If I applied the skills I had learned I could change my state from one of relative chaos to one of relative calm or what HeartMath call coherence, a state in which my thinking was effective and my overall emotional state was pleasurable.’
Tusk students who have been exploring HeartMath techniques under Susan’s guidance have noted similar experiences.
Year 12 student Olivia Gorton recalls: ‘HeartMath has taught me how to be at peace during difficult circumstances. It keeps me thinking clearly and rationally when my emotions are not either of those things. It has helped me hugely and I would recommend it to everyone.’
Year 12 student Jamie Byrne notes: ‘The HeartMath program is a great program which teaches you to be able to maintain your own calmness in any experience. There is evidence of the benefits it will give you when you are able to concentrate and focus better in your next maths test. But overall it makes you appreciate the many things around you that can make you happy.’
If only I had known of HeartMath all of those years ago in the foyer of the Great Hall I might not have asked: ‘Are you running late from the shower?’. I would have understood that surfing is analogous to HeartMath, and I would have gone from BORED to BOARD in the blink of an eye.
If you would like the calming empowerment of HeartMath in your student life, just do what I do, rather than what my younger self did: JUST ASK SUSAN! And if you are nervous about asking Susan, perhaps you might like to first read the HeartMath page on our Tusk Productions website and watch the HeartMath video at www.tuskproductions.com.au. THEN: ASK SUSAN!
HAPPY HEARTMATH, EVERYBODY!