How To Ease MCAT Anxiety In Minutes

Show Notes

With an exam as massive and important as the MCAT, nerves are inevitable! But how do we prevent these feelings of anxiety from getting the best of us? In this episode, Savannah Runge, 517 scorer MCAT Mastery mentor, shares easy and effective strategies you can put to use the second you feel a negative emotion coming up while you're studying or during an exam!

What is MCAT Mastery?

From plateauing MCAT scores, and having to retake, to breaking down days before exam day, all 70+ MedLife Mastery Mentors suffered the frustrations and disappointments that come with MCAT prep. Yet we ALL ended up getting 90+ percentile MCAT scores and are on our way to (or already in) med-school! Now we want to help you do the same!

If you're struggling with the MCAT, need some extra motivation, want to know how top scorers before you studied and learn their best strategies, this show is for you. You have what it takes to beat this exam. We’re here to make sure of that!

Hey there, this is Monica just here to let you guys know that we release a lot of our YouTube clips like this one on our Podcast for those of you who prefer listening over watching a video if you want to watch the full video head on over to our YouTube channel So the link to that is in the show notes for you guys In this episode Savannah teaches you helpful mindfulness practices that will help you power through any negative or uncomfortable Emotions that you might experience during m-tap prep so that you can make sure that you're making real progress So enjoy Hi, I'm Savannah with MCAT mastery my MCAT journey was not a walk in the park at times I was defeated exhausted and very burnt out But through perseverance tips from the pros a lot of practice and focusing on caring for myself first I ended up getting you 517 on the exam Something that I really wish I had implemented far earlier in my journey was little bits of mindful check-ins To take care of myself. So that is what we are going to talk about in today's video Five-minute mindfulness. Let's get started. Now. I'm sure you've heard a lot of different mindfulness tips from various sources We have some an MCAT mastery as well as you hear it from other mentors and prep agencies and Advisors you want to eat well want to exercise you want to have a life You want to meditate? These things are so important to keep a balanced life during the MCAT journey, but they can feel really daunting It's hard to commit to 20 minutes a day of meditating If you've never meditated before and you're already super stressed about studying for the exam So today we're going to talk about really quick tips and tricks to create a more mindful practice While you are studying so these are tips and tricks to apply when you're actually Sitting there reading content doing practice problems as opposed to kind of the other mindful Mindfulness practices that we want to implement in our lives tip number one regular mental check-ins whenever you finish a subject or a section or if you're starting to feel the Stress and the burnout waiting you down Take a second sit back in your chair. Stand up if you can close your eyes and ask yourself Question one Do I feel excess tension in my body? It's so where and can I relieve it with a quick stretch or massage? Question two. Do I need to eat? Question three We need to drink water and I dehydrate it answering these three questions quickly in your head will take 30 seconds And it will allow you to start listening to your body and making sure that you're not plowing through eight hours of studying Without giving your body the nutrition the water and the movement that it needs tip number two Take three deep breaths before moving between sections or subjects and I'm talking every single time you transition Even if you feel totally okay and motivated to keep studying taking the time to breathe will prevent the build-up of Stress and anxiety. It's a preventive measure of mindfulness that takes 15 seconds max three deep breaths tip number three Record your physical and emotional state at the end of every long study session You can report it in a journal the notes on your phone in an excel sheet or just think about it But I want you to be able to track your progress So let's start with physical when you finish before you put away all your materials for the night Check it. Do I have any pain in my body? Is there excess tension? Do my eyes hurt? Does my throat feel dry? Questions like these will help you listen to your body Then we want to move on to emotional. Do I feel burnt out? Do I am I dreading my next study session because how this one went? Do I feel good and motivated? What is my level of mental and emotional fatigue? Do I feel sad or emotionally drained? Do I want to cry? Or do I just want to sleep? Recording your emotional state will help you track your progress As well as give you tips and tricks to listen to your body and mind and be able to say Okay, I'm going to cut it at four hours or you need a larger break after x amount of hours So you can study it more effectively instead of just more These check-ins will help you build an awareness of when and why you lose focus Instead of just blaming yourself for a bad session If you realize that after x amount of hours you're constantly feeling fatigued and burnt out You can adjust your study schedule to limit those emotions or physical sensations You want to work to improve your focus and these quick check-ins will help with that Tip number four my final tip for this video Use your senses to ground yourself Whenever you feel that excess stress and anxiety or if you're feeling super defeated and hopeless Step back and check in with your senses. What are five things you can see? What are five things you can hear? What are five physical touch sensations that I'm experiencing right now? Feel my hands on the table and feel my feet What what can I smell? By grounding yourself in reality of our senses You'll be able to lessen that feeling of panic and anxiety and increase the motivation to move forward Unfortunately, these feelings of stress anxiety and hopelessness defeat are often part of all of our end cat dreams This process is hard But if you use these quick mindfulness tips that you can apply tomorrow with less than five minutes a day You might find it a little bit easier to diffuse some of those feelings in real time Here at m cat mastery We know that self-care and mindfulness are critical parts of m cat strategy For more tips and tricks from the pros on mindfulness Meditations stress reduction flashcards mnemonics and a bunch of other strategies Sign up for our free m cat strategy email list. The link is below one This is monica again and before you go I just want to remind you that if you're not receiving our daily free m cat strategy and success story emails yet Definitely be sure to sign up for those at m cat mastery dot net slash free course In addition to that if you feel like you might need personalized help with the exam And would like to have an m cat mentor look at your situation and help you identify Exactly what's holding your score back you can look into that too at m cat mastery dot net slash mentors and lastly and most importantly We just want you guys to know that you have what it takes to succeed on this exam We know the m cat is intimidating and when you get a score that's lower than you expected on a practice or on the real thing It's so easy to feel discouraged or frustrated or even hopeless about the exam We get it a lot of us have been there So we want to give you the guidance that we wish we'd had when we were in your shoes And that's what these interviews are for that's what our emails are for We want you guys to be able to feel confident again And most importantly be able to see that med school admission is possible and it's not out of your reach at all So thanks again for listening and remember that every top scorer every med student and every doctor made it through this journey So you can do it too. 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