This coming Friday will be the second exam of the semester for my students.
As you might imagine, students are starting to get a bit anxious, some more than others.
That’s why I was so intrigued when I read about this device that could help lower a student’s anxiety.
The device?
Researchers from the University of Bristol say hugging the cushion relieved the symptoms of stress in students before taking major tests. It was effective as meditation techniques, offering hope of settling young people down who may be stressing over their schoolwork. A growing body of evidence highlights the potential of neuroscientific wearables known as TouchPoints. They are clinically proven to provide fast relief from stress and improve sleep and focus.
Dr. Haynes and colleagues from the University of Bristol initially built several prototypes that simulated different sensations, including breathing, purring, and heartbeats. Each took the form of a soft, huggable cushion that is both intuitive and inviting. Focus groups identified the “breathing” version as being the most pleasant and calming.
The researchers then made a larger, mechanical cushion and recruited 129 volunteers for an experiment involving a mathematics test. Using questionnaires, study authors found those using the cushion were less anxious pre-test than peers who did not. In addition, Dr. Haynes noted that “conducting a formal psychological study found hugging the cushion had a similar effect as a breathing meditation in alleviating students’ anxiety when anticipating a test.”
So these breathing cushions seem like something colleges should be ordering by the hundreds, if not the thousands.
Combine these cushions with Comfort Caring Canines, and students might be so relaxed, they might fall asleep during the exam…
I can think of lots of good uses for this
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Your students should be very relaxes by now. By your testimony, listening to your lectures is akin to taking sleeping pills 🙂 Aside from that, these breathing pillows can do some good to those who need a soothing hug.
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Maybe what my students isn’t something to calm them down, but something to get them excited…
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Seems kind of creepy to me, but maybe I’m the creep.
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LOL! I actually thought the same thing, about the pillow sounding creepy.
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maybe they could add a string to it so that when you pull it, the pillow will offer up some inspirational quotes…
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A breathing and talking pillow? As much as I like quotes I wouldn’t find inspiring!
I remember when my kids were little. There was a battery operated dog that you could get. A sleeping dog that looked real and it breathed. Was freaky to me!
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sounds like that dog was ahead of its time!
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Apparently so!
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it would be weird to see a room full of people using one of these…
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At least they will have a pillow to sleep on 😂😂
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two for the price of one!
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They work! Just reading about them, I dozed off. OK, but now I am anxious again, worrying that my comment might offend you. I’m going to reread the post.
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I hope you don’t get stuck in an endless loop…
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They work! Just reading….
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I hope you don’t get stuck in an endless loop…
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I’m for anything legal that reduces anxiety. Lots of schools have been experimenting with animals.
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we bring dogs to campus every year during finals week. it seems to be pretty popular…
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Students these days have it sooo easy. They are graded on a curve, and google does all their research. They don’t even have to show up for class or take notes. its all online. In my day we had to walk five miles to class through knee deep snow, share textbooks (if there were any), check our own spelling, and research was done by taking your butt to a place called a library by reading things called books! Students today have no idea what real stress is. etc., etc… 😄🤣😊
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and back then teachers had the nerve to post everyone’s grades outside their office door…
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I always found my anxiety went away once I started the exam. Before that it was a sly smoke out the back of the footy field.
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maybe students should start smoking again 🙂
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Probably not the best idea Jim. Now if you go old English military you can give them an issue of rum to steady their nerves.
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maybe I should keep a bottle of rum on my desk when I am giving them a test…
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everyone has their way to get up for the game, or wind it down, as the case may be. pillows seem a pretty harmless way to ease into most anything.
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perhaps the pillows might be too much easing at times 🙂
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The purpose of the pillows is to help one find their way into a meditative state that helps reduce stress. In fact, the calm produced by meditation seems to be the benchmark for success in the study. Focusing on breathing is a tried-and-true method of reaching this state, so I can imagine these pillows help greatly in that regard. Oh, and somebody wake up Geoff!
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the study does offer a big shout out to meditation as a great way to reduce stress.
and Geoff probably hasn’t slept for days, he’s been too busy dealing with the Martians…
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It would make a change from falling asleep in classroom sessions…
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it seems like my students have way too many opportunities to just veg out. seems like they need some steak in their life 🙂
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Why not make them big Teddy bears? Or other favourite characters? Marketing would have a hay day with this.
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that’s a great idea; would seem to make them even more appealing…
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I know in high school, hugging my purring cat helped.
But you just can’t go out and buy a kitten or cat anymore, it’s an adoption and we failed the test because my (autistic) son (who has anxiety) let her out of the petting room at PetSmart–where I quickly retrieved her. But still we were told: “NO CAT FOR YOU!”
That was a year ago and I’m still mad about it. I do think a purring kitty would help our whole family manage our anxieties.
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That’s awful that they wouldn’t let you have the cat! Pets can be wonderful for anxiety!
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I agree on both counts!
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that seems so unfair. I’m surprised you can’t find someone who is giving away a cat online…
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This is so interesting, Jim. I immediately thought, children already know this instinctively. That’s why they hug their lovies. We can learn a lot from children.
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I guess there’s comfort and security in hugging something tight…
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Yes!! Have you ever hugged a Squishmallow? They’re very popular with children. Too bad you can’t borrow some for your students. 🙂
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yes, my nephew bought a couple for his girlfriend. the pillows are quite soft…
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They are the best! Thinking of your students…
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hmmmm…. My guess is that perhaps some of the women in my class have them…
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I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. 🙂
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Actually I remember a Pew Foundation survey quoted I think on Wait, Wait, Don’t tell me about the number of adults that sleep with stuffed animals … and it was quite high. Many nights I could use one! But it’s like the cat we wanted but were denied (a sweet gray tabby, just the right size/age … no longer a kitten because she’d had kittens and everyone fell in love with the cuter kittens and left the mother… which was who we grew attached to, paid the application fee to “rescue” but then were denied. Sigh. It felt like autism discrimination. The whole thing drained me of energy to look for another one at the time. I will rethink but it’s been a busy year to take on a new pet search… and it may be a therapy dog instead.
But I do know that have to fall in love with your chosen pet (or even stuffed animal!) for 1) to do all the labors of love involved and 2) for it to be a true comfort to you and your family.
It’s on my list for us to have an animal to love by next Christmas. Which sound far away, but time flies. And the reason this is the year is that my son turns 22 and ages out of school. Not sure what his future holds but I know we will need more social stimulation than we now have (which may mean a dog as a social bridge…even tho I am a cat person and don’t know how to have a dog. So it is not so simple as just picking one to rescue, we literally have to be “approved” to adopt and we definitely need to fall in love. We’ve pet sat before and I know the right fit is really important or it adds to the stress and anxiety instead of mitigating it. (We just can’t do a yappy dog…that’s why it might be a therapy dog and demand exceeds supply…)
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I agree that it seems like discrimination.
We have had a dog (different ones) over the past 30 years or so.
It is nice having someone so non-judgmental around, and always happy to see you…
Best of luck in your search…
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That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of that.
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I think it’s fairly new…
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Somehow I missed this post. Now I know what you were talking about, concerning breathing cushions. Personally, I think breathing is a good idea. It’s never failed me. I think if I were to stop breathing, I wouldn’t do well at all on a test.
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Since your breathing has never failed you, perhaps you could rent yourself out as a breathing cushion…
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I’ve tried that, but only ugly women have been willing to pay.
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maybe they’ll recommend you to their cute friends…
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One can only hope.
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🙂
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I want one!
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I think most of us would want one, whether we are studying for an exam or not!
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Exactly!
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I wonder if we will see them for sale in the near future…
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I wonder …
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Hi Jim, I need one of these calming cushions for Greg and one with a little foot that kicks your bottom when you don’t study for Mike.
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it would be nice if you could custmize each one to the unique needs of each child! 🙂
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My trick for keeping clam during tests was that I didn’t really give a damn about how well I did.
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I haven’t seen a student with that attitude in probably 10 years… 🙂
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I haven’t taken a test for probably ten years.
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it’s been about five years for me, but for whatever reason, I cared very much about how I did 🙂
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I cared about some of them, but most of the time I just winged it.
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I think some of my students wing it, and then they care very much when they don’t do well…
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I generally did pretty well.
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I would like to get me one of these. Something to hug and sleep on 🙂
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they do seem to provide such comfort. and how was your trip to Mexico?
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I’m still here!!! I’ll have lotsssssss to share. 🙂
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I hope you are having a wonderful time! looking forward to the stories…
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Thanks Jim. I am. 🙂
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I’m happy to hear that 🙂
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They call it a breathing cushion, I call it a cuddle pillow 🙂 hehe… I’ve started a habit in the morning, too, where I take my husbands foam pillow (it’s about 5lbs) and I place it on top of my chest (I guess sort of the way you would a weighted blanket on top of you (we don’t have a weighted blanket unfortunately) and I find that helps me fall back asleep soundly as well… hmmm interesting 🙂
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I assume your husband is already up when you take his pillow 🙂
I’ve heard good things about thos weighted blankets; seems like they would mkae you hot though.
and imagine of that foam pillow of yours could mimic someone’s breathing – you might sleep all day! 🙂
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Both of those things stress me out. Being conscious of my breathing makes me think I’m doing it wrong and I’m allergic to dogs!
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sounds like dogs and yoga would not be part of your relaxation methods… 🙂
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It seems like a cool invention. Also, creepy, as previously mentioned.
I cannot help but think that the more anxiety-reducing products there are on the market, the more anxious we get…
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yes, almost like we need to be anxious about something, sicne it seem slike everyone else is…
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Or they could study. 🙂
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what a novel concept!
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