A gentle, practical, evidence-informed four-week course to support teens through exam season. Exam Calm blends movement, breathwork, grounding and rest practices to help young people meet exam stress with steadiness, confidence and tools they can actually use.
Who’s delivering this?
The course is led by me, Cerian Smith. I’m a qualified teacher with over 15 years’ teaching experience across Key Stages 2-5, including students through GCSE and post-16 exams, so I know what exam pressure looks like in a school. I’m also a yoga therapist trained to Level 6 (600-hour Professional Diploma, Minded Institute), with over five years’ experience working with neurodiverse young people. I’m fully insured, first-aid qualified and registered with the CNHC. I’m on the DBS update service and up to date with statutory safeguarding training and KCSIE.
For schools
Exam Calm is a small-group early-intervention programme for students who struggle with exam stress, overwhelm or shutdown. It’s neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and shaped around the young people in the room.
At a glance
- Who it’s for: small groups of up to 12 students, Years 10-13
- Length: four weekly sessions of 60 minutes
- Investment: four-week block from £400, with other formats on request
- What you provide: a quiet room with floor space, and a member of staff if that would be appropriate for your young people
- Feedback: a short summary for your pastoral team at the end of the block
- Timing: available all year, but best booked by February to run in the spring term before exams
It can run as a targeted wellbeing intervention, an exam-season support pathway, or a parent-and-teen workshop series, and it sits alongside Student Wellbeing Yoga and Staff Wellbeing Yoga.
Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call or email yogacerian@gmail.com. No obligation, and I’ll send a quote afterwards.
For parents and teens
The course is open to teens on their own or with a parent alongside. Parents are invited to learn with their young person, with a focus on stepping back, supporting without pressure, and creating a calmer study environment at home. You’ll learn how to:
- support without over-involving
- co-regulate without taking over
- help your teen use the tools at home
- reduce exam-season tension in the household
Details
- Next course: Four weeks: Saturday 6th March – Saturday 28th March at 2pm
- Format: online, small group of up to 10
- Price: £60 for a teen, or £90 for a teen with a parent alongside
- Book: Book your places here
Who it helps
- teens experiencing exam stress or overwhelm
- teens who freeze, shut down or panic under pressure
- teens with varied nervous-system needs who find focus, energy or regulation hard
- teens who find traditional revision strategies difficult
The structure stays steady, but each session adapts to anxiety levels, ND needs, masking fatigue, burnout, school pressure and group dynamics. That’s how yoga therapy works: principles guide the work, not rigid scripts.
How it works
Each week has a clear direction of travel, but the route changes with who is in the room. The approach is bottom-up: movement first, breath second, cognitive strategies last. The four-week arc is Ground, Exhale, Activate, Rest.
Week 1: Ground. Arriving and settling through stronger shapes, longer holds, breath awareness and grounding through feet and legs. The aim is for teens to feel steadier in their bodies before exam stress ramps up.
Week 2: Exhale. Breath literacy and finding the diaphragm, with explicit exhale-lengthening techniques and simple breath tools to use in school, at home or in the exam hall.
Week 3: Activate. Safe up-regulation for alertness and focus, including an optional, very gentle version of kapalabhati, always invitational and taught in a trauma-informed way. It helps teens learn to “switch on” without tipping into overwhelm, which is useful for morning exams or low-energy revision days.
Week 4: Rest. Shaking out tension, restorative shapes, a moving body scan and yoga nidra, with permission to rest and let go as exams approach.
The structure stays steady, but each session adapts to anxiety levels, ND needs, masking fatigue, burnout, school pressure and group dynamics. That’s how yoga therapy works: principles guide the work, not rigid scripts.
Let’s talk
Book a free Discovery Call, or email yogacerian@gmail.com, to explore whether Exam Calm is right for your teen or your school.
