Thanks for your questions!
Who is your professor for your course? I worked at UC Santa Barbara for 10 years as the Graduate Program Assistant in German. It is a small world!
Over the years I've used the meditation technique of taking even regular breaths to calm my body down when feeling stressed. It brings my heart rate back to normal. I breathe in counts 1, 2; breathe out counts 1, 2, and continue that pattern.
I've also used walking meditation to calm my body down when feeling stressed. I do it like this: moderate walking while swinging my arms back and forth in opposition, which means that when I step forward with my right leg I swing my left arm forward, and vice versa.
Take care!
--Susan <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />