As the quarter winds down, our winter days are numbered and spring break finally seems like a reality. But there is one last hurdle, and it isn’t Dance Marathon. Nothing worries me more than the day the library switches to 24-hour access. It means one thing: finals.Maybe the economy forced you to never buy that coursepack. Maybe your desk was wobbly, a situation only your textbook could remedy. For whatever reason, finals never fail to provide a hefty dose of cortisol, which Reading Week doesn’t manage to reduce.To get some tips on how to coast through without a stress-induced heart attack, I traveled to Daiyuzenji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Chicago, to speak with Zen master James Piontkowski about why meditation may be the answer to all that anxiety (studying optional). WHAT IS ITPiontkowski studies Zazen, a sitting practice at the heart of Zen Buddhism. “It’s really much more of a way of life than a religion,” Piontkowski says. “People don’t need to believe any of the stories in order to get some benefit from this training.” Rinzai meditation requires intense, specific sitting that can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 12 hours. BODY MOVESSitters must position their bodies in one of three ways: lotus (a cross-legged posture where both feet are placed on opposite thighs), half-lotus or burmese (also cross-legged, but the ankles are placed together on the ground in front of the sitter). The spine should be straight and hands are folded together about one to two inches below the belly button without resting on the legs. Breathing must come from the hara or lower stomach (instead of the chest) and the eyes look forward and down four to five feet embracing the external world peripherally rather than focusing on a single thing. Once positioned properly, sitters inhale and then exhale while silently counting breaths. The goal is to count as long as possible, which should be repeated until 10 when counting starts over at one. THE EFFECTAll the elements of Zen meditation provide useful tools to deal with everyday stress, Piontkowski says. “I think it starts to help you have more of a perspective about what is actually happening,” he says. “Stress is only a reaction to something; it’s not like there is stress sitting around us.” Practicing breathing exercises can help you become in control of yourself, he says. “In school it’s so easy to let everything bombard your mind all at once. It’s useful to be aware of the mind all the time and organize your thoughts.” Mastering meditation will help you to focus one thing, Piontkowski says. “You can start to work through that specific situation and not get carried away with it. You will learn to act from a much more stable place.”