How to deal with anxiety before a performance

3 839 February 13, 2020 at 10:28 pm Author of the publication: Tatyana Kuzmina

With trembling knees, a frantic heartbeat, a lump in the throat and sweaty palms, the unconscious is trying to tell us something.

Dark hall. The spotlight is directed into the center of an empty stage. The sharp grinding of the speakers disrupts the performance of young artists. Suddenly one girl runs onto the stage and mischievously starts a song without any equipment. Tenderness, applause! Show must go on!

Such a girl is unlikely to ever wonder what anxiety is. But not everyone can do this. Thousands of adults tremble, turn pale, turn into cold, motionless stone if the usual course of events is disrupted and the attention of other people is turned to them.

And then a presentation, competition, date, exam, meeting, important trip, telephone conversation or chance meeting with a classmate - everything becomes a stress trigger. When you are worried, you are not able to express yourself at your maximum potential. All previous efforts crumble to dust from the whims of the psyche.

There is no more mystery shrouded in darkness. The entrance to the unconscious is illuminated and available online.

Refer to your own experience

Remember how you learned to ride skates, a bicycle, a car, performed in front of an audience for the first time, or did something else for the first time. You were probably very worried then.

How do those old memories make you feel today? You are probably smiling, realizing how stupid it was to worry. Now, when you have to do something that makes you worry, remember your past experience and say: “I am confident in myself, there is no need to worry, everything will be very good!”

Declension of the noun excitement (which case)

Declension of words by case in singular and plural.

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Action and result

Perhaps you are worried that your wrong actions can lead to irreversible consequences? Prepare to accept any outcome as positively as possible. Even if, as a result of your efforts, you get a completely different result than you expected, consider that failures also bring with them positive experiences. In the future, you will be able to avoid repeating mistakes. Don't worry if things don't turn out the way you would like. Be focused on positive results and victory.

How to hide a tremor

Tremor in the fingers is a fairly reliable sign of fear. Tremor also occurs with a hangover or with diseases of the nervous system, but in both cases it does not arise during communication, but is present from the very beginning. The best way to hide tremors is to keep your hands out of sight. But what to do if you still need to do something with your hands? In this case, the method of rigid fixation of the hand is used. The technique has been known for a long time, in particular, a former attack aircraft pilot who participated in the Great Patriotic War spoke about it. Due to flying at low altitudes under dense and clearly visible fire from the ground, it was usually not possible to escape from a downed plane. And during combat missions, attack aircraft experienced greater fear than fighters or bombers. It often happened that the commander’s fingers were shaking at the moment when he had to assign a combat mission to his subordinates. It was impossible to demonstrate tremor in such a situation, so the commander firmly fixed the pencil in his hand, and made all movements over the map with his shoulder and forearm. The main thing here is not to pinch your fingers. You just need to fix the object, do not move your fingers, and do not rotate the brush.

Develop character

If you have low self-esteem and are not confident in your own abilities, not a single psychologist will help you get rid of anxiety. Do things that you can be proud of. First, get rid of bad habits or wake up early and do exercises, or improve relationships with relatives, or go to karaoke and sing there without resorting to doping in the form of alcohol.

In short, self-confidence and high self-esteem will help you control your emotions, including anxiety. Become a better person, develop yourself, and you will be able to cope with anxiety in all situations.

Optimal concert state, or how to overcome anxiety before performing on stage?

Performers, especially beginners, often do not know how to overcome their anxiety before a performance. All artists differ from each other in character, temperament, level of motivation and strong-willed qualities.

These personality traits, of course, only partially influence the ability to adapt to public speaking. After all, a successful appearance on stage for everyone still depends, first of all, on the readiness and desire to play, and also on the strength of stage skills (in other words, experience).

Every artist needs to learn to prepare himself for a performance, to learn to easily enter an optimal concert state - a state in which fear and anxiety do not spoil the performance . In this he will be helped by both long-term, permanent measures (for example, sports training), and specific local measures , which are resorted to immediately before going on stage (for example, a special regime for a concert day).

Physical activity for the general tone of the artist

In the process of professional development of a musician, it is important to maintain muscle tone in good shape. To do this, you need to play sports: sports such as running and swimming are suitable. But with gymnastics and weightlifting, a musician needs to be careful and engage in such sports only with an experienced trainer, so as not to accidentally get any injuries or muscle strains.

Good health and performance, in other words, tone, allows you to quickly recreate a special feeling of kinship with the keyboard, bow, fretboard or mouthpiece and avoid any manifestations of lethargy during the playing process.

How to overcome anxiety before a performance?

Mental and emotional preparation for an upcoming concert helps a musician overcome anxiety before performing on stage in public. There are special psychological exercises - they are neither popular nor effective; among musicians they are considered too formal, however, they can help some, since they were developed by professional psychological trainers. Try it!

Exercise 1. Autogenic training in a relaxed state

This is almost like self-hypnosis; while doing this exercise you can have a good rest. You need to sit in a comfortable chair and completely relax (you should not be wearing any clothes, you should not be holding anything in your hands, it is recommended to take off heavy jewelry). Next, you need to try to free yourself from any thoughts and from the sense of time. This is the most difficult thing, but if you succeeded, you are great! You will be rewarded with a buzz and wonderful relaxation for mind and body.

If you have managed to free yourself from the thought and sensation of time, then sit as long as you can - during this time you will rest and you cannot even imagine how much!

Further, psychologists recommend imagining the concert hall, the audience and the process of your performance in detail. This stage is painful! Whether to switch to it or not is up to you! It is better not to spoil the achieved state of peace.

Exercise 2. Role training

With this exercise, a musician, in order to overcome anxiety before a performance, can enter into the role of a known artist, confident in himself, who is at ease on stage. And in this role, mentally rehearse your act again (or directly go on stage). In some ways, this approach resembles a madhouse, but again: it helps someone! So try it!

Still, no matter what the suggestions are, they are artificial. And the artist should not deceive his viewer and listener. He must, first of all, fill his speech with meaning - dedication, preliminary congratulations, and explaining the concept of the work to the public can help with this. You can do without directly expressing all this: the main thing is that the meaning exists for the performer.

Often the thoughts of a work, correctly set artistic goals , attention to detail for some artists simply do not leave any room for fear (there is no time to think about risk, no time to think about possible failures - there is time to think only about how to play better and how to more accurately convey your own and the composer’s ideas).

Stage masters advise...

The behavior of a musician in the last hours before a concert is important: it does not predetermine the success of the performance, but it does affect his comfort ! Everyone knows that, first of all, you need to get a good night 's sleep . It is important to plan your diet so that you have lunch in advance, because the feeling of fullness dulls the senses. On the other hand, a musician should not be exhausted, tired and hungry - a musician should be sober, active and receptive !

It is necessary to limit the time of the last training: the last technical work should be done not on the day of the concert, but “yesterday” or “the day before yesterday”. Why? Therefore, the result of a musician’s work appears only on the second or third day (the night must pass) after classes. Rehearsals on the day of the concert are possible, but not very labor-intensive. It is imperative to rehearse a performance in a new place (especially for pianists).

What to do immediately before going on stage?

You need to get rid of any discomfort (warm up, go to the toilet, wipe off sweat, etc.). You definitely need to free yourself : relax (relax your body and face), lower your shoulders, then straighten your posture . Before this, it was necessary to check whether everything was in order with the concert costume and hairstyle (you never know - something came unfastened).

When you are announced, you need to light up your smile and eyes ! Now look around to see if there are any obstacles (steps, ceiling, etc.), and go out to your audience easily and simply! She's already been waiting for you! Go to the edge of the stage, boldly look into the audience once , smile at the audience just once, try to look at someone . Now sit (or stand) comfortably, imagine the key bars (to get the right tempo), get your hands ready and begin... good luck to you!

Stage fright also has a positive side, anxiety indicates that the musician has an important result of his playing. Already awareness of this fact helps many young talents to behave with dignity.

Author – Alena Leskova

Excitement in front of an audience

This type of anxiety needs to be discussed separately, because almost everyone who rarely has to speak in front of a more or less large audience is susceptible to it. When faced with public speaking, insecure people almost always experience an overwhelming feeling that they are being judged every second.

The fear of not being up to par is so great that, due to anxiety, the worst expectations are justified. To cope with such anxiety, you need to understand that people practically do not pay attention to the mistakes of others. Are you really that critical of speakers?

So why do you endow others with exceptional pickiness? And try not to overestimate the significance of the event you are worried about. Perhaps you are incorrectly assessing the importance of this speech in your life?

It is extremely rare that a bad presentation can have a significant impact on your life. Try repeating the following phrases to yourself: “I’m an expert!”, “I’m the smartest!”, “Now I’ll show them!”, “Listen to me!” Sometimes it helps.

You should not abuse sedatives, including folk remedies. A side effect of such drugs is lethargy. You will lose clarity of thought, and this can, in fact, play a cruel joke.

Excitement and worry - what is it?

Anxiety is an emotion that makes you worry about various things. Such an emotional experience makes it difficult to sit still and concentrate. It forces you to constantly think and resort to certain actions. The most common reason why anxiety occurs is a lack of self-control.

Anxiety leads to the following manifestations:

• Inner (mental) peace is lost;
• Inappropriate behavior is observed;
• Self-doubt appears;
• Strength and energy are lost, which leads to stress;
• The ability to concentrate on any task disappears;
• Efficiency decreases, set goals are not realized, and inaction arises against the backdrop of one’s own powerlessness.

For better understanding, the listed manifestations can be considered using a specific example. So, a young guy needs to pass an interview for admission to a music school, and for this he will have to perform on stage in front of the examiners, with a prepared number. But he got so excited that when he went on stage, his voice began to tremble, and, as a result, he was unable to perform the prepared number, and this led to the fact that the exam was not passed, and his admission to the music school failed.

The above example clearly shows that excitement and worry do not lead to anything good. It does not help to cope with the problem; on the contrary, it aggravates it. Emotional experiences deprive a person of peace, confuse his thoughts and prevent him from concentrating, which ultimately does not help him achieve his goals.

Worries about children

Parenting is a difficult process. Parents suffer from anxiety, and some may feel like they're on a tinderbox. But there is a great opportunity to use anxiety to your advantage. Worry can help you tune into your instincts because no one knows your baby like you do. Information is your friend, so researching parenting information carefully will help you know when to worry and when to relax. Just make sure you don't go crazy little by little. It's important to mitigate your anxiety for the sake of your child's mental health. Basically, you should become a good role model and show everyone how to deal with anxiety. Try to be careful not to instill fear in your child.

Feelings about your relationship

Ah, love... Do people ever worry about one thing? Love is the main reason why people worry so often. But worry has a surprising benefit in relationships—it brings you closer together! If you take worry as a signal that your relationship needs to be improved, it can help you reignite the spark and turn things around before things get too bad. Listen to your gut, your heart. Experiencing will also help you recognize when you are in an unhealthy relationship and determine exactly when it is time to leave.

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Anxiety has become a very common condition in our society. We strive to be calm and balanced, we condemn those people who are constantly worried and look panicky or are very vulnerable individuals. While no one is saying generalized anxiety is a good thing (it's actually a mental illness), worrying a little every day has some real benefits. According to a recent study, moderate anxiety is actually beneficial because it can help people recover from trauma, make better plans, lead a healthy lifestyle, and even overcome depression. The goal is to reap the rewards of worry, to get the so-called rewards for it, but not to make things worse. How you use your anxiety matters a lot. Adaptive worry alerts you to dangers and threats, explains the problem, may motivate you to seek help or more information from others, and then helps you solve the problem.

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