Your heart pounds, palms sweat, muscles tighten, stomach flutters, knees wobble, and voice cracks…
Hands and feet go cold and start to shake. Breathing stops. Mouth goes dry. Butterflies turn into nausea and diarrhea. Brain fogs up. Vision narrows and blurs.
And that’s not all…
Time accelerates. Arms, hands, and fingers feel disconnected from each other. Your instrument feels like a stranger. Disoriented, and in sensory overload, you are consumed by feelings of failure and incompetence. Hijacked by forces beyond your control, all you can do is clench your teeth and go along for a horrific ride that feels like an eternity. It all makes you want to run away and never play again.
And that’s still not all…
Because performance anxiety doesn’t just rear its ugly head the moment you take the stage. The fear of getting stage fright may be even may be more unpleasant and debilitating than the stage fright itself… tormenting us with worry, nausea, insomnia, and nightmares for days, weeks, and even months before the performance ever begins.
And it gets even worse…
Because performance anxiety does more than hurt your performance… and more than make you miserable well before you even take the stage. Performance anxiety also takes its toll on your feelings of self-worth.
It’s tragic indeed that something you love so dearly—sharing your love of music with others—can become a source of some much suffering.
learn more… Performance Anxiety (Stage Fright): Causes
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