Your heart pounds, palms sweat, muscles tighten, stomach flutters, knees wobble, and voice cracks…
Your hands and feet go cold and start to shake.
Your breathing stops.
Your mouth goes dry.
Butterflies turn into nausea and diarrhea.
Your brain fogs.
Your vision narrows and blurs.
And that’s not all…
Time accelerates.
Your 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.
Embarrassed and humiliated, you want to curl into the fetal position and never play again.
And that’s not all…
Performance anxiety does not rear its ugly head only at the moment one takes 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.
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 enduring feelings of self-worth.
It is tragic indeed that something you love so dearly — sharing your love of music with others — can become a source of suffering.
THIS is certainly not why you decided to make music-making an important part of your life.
So, what can we do about it?