| Positive Self-Talk/Affirmations I deserve to play the music that lives inside my heart, and to share it with others happily and freely. I have all the resources I need to become a calm and confident performer. |
Why have a column on performance anxiety?
We’re taught to play our instruments with detailed attention to articulation, tone, and phrasing, but rarely are we trained in specific techniques that provide confidence on stage. How do we stop our bodies from shaking? What do we do when our minds go blank? We have questions about dealing with a dry mouth or not being able to breathe deeply enough. Is it possible to decrease our worries about what others are thinking which distract us from a focused performance?
I believe we can overcome these anxieties—that almost everyone who is a fearful performer can learn to be a joyful one.
I’ve had great success in my private coaching practice and my international seminars helping performers to understand the underlying reasons for their fears and to conquer them.
Helen’s Passion Statement
1. I passionately believe that most people who suffer from performance anxiety have the ability to decrease or eliminate their fears and find freedom and joy on stage.
2. Persons with performance anxiety are not weak, less than, sick, weird, or abnormal. No one is alone with this frustrating and sometimes crushing mystery; it’s more common than most people recognize. I passionately believe that the majority of musicians do NOT have to continue to live with it.
3. Performance anxiety is still a taboo topic: some will share their feelings of nervousness, but hardly anyone shares the true depth of their pain. I am passionate about opening communication and allowing ourselves to be real and truthful about how we feel when we perform.
4. Performance anxiety – its origins, manifestations, and solutions – is different for each person. Neuroscience and other disciplines are advancing knowledge about how the brain works and are providing scientifically proven tools and techniques shown to work in high pressure situations. I passionately believe that these tools must be applied to each individual’s needs in order to be effective.
5. You deserve to express yourself with joy and freedom, whatever your level: professional, amateur, student. By releasing some or all of your fears, I passionately believe that you can more deeply embrace and share what is in your heart and attain your most longed-for goals.
In this column, I’m looking forward to exploring these issues in detail and to discussing many others, such as perfectionism, concentration, becoming free of others’ approval, and positive self-talk. “Performance Anxiety From Inside Out” is the first and only column on performance anxiety in a magazine for flute players, and I can’t wait to hear from you. Please send me your questions at Helen@PerformConfidently.com. I may be able to answer you in this column. I will keep your name confidential if you wish. I’m honored to join Mary O’brien and Alexa Still in the pages of Flute Focus and to contribute to their fine magazine for flutists around the world.
Other Flute Focus columns in my series “Performance Anxiety from Inside Out” are also available.
© 2008 Helen Spielman