Performance anxiety is a fearful, anxious feeling many people get when they know they have to perform in front of others. There are several very convincing scientific studies that prove meditation techniques for performance anxiety are highly effective in reducing, and often eliminating anxiety. I posted this article on Thursday December 8th at about 1130 pm EST, partly as a demo for Webinar Swaps, and partly because Dr. Kilstein’s Meditation for Anxiety program will be released soon.
Update: New Meditation Techniques For Performance Anxiety
Hi — Jim here. I was reading through some of the most popular posts on the blog, and I realized I did not tell you about my favorite favorite meditation technique for performance anxiety.
My friend Dr. Kilstein has put together a free email course about an ancient healing method that is making a big comeback. There is too much to tell you about on this page, but click on the blue link below, or the picture of Fingerhealing, and you can learn more about it over there.
Free email course in fingerhealing
In a study by Khalsa SB, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School in 2009,
Young adult professional musicians who volunteered to participate in a 2-month program of yoga and meditation were randomized in 2 groups, one with meditation only, one with yoga and meditation.
Additional musicians were recruited to a no-practice control group
Both yoga groups attended three Kripalu Yoga or meditation classes each week. The yoga lifestyle group also experienced weekly group practice and discussion sessions as part of their more immersive treatment.
Our results suggest that yoga and meditation techniques can reduce performance anxiety and mood disturbance in young professional musicians.
Here’s research from the Illinois School of Medicine that showed deep breathing meditation techniques for performance anxiety helped students do better on their tests.
Meditation Techniques For Performance Anxiety
This deep breathing meditation technique for performance anxiety is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Mental Health, Division of Communications and Education–Plain Talk series, Ruth Kay, Editor.
“I Am Relaxed”…deep breathing and relaxation exercise
- Sit comfortably and quietly.
- Tell yourself that you are going to use the next 5, 10, or 20 minutes to re-balance, to heal, to relax yourself.
- Surrender the weight of your body, allowing the chair, or floor, to support you.
- Close your eyes, gently cutting out visual stimulation and distraction.
- As you inhale, repeat to yourself: “I AM”
- As you exhale, say… “RELAXED.”
- Continue to breath normally not trying to change it in any way. Just watch it happening and continue to repeat: “I AM” with inhalation; … “RELAXED” with exhalation.
- As your mind begins to wander, gently bring it back to the awareness of your breath and your statement “I AM RELAXED.” Be compassionate and loving with your “leaping frog” mind which wants to be anywhere but here.
- Continue doing this for as long as you have established.
- To conclude, discontinue the phrase and slowly stretch your hands and feet, your arms and legs, then your whole body.
- Open your eyes a sliver at a time – like the sun coming up in the morning.
- Continue on your way.
Performance anxiety can be a problem for everyone, even highly trained professionals. That’s why learning simple meditation techniques for performance anxiety is so helpful.
This deep breathing meditation has been proven useful to reduce performance anxiety in students taking tests, and is very similar to the yoga and meditation techniques for performance anxiety that were studied at Harvard (see top quoted study above).
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