How Piano-Yoga® Can Help You To Overcome Stage-fright:
Creative Visualisation
As was said in the previous article, meditation may not be appropriate for everyone. If you are one of those who cannot meditate, or if you find it difficult at certain times, for example when you are too nervous, there are other ways that you can work on your concentration.
One of these very powerful tools is the ability to use ‘creative visualisation’. A great way to get introduce yourself to this technique is to start by reading a copy of the book by Shakti Gawain, entitled simply Creative Visualisation.
To apply creative visualisation to your public performance, close your eyes and relax, and then imagine one of the biggest concert halls your can imagine – the Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall … any prestigious venue you can think of that impresses you. Then imagine that the audience is filled with lots of people; that every seat is taken, and that these people are waiting for your performance. Visualise yourself walking onto the stage, bowing, taking your seat and playing – imagine the music that you are preparing to play flowing out and creating a really beautiful sound. Try to sense how it feels to be surrounded by people while you are playing – some of the members of the audience will make little noises, some will cough or fidget. You should really try to imagine this. Once you have finished your ‘performance’ you can visualise yourself getting up from the piano, facing the audience and taking a final bow and really hear how the audience is appreciating you.
If you can, try to do this creative visualisation a number of times. That way, when it comes to your actual public performance you may find that it becomes less stressful, because you have imagined and prepared yourself for a crowd of thousands of people but when you go in there may be only 1 or 2 dedicators in the room, or maybe 10 or 15 people, or perhaps even 40 people there for you, but it will not look any where near as frightening as you have imagined in your visualisation.
So if you think that you may be able to do this, in may turn out to be a very powerful tool in combating your stage-fright and performance nerves.
Finally, you can also try working with your subconscious. Because whatever we put into our conscious mind, we can always think about, discuss internally and choose to agree or disagree with. But those things that permeate into our subconscious mind remain there more strongly and are harder for our brains to dispute.
Scientists have found that the best time to filter information into our subconscious minds is at night, before we go to sleep. So if you say the same phrase or affirmation to yourself over and over again, repeatedly before going to sleep over a continuous number of days, you may find that you truly begin to believe what you are saying, instead of it just being words that you are telling yourself. You can try to experiment and say something similar to: “I am looking forward to giving the most beautiful performance”. Repeat it to yourself every night before you go to bed. After a few weeks, you may find yourself really looking forward to giving a lovely performance and really wanting to share your music making with others. In this way, you can see whether working with your subconscious may help you to finally start accepting the idea that you are actually going to enjoy your playing in public.
One of these very powerful tools is the ability to use ‘creative visualisation’. A great way to get introduce yourself to this technique is to start by reading a copy of the book by Shakti Gawain, entitled simply Creative Visualisation.
To apply creative visualisation to your public performance, close your eyes and relax, and then imagine one of the biggest concert halls your can imagine – the Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall … any prestigious venue you can think of that impresses you. Then imagine that the audience is filled with lots of people; that every seat is taken, and that these people are waiting for your performance. Visualise yourself walking onto the stage, bowing, taking your seat and playing – imagine the music that you are preparing to play flowing out and creating a really beautiful sound. Try to sense how it feels to be surrounded by people while you are playing – some of the members of the audience will make little noises, some will cough or fidget. You should really try to imagine this. Once you have finished your ‘performance’ you can visualise yourself getting up from the piano, facing the audience and taking a final bow and really hear how the audience is appreciating you.
If you can, try to do this creative visualisation a number of times. That way, when it comes to your actual public performance you may find that it becomes less stressful, because you have imagined and prepared yourself for a crowd of thousands of people but when you go in there may be only 1 or 2 dedicators in the room, or maybe 10 or 15 people, or perhaps even 40 people there for you, but it will not look any where near as frightening as you have imagined in your visualisation.
So if you think that you may be able to do this, in may turn out to be a very powerful tool in combating your stage-fright and performance nerves.
Finally, you can also try working with your subconscious. Because whatever we put into our conscious mind, we can always think about, discuss internally and choose to agree or disagree with. But those things that permeate into our subconscious mind remain there more strongly and are harder for our brains to dispute.
Scientists have found that the best time to filter information into our subconscious minds is at night, before we go to sleep. So if you say the same phrase or affirmation to yourself over and over again, repeatedly before going to sleep over a continuous number of days, you may find that you truly begin to believe what you are saying, instead of it just being words that you are telling yourself. You can try to experiment and say something similar to: “I am looking forward to giving the most beautiful performance”. Repeat it to yourself every night before you go to bed. After a few weeks, you may find yourself really looking forward to giving a lovely performance and really wanting to share your music making with others. In this way, you can see whether working with your subconscious may help you to finally start accepting the idea that you are actually going to enjoy your playing in public.
Piano Journal
