Ways to Calm Performance Anxiety
Tips and tricks to ease a nervous mind for players and artists using similar techniques.
By Logan Reitzner
A player is about to leave the locker room and go out to play the championship game. On the outside it looks like they are game-ready, but on the inside they are terrified. They are experiencing what we call performance anxiety.
Performance anxiety is different nerves building up before, during and after a performance. The feeling of fear, dread and nervousness of the outcome clouds the mind so that it begins to think about the worst case scenarios and play the “what if” game. “What if I mess up my note?” “What if I miss my free throws?” “What if game” looks at thoughts and opinions of outcomes rather than facts.
Danny Gilbert, an assistant professor of instrumental music at the University of Minnesota and a saxophone player, has been dealing with performance anxiety throughout her music career. As a member of the Omaha Symphony since 2009, Gilbert has discovered that much of what goes into a performance is the idea of perfection instilled early on from feedback.
“I started to play and it was in the wrong key, and the conductor was kind of angry and yelling the wrong transposition, and I felt like I just wanted to die right there, because it was a terrible experience.” Gilbert said. “I felt so embarrassed, and luckily, they had asked me back, and I performed with them ever since, but there’s always this just sense of dread.”
The same thing can be said for sports and how athletes want to be perfect in order to keep their role on the team and not fall in the depth chart.
But performance is an inevitable part of sport and art. So calming anxiety is important. Here are some tips to do so, according to Andrea Silva, lecturer in sports and exercise psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Take a deep breath
One of the first exercises or routines is deep breathing. This can be a good way to calm the nervous system and get the brain back to reality. One of the techniques is the 4-7-8 breathing exercise.
The “4-7-8” technique:
- Take a deep breath through your nose for four seconds.
- Hold that deep breath for seven seconds.
- Finally, release that deep breath through your mouth for eight seconds.
Taking deep breaths gives a sense of comfort and allows you to regain control of your emotions. Begin to regain focus of the performance and now rather than the outcome. Silva explains to her students how deep breathing can really help and calm the nervous system.
“Taking a deep breath through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, reminding yourself of the skills that you do have,” Silva said, “particularly with those higher level athletes, and they’ve been playing for, you know, 10 plus years.”
Deep breathing is a good way to calm anxiety in high pressure situations and get yourself back into the moment.
Take time to Meditate
Meditation can be done in a multitude of ways. Download an app that specifically walks through step by step meditation activities. Listen to music and just close your eyes to get in the zone. Go into a quiet area, close your eyes and create a whole new picture or world.
The only problem with meditation is that it’s hard to do in the middle of a game or a performance unless it is off stage or on the bench. But do your best.
To meditate:
- Find a quiet space.
- Put ear buds/headphones on. You can play music, sounds, or use a meditation app.
- Close your eyes.
- Picture a place that makes you happy.
- Sit there for about two minutes and calm your nerves.
According to Psychology Today, “After a period of meditative practice in the cessation of judgment, we can further develop what is known as loving-kindness towards ourselves and others.”
Meditation allows positive energy in the performance and brings all of the negative emotions and thoughts of failure out of the brain. Calming the mind so that clearer thoughts and goals can be achieved through the performance.
Talk positively to yourself
Positive self-talk can help get the doubt out of your head. It allows you to feel more in control of your emotions and get that voice that is saying “you are not good enough” to be quiet. Positive self-talk can be done anywhere, anytime. Say it out loud or in your head to drown out all of the negative energy.
To positively talk to yourself:
- Find a mirror or look at yourself on your phone.
- Start to say “I” instead of “you”.
- “I am going to give it my all.” “I am going to crush this.”
- Only positive “I” statements.
- Continue to tell yourself this internally during the game/performance.
“I” statements give more power and create a dynamic of being in control of your emotions. It motivates you to reach the goals of the performance. The one thing to look out for is negative self talking and switching the positive to negative. Fight the urge and use evidence to prove that those negative thoughts are false.
Gilbert uses self-talk to help motivate herself and her students before a performance. She knows that negative self-talk can just add more anxiety onto the mind and that it is important that you are truly honest with the facts about the skills you have.
“Really trying to frame it as the first thing that we say about ourselves and what our performance was, with something positive.” Gilbert said.