So let’s unwrap that sinking experience. First off, it is completely normal to be nervous before a performance. Everyone experiences stage fright. Nerves are a part of the excitement and help you to reach out beyond your everyday energy level. Being comfortable in that larger energy field is required for a good performance.
Today, I’m going to share some exercises with you that can help you overcome your stage fright. Try practicing these exercises in the days and weeks leading up to your performance so that they will be second nature to you on your big day.
Daily Breath Practice
To overcome debilitating nerves, it is important to learn to focus your energy. Start by getting into your body: stretch, bend, shake your limbs, yawn, and most importantly, breathe. Good diaphragmatic breathing calms, as well as energizes, your being.
Make sure you incorporate a good breathing technique into your everyday practice. If you do this, you will be able to access the physical memory of that good practice when you are under duress and experiencing stage fright. Your body will takes its cue from your breath. If you can’t breathe, your singing will be stressed and tight; you won’t feel free. But if you maintain a strong daily breath practice, your breath will become a tool that helps to calm you when you encounter stage fright.
Meditation
If you are a singer, chances are you are a sensitive person. Most of the talented singers I work with find that facing an audience puts them on sensory overload. It’s one thing to be performing in a musical, where you are on stage as a character, well-rehearsed, and sharing the stage in relation to other actors. It’s an entirely different matter to be up on stage as yourself, singing in a club or fronting a band, and looking straight out at the house.
I developed a technique, using the imagination, to recreate in as much detail as possible the sensory experience of being onstage. This is an especially good practice for singers who don’t perform regularly. I have included this technique as a guided meditation in the video below. You will want to practice imagining the stage under your feet, being in the room, looking out at the audience, feeling the lights. Relax as you imagine this scenario, and notice where your body feels uncomfortable: is it your heart? Your stomach? Your throat? Your eyes? Your forehead? Your knees? Stay with the image of being onstage, and send a compassionate softness to the part of you that is experiencing stress. Practice looking out and sensing within. I hope you will find this meditation helpful.
This, combined with a good daily breath practice and the visualization exercise I lead you through in my guided meditation video above, will help you to prepare for and overcome stage fright so that you can fully experience the joy of your performance.
