I’ve been there! I’ve gone through the shortness of breath, cotton mouth, trembling, sweaty palms, et. al. It’s miserable, isn’t it?
It took me several years to come to terms with my nerves and start to rise above those feelings. I found it to be a slow process, but I’ve come to find my comfort spot where I can enjoy being onstage.
One of the aspects of nerves that is important to tackle first is your breath. It’s so basic to relaxing the body-a great first step! Breathing that’s relaxing comes from the diaphragm and fills the lungs. The tendency when a person is nervous is to breathe in a shallow way from the chest. This also tends to cause the shoulders to raise-another sign of nervousness.
Along with breathing deeply is yoga and stretching. Simple activities would be to:
Raise and lower your shoulders along with letting the breathe out when lowering the shoulders.
Rolling the shoulders is another way to release tension.
A pose I love that stretches the back and shoulders is the Rag Doll-bend from the waist and let yourself hang down towards the floor-relax!
These are all movements that can even be done right before a performance.
A way to address the nerves and negative self-talk is to think carefully about your playing. What’s a positive word that you can put on your music for a visual reminder about your wonderful playing? (Positivity is key!)