Learning to Breath: Lessons in Stress and Anxeity Management
Have you been watching the news lately? I know I have. It seems the world is coming apart at the seams! The economy is in trouble, the war is creating uncertainty, politics are getting more and more nasty and everywhere we turn, there is a crisis threatening the future.
Okay. So life is tough right now. In large terms and probably in smaller terms too. But if YOU fall apart at the seams then the responsibilities you have will fall to the wayside and nothing will be accomplished. So. Take a moment. And Breathe. Slowly.
Anxiety can be one of the most destructive of moods and emotions. It can make a strong man freeze in his shoes and an accomplished woman turn into a puddle of tears. But if you know how to manage your anxiety it will put you back in the driver’s seat and help you in those moments of crisis. Anxiety occurs when we are not certain what is happening around us, or are uncertain of the outcome of any particular situation. We can have anxiety about small things, like whether it will rain on the morning we have a golf game scheduled, or about big things, like whether our son will sign up for the military during this time of war.
The symptoms of anxiety are increased shallow breathing, racing pulse, feeling like your heart is pounding, sweaty palms, shaking/trembling, nausea, chills/hot flashes and even feeling like you might die. Of course, you don’t have to have all of these symptoms to know you are anxious! Sometimes, we can have a generalized anxiety, which is a feeling of discomfort or uneasiness that encompasses pretty much everything. Or we can have a specific anxiety, which is about a particular event. A panic attack can feel like having a heart attack and we might even feel like we are dying, when in fact we are just having a severe anxiety episode. Any experience of anxiety can be uncomfortable and disruptive.
So how do we deal with anxiety? Well, the answer is that it depends on the anxiety. How often are you experiencing anxiety? Is it severe or is it mild? Is it about specific things, or is it an overall feeling?
If the anxiety is about relatively small things, then we learn how to stop, take a moment, breathe or take a break, and then refocus on what is important and needs to be dealt with immediately. Or we learn to disconnect from whatever is provoking the anxiety and distract ourselves with something else, until we are ready to return and take care of business.
If the anxiety is an all-encompassing feeling or as severe as a panic attack, then it’s time to go to your primary care doctor and talk to them about what you are feeling. There are medications to alleviate anxiety that are very effective, but like most medications for emotional/mood issues, they are most effective when used in combination with psychotherapy or counseling. Simply taking a pill is not going to completely get rid of your feelings of anxiety. What the medication will do, however, is help get the symptoms enough under control for you to be able to function and work with a therapist to determine what is provoking your feelings of anxiety. Once you know what is provoking the anxiety, then you can begin to work on better coping skills.
Anxiety is a feeling everyone experiences. Stress is a part of the modern world and with stress comes anxiety. Like all feelings, it is neither good or bad, it’s simply a feeling. By recognizing and acknowledging what makes us anxious, we can better deal with our lives and help those around us.
Marigold Merenda
Test Anxiety- Nothing New But Needs Care
Students, generally, carry some sort of pressure to perform. Naturally, they would like to excel, which may or may not be for self satisfaction. It is important to them that they make their parents feel proud about them, understandably so. However, the pressure even increases two fold, test anxiety may take over.
Test anxiety occurs quite normally in people. Anyone who has ever taken a test knows what it takes to fail and go through incredible cramming sessions and incessant writing of notes and also a complete blank-out in the head. However, test anxiety is the easiest to overcome. But test anxiety sometimes projects as an anxiety disorder. Diagnoses may get a little hard if it happens so.
Sweaty palms are the most easily viewable symptoms of test anxiety. This is considered to be the most primitive and normal test anxiety. Fear creeps in with a sense of malaise and students tend to overcome these symptoms by adopting a few measures first up. A few tips are mentioned below:
1. planning study rather than just cramming
2. undergoing practice tests
3. deep and concentrated breathing before an exam
4. self-affirmation before a test
5. Taking extra tutoring prior to a big exam, if the problems happen to be with materials. A good guidance can always be a healthy booster
6. Speaking out your fears with family and friends
But for few students, unfortunately, test anxiety goes over board. The symptoms are more serious if it is a more aggressive anxiety disorder. Fear, insomnia, heart palpitations and fear are the extra symptoms to worry about. This is mostly the case if the symptoms repeat frequently prior to the tests. In most of the cases, the techniques of relaxation for a normal test anxiety may not have a major impact on people who suffer from full fledged anxiety disorder.
If you ever suspect a anxiety disorder, you should be smart enough a person to seek advice medically. The treatments help you in a big way to overcome this disorder and make life more peaceful and less complicated. If the anxiety in you goes beyond a point, it is very important you seek good advice. Anxiety disorders might be terrible if left unchecked.
Test anxiety is something that occurs to anyone. Almost everyone experiences it in life. However, it is better to get checked if the problem seems to persist or looks to be severe. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason why you should panic. Panic makes things only complicated.
Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/test-anxiety-nothing-new-but-needs-care-709368.html
Musicians and Performance Anxiety
Have you ever faced your time to shine, and felt overcome with an intense hesitation or worry about an upcoming performance? As the time nears for you to address your audience, do you suffer from sweaty palms? Is there a lump in your throat? Do you experience tremors, tension, stuttering, upset stomach or loss of focus? All of these symptoms are a sign that you may suffer from performance anxiety, which is a common problem that requires a little mental rewiring to get you on the right track.
Music performance anxiety develops from the thoughts, feelings and habits of a musician. The level of anxiety that one has will affect a musician’s desire to perform, as well as their ability. In order to deliver a high-quality performance, a musician must overcome the mental obstacles that create a barrier between wanting to perform and actually completing the act. When you feel anxious, pressure begins to build up that makes it impossible to pick up an instrument or sing a song.
Main Types of Performance Anxiety
There are three main kinds of performance anxiety that musicians encounter. The first occurs before a performance date is even mentioned. Fear of rejection or self-doubt regarding their abilities may hinder a musicians attempt to arrange a showing of their talents. The anxiety sometimes mounts to the point where a musician never feels they are truly ready to perform in front of others.
The second type of anxiety occurs during an actual performance. Gripped by fear of what the audience thinks of them, a musician’s body might tremble. Sweat may form on their forehead, nose, neck or hands. These bodily reactions may also impact the way an instrument is played. Voices become tight or locked, emitting cracked, flat or quivering notes. The anxiety of a musician might be so high that they may actually self-sabotage their performance without even knowing it.
Anxious musicians often become quite distracted by the slightest movement or noise during a performance. They might take this opportunity to blame their inability to complete their set because of outside interruptions. This is just an excuse. Within themselves, they do not feel completely adequate to continue their performance. Musicians with performance anxiety often exhibit poor concentration, as well as loss of focus.
After a performance, the anxiety madness continues, which is seen through a harsh, unforgiving critique of their presentation. The musician will nit-pick every aspect of their set and despite positive encouragement and comments, they will continue to downplay and dismantle their ability.
Tips On Managing Performance Anxiety
When it comes to getting over the hump of performance anxiety, there are numerous ways to combat the fears and doubt that come with presentation. Below are five aspects of performing that a musician suffering from anxiety should take into consideration:
1) Self-Assessment
When you get to know the ins and outs of yourself as an individual, as well as a musician, you are inching your way towards overcoming performance anxiety. Knowing what makes you tick both inside and outside musical circles will help you to better deal with the problems you face before, during and after a performance. A musician should analyze their performance goals, personal capabilities and limitations.
Musicians should also know that everyone has to start somewhere with infinite room for improvement. It is quite important for a musician to perform to the best of their abilities, as well as learn from mistakes and peer criticism.
2) Exposure: Baby Steps
Musicians should take the opportunity to gradually expose themselves to varying levels of performing. One moment a full-length mirror becomes a suitable audience, while the next could be a crowd of five friends. Testing low, medium and high levels of stressful performance situations will help musicians slowly overcome the issues faced in regards to performing. Additional suggestions include practice performances in an empty theater, dress rehearsals with friends and taping acts, then viewing them with family and friends.
3) Preparation
In anything that we do, preparation is an important component for achieving success. A good performance is one that has been thought out, thoroughly visualized and played over and over again in the mind. Once the mental preparation is complete, the physical part of the process involves sufficient practice and specific rehearsing for the particular venue you may perform at. Before a performance, a musician should enter this moment with a clear head. Meditation, yoga and other muscle relaxation techniques can create the right state of mind.
4) During a Performance
Every musician at some point in their lives will feel the flutter of butterflies before, during or after a performance. This is a normal occurrence that just takes some longer to get over. When it comes to the audience, you shouldn’t focus on blocking them out, but instead embrace them as support. If you go into a performance thinking that no one likes you or during a presentation focus on scowling faces, you will surely surrender to your flight or fight performance anxiety tactics.
Try to put anxiety in the backseat and attempt to stay calm. If you make a mistake, such as tickle the wrong piano keys, simply move on and do not dwell on small imperfections that pale in comparison to the overall scheme of things. Sometimes, if you don’t wear your disappointment or errors on your face, the audience is less apt to remember or care about mistakes. Breathing techniques will also come in handy once you get into the thick of performing and feel a touch of anxiety.
5) After the Performance
After each performance, take the time to assess yourself before relying on the approval or criticism of others. No one but you truly knows all of the hard work and preparation that went into your performance. Take the time to give yourself a mental pat on the back. Next, combine outside comments with your gut feeling to decide on what you can do next time. Regardless if you had the performance of your life or tanked on your first break, there are always aspects of your musical craft that you can still shape and mold for the future.
Kevin Sinclair
http://www.articlesbase.com/article-writing-articles/musicians-and-performance-anxiety-75282.html
7 Public Speaking Survival Tips
I used to be terrified of public speaking – now it’s natural and fun.
Dry mouth, fast heart, sweaty palms, blank mind – yeah I’ve been there! It’s easy to fear public speaking. But I was never just content with overcoming fear. I wanted to be a great speaker. What I needed was a way of calming down and applying simple techniques and strategies to talk like a pro.
When I’d learned to relax (more of that later) I learned and applied the following four steps.
1 Reassure your audience – they need to know you know your stuff and you are human! 2 Hook them by being interesting and relevant. Tell them why what you are saying is relevant to them. 3 Inspire them by giving them information and ways of seeing that are new and applicable. 4 Leave them on a high by telling a story them encapsulates your central message . How do you become confident enough to apply the four steps?
Here’s some tips some of which are practical some of which are to do with the way you think about your public presentations and also how you can start to change the way you feel about them.
Tip One
Breath your way to calm. When you breath out you relax that’s why people sigh when they’re stressed.
Breathing in without breathing out causes hyperventilation and worsens anxiety. Just before your speech take five minutes breathing in to the count of seven and out to the count of eleven (quick count-not seconds!). On the out breath hold it a second before breathing in again. This will produce quick and lasting calm. Remember extending the out breath calms you down.
Tip Two
You have a responsibility as the presenter but relax you don’t carry all the responsibility. Presenting is a team effort. Audiences are responsible for politeness, extending their attention and attempting to learn. It’s not all you-it’s a meeting of two halves. Never mind how they judge you. How do you judge them?
Tip Three
Use metaphor and stories. We all experience life metaphorically. The most technical logical person spends at least two hours a night dreaming! Talk detail if necessary but present patterns with metaphors. Folk from 4 to 104 love stories. Use em.
Tip four
Captivate attention by using words that evoke all the senses. Describe how things look, sound, feel, smell and taste. Paint pictures and sensations in their minds with your words.
Tip Five
Vary your voice tonality and speed of delivery. Keep them alert and engaged. Convey energy when need be and slow down when you need to ‘draw them in close.’ You are the conductor to their orchestra. And pepper your talk with humour. Your willingness to be funny shows personal confidence and confidence is contagious.
Tip Six
Tell them what they are going to get. What they are currently getting and then what they have got from you. Sell your sizzle!
Tip Seven
Watch and learn from other great speakers until compelling, relaxed speaking is a part of you.
Rehearse positively. You need to rehearse how your going to feel as well as what you are going to present. Don’t think about your forthcoming presentation whilst feeling nervous as this creates an instinctive association between fear and presenting. This natural negative self-hypnosis is very common with nervous speakers.
Hypnotically rehearse your speech whilst feeling relaxed. This produces the right ‘blueprint’ in your mind. In fact when you do this enough times it actually becomes hard to be nervous!
All great speakers know how to use great self-hypnotic rehearsal. Hypnosis changes attitudes and can bring emotion under control. I used hypnosis, to change my instincts around public speaking. Now I just can’t get nervous whether it’s 50 or 500 people. The world needs great communicators. Go for it!
Mark Tyrrell
http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/7-public-speaking-survival-tips-3973.html
Learn How to Cure Panic Attacks of All Severity Levels
It can be hard to live your life to the fullest when you are afraid of sweaty palms, a racing heartbeat, and a tight throat, in other words a panic attack. If you live under the constant fear of another panic attack than you no doubt are interested in how to cure panic attacks. Panic attacks can be a huge hindrance in your life as they can occur at any time and a panic attack is never convenient. This is why many people who suffer from them are searching for information on how to cure panic attacks.
The good news for you is that there is one website online that can teach you how to cure panic attacks that really will work long term. Once you read the information on this website about how to cure panic attacks you never again will have to shy away from public occasions for fear that you may not be able to handle it. Once you read how to cure panic attacks you will never again have to whisper an excuse and run to the bathroom for space and air while you try to work through your current panic attack and recompose yourself.
So, you are probably wondering by now how to cure panic attacks already and how it works. Well the basic science behind why this cure works is because the truth behind how to cure panic attacks lies in fear. Usually there is some type of fear present in your life that may induce your first few panic attacks but it is quickly replaced with fear of facing another panic attack. Thus your fear itself of another panic attack is the key factor behind how to cure panic attacks if you want to find a cure that lasts forever.
This website will teach you how to cure panic attacks by eliminating the fear of an impending panic attack from your mind and there are hundreds of people backing its promise that you too can learn how to cure panic attacks. Many of these people were skeptical at first but after trying it out were amazed to learn that there really is a way to cure panic attacks for the rest of your life. However, you will never know how to cure panic attacks unless you head over to this website and start to access the information for yourself.
After you take advantage of the website about how to cure panic attacks you can be one of the many people who are now living panic free and with no worries that they will ever suffer from a panic attack again. Imagine never again worrying about your palms sweating, your heart rate racing, and the fear that you are close to losing your calm all over again. It can be you if you head on over to the website and read the information about how to cure panic attacks. Stop living your life with anything in your way, and learn how to be free again by visiting PanicAttackTreatments.net
By: Pan (Free Download Anxiety Treatment eBook)
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