Dealing with Pre-show Anxiety

Most days I feel like I could take on the world and at least go even, but sometimes the creeping spectre of doubt is able to land a few hits on my psyche. Pre-show nerves, it happens to the best and most experienced of us. If you're nervous, that's great! It means you're taking risks and leaving your comfort zone. After the jump, I'll go over a few ways that help me cope with anxiety.

First step: Breathing and wiping down your sweaty palms.

• Get some rest. I feel the most nervous and anxious about things when I am running on very little rest. Get a good night's sleep before your show and your attitude towards it will change dramatically. Even a ten to fifteen minute nap can help to clear your head.
• Eat a healthy meal or snack about an hour before call. I am nigh on perpetually hungry. When my appetite is getting the better of me, I become cranky and incredibly negative. My brain doesn't work right and I have a tendency to just shut down. Eating something a little while before call gives you time to think and calm down.
• Take some alone time. Some of the best medicine for being nervous is finding a secluded spot before the show and just sitting or laying down and breathing. A little bit of meditation or listening to a song that I like makes me forget my worries until I have a chance to get on stage.
• Warm up on your own and with the group. Everybody has their own warm-up that gets them ready to go. It's silly to expect everybody else to want to do the same thing before every performance, but there's no reason that you can't do it  yourself. For me, I do a couple minutes of dance or yoga-style stretching and convince myself that if my body's working better then my mind is working better.
• Arrive early. Nothing is going to be tougher on your nerves than having to sprint into call late or nearly late and begin warming up. If you're already nervous, make sure you set aside time to get where you need to be minimum 15 minutes early. Voila you now have time to snack, hydrate, warm-up, meditate, call your mom, or cry softly in a corner without worrying about everyone waiting on you.
• Remember that it's not all about you. Lastly, it's important to remember that everybody has a weak night from time to time. Forget about whether you're achieving success or failure and just focus on making your teammates look incredible. Give them ideas and make their ideas look like beautiful magic. Yeah, maybe you're not going to knock it out of the park every night. that doesn't mean you can't sell out to get somebody else that grand slam your show needs.

It's important to harass your teammates into feeling your heartbeat.

The best ways to combat nervousness rely on giving yourself the opportunity to do the best show possible. Do everything you can to ensure your mental, physical, and emotional health prior to the show date. Take all the tips and tricks that coaches and professors have taught you over the years and abuse them. What kind of stuff helps you calm down before a show?

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Check out this post about Learning to Trust and it could help your nerves a little bit.

Is class or rehearsal getting exhausting? Take a little time to Build a Blanket Fort.