Performance Stress, Fear of Performing
Neurophysiological Coaching for Musicians can help
It is tragic that very many performers in their profession suffer from a grueling fear of performing. It has traditionally been treated with psychological, conversational, and fear-evaporating methods and, for example, with drugs that affect heart rate, beta-blockers. Many musicians relax with, for example, alcohol or other intoxicants to stay performing. Alcoholism or other substance abuse is not far from this.
As the development of neurophysiological rehabilitation, a possible reason for these intense fear of occurrence has been identified, namely the mild sidetracks of early childhood development, called developmental delay. It does not mean a developmental disability, but that during very early childhood the typical developmental periods of about 2-3 months have for some reason been incomplete or too fast. This is typically indicated by the baby getting up too early to walk, the baby does not crawl or creep normally until about the age of 12 months, but may get up to walk instead, does not crawl in a cross-pattern style, for example. This is because it is at this point that involuntary reactions and reflexes would be required to guide the child’s motor development, but this is for some reason not happening. As a result, these developmental reactions and reflexes do not subside as they should but remain impairing motor skills and the ability to concentrate. One of these reflexes is the Moro reflex (0-3 months), which increases a strong feeling of fear, which has often been found in the background, e.g. with musicians suffering from a strong fear of performance. Thus, the problem is not eliminated by treating just one reflex like this Moro-reflex, but the whole of early development must be treated.
This imperfection of early development causes musicians, for example, intense fear of performance, tension in the hands and feet, neck stiffness, motor stiffness, impaired left, and right limb independent use and function. High stress also impairs memory.
Neurophysiological Coaching for Musicians
Rehabilitation takes place with a set of exercises designed to correct the deficient process of early development. It has been found that in order to rehabilitate properly, a series of exercises must be done to ensure full development. The same exercise package also includes exercises that enhance nerve integration, balance, and body coordination. As a result, the playing becomes easier, the musician is able to more easily implement the feeling he wants and the quality of the playing is improved, and most importantly, the tension of the performance is reduced or eliminated.
I well remember how a performing Finnish musician shared his strong performance tension feelings before rehabilitation. He said he was playing as if standing on a pole, avoiding watching the audience because it only increased the excitement of the performance, he played the music that was rehearsed thousands of times completely mechanically. After the rehabilitation, he is no longer excited about performing and said he is now able to interact strongly with his audience and has also gained much more artistry in his playing. Mission accomplished, really!
Every case is individual - therefore I will take with you an individual approach to your problem. The process begins when you contact me using the contact form.
The rehabilitation starts by filling out a questionnaire where you go through your background extensively. After that, I will design an individual training program for you.
The process proceeds by making you an individual exercise program, which is checked about every 2-3 months. If you do the exercises according to the instructions, it is expected that depending on the extent of the problems, you will recover in about 6 to 12 months.
The process begins when you contact me via the contact form, which can be found at the bottom of the index page.