How can mindfulness reduce performance anxiety?

Your nervous system must be balanced to achieve mindfullness. It begins with awareness of the breath then learning to deepen the breath. The breath is the only thing that is always present. Anchor your mind to your breath and you will become mindful.

Mindfulness is just that - trying to stay aware and in the moment. Taking it one step at a time, a moment at a time with awareness of watching how your own mind works. Stress is usually related to something that is in the past that one cannot change or something in the future that feels out of reach, there is fear of it not going well or perfectly, not feeling one is capable. Being mindful one can

It really depends on what one keeps in the mind. If one keeps there fear, insecurity and other slow energy aspects of human behaviour than it is not going to reduce, only boost anxiety. Honestly, I find the word "mindfulness" a floating umbrella that stretches and covers events and behaviour patterns to fit the individual comfort and that of the emotional and mental intelligence of the user. As far as I am concerned, the only way to lose anxiety is by Conscious Learning. One only fears what one doesn't understand.

Mindfulness is simply being in the present moment. What your thoughts are, what your feelings and what your behaviour. Minding your actions is the first step towards overall anxiety free life.

Mindfulness by definition means clear comprehension. The meaning brings into line its purpose, help us see with clarity, effectively respond to what life throws at us and look at our behavior, beliefs and emotions objectively. Practicing mindfulness help us have focus and an ability to take better decisions.

By bringing awareness into our present state and using techniques such as controlling our breathing (specially our exhalation by elongating it) or meditation, it will make our sympathetic nervous system (in charge of activation and the fight or fly response) to slow down. As our nervous system slows down it will make us feel more at easy and the feeling of anxiety or stress should disappear, allowing us to carry on with our present task more focused.

Mindfulness can reduce performance anxiety by fostering self-awareness, improving focus, managing physical symptoms, enhancing self-compassion, reducing fear of judgment, promoting acceptance, inducing relaxation, and building emotional resilience. These benefits make it a valuable tool for managing and mitigating performance anxiety.

One of the ways that I use mindfulness to manage any kind of anxiety is to focus my thoughts on what it feels like to have my feet on the ground, if I'm standing, or whatever part of my body is touching a surface, instead of allowing the worry thoughts to take over. I can also focus on any smells, or things that I see in my environment. In essence, I'm using my senses to anchor me in the present moment instead of worrying about the future.

From my many years carrying out client consultations in the workplace you need three key things to manage performance anxiety. Take responsibility for your own health by implementing these three suggestions. 1. Adequate sleep around 7-9 hours to enable the body to detoxify properly and reduce cortisol surges. 2. Adequate protein added to every single meal and snack to balance blood sugars and prevent cortisol from being used as a primary fuel. 3. Adequate hydration to maintain kidney output and improve blood pressure stability reducing fluctuations and cortisol surges. The body needs to be constantly balanced biochemically. #bloodsugars #cortisolsurge #haemostasis #brainhealth #supportingthenervoussystem

We start to become more aware of our breath, body, thoughts and emotions as we show up to perform. It not only helps us to notice what’s happening to us as it is happening, but also gives us information and context on what we can work on in that moment. Might be breathing more intentionally, might be stop fidgeting etc. Mindfulness allows us to know how we respond and show up, and also presents solutions to mitigate our anxiety.

One of the tools I find extremely useful is feeling your feet on the ground. Breathwork is fantastic yes, however sometimes we need to find the groundedness to maintain the stability to show up for what we need to show up for - ie: a presentation, a talk etc. Try body over breath and see how you go!

Practicing mindfulness for performance anxiety is anticipating when it will show up and making a plan to manage it when it does. It addresses the anxiety triggers of the subject. For example, if the anxiety is felt in the body, intervention plan would be to breath slowly or objectively focus on senses and acknowledge what is happening. The mindfulness based intervention plan can help you cope and monitor the anxiety and focus on what to be done during the performance whether it’s a competition or presentation and help boost confidence. Taking baby steps and making mindfulness a habit can reduce your response to triggers that cause performance anxiety, panic and fear.

Whenever you feel like you are experiencing anxiety, you can simply align your mind with your breathing patterns. Effort fully create stable breathing patterns.

Have you noticed when watching basketball the player will pretend to shoot free throws before actually doing it? they are driving connections in their brain through mirror neurons. The same can be done with mindfulness for performance anxiety. Before you perform the act, envision yourself doing it over and over. Start without any environmental distractions, but as it gets easier then add in music and other noises.

The greatest thing we can achieve in life is to live to our potential. The biggest benefit to mindfulness would be able to be present in the moment and deliver a performance at the level you are capable of. This is best done when the external judgments that you feel no longer have power over you.

It’s wonderful that there are so many resources out there to explore, and at the same time it can also be rather confusing. Stating with a community or an experienced coach will provide some guidance and structure to your practice. There are tons of free online groups and communities to help support this.

What do you enjoy doing? Is it going on a walk, sitting by the lalke or river, or going on a hike? It will be easiest to be mindful initially when you pair it with something you already enjoy. As you are doing that activity, take a few moments and let your mind settle. Only focus on the environment you are in and let the distractions of an outside world melt away.

Make sure you stay in mindfulness each moment of your life with awareness of who you are. A soul which comes to play a part in this world and make your life easier with maintaining mindfulness practices such as breathing, meditation, yoga etc.