Performances & Competitions Just Breathe | Just Breathe |
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| Written by Chris Casteel (WGASC Judge) | |
| Tuesday, 27 January 2009 | |
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Imagine your performers in this situation… They step onto the gym floor amidst a flurry of pre show excitement, expectations of their team mates and instructors, and last minute show changes. In the audience are friends, family, instructors, competitors and judges. They can hear the blood pumping in their ears, hearts are racing, and their throats are dry. Their mind is spinning with an overflow of information; don’t forget to do this, remember to do that. If only there was an escape from this moment! Panic fills their body. How can they possibly go on?! Every muscle is tense as they wait for the sound of the announcer’s voice to begin their performance. As extreme as the above scenario may seem, some performers in our activity may experience anxiety very similar to the description. It is commonly known as stage fright or ‘fight or flight’ response. For some individuals this may be a type of nervous energy that happens prior to the performance and disappears as soon as they begin to perform. The feelings are manageable. In fact, these individuals may even be able to employ their nervous energy toward the betterment of their performance. However, there may be other performers in which this condition considerably hinders the success of their performance. In this case, they have not yet learned how to manage their nervous energy and harness it for their benefit. Left without help, it can become debilitating. It is my hope that the following information can give you a few teaching tools that will enable your students to maintain power over their nervous energy before it elevates to an unmanageable state. First of all, we need to know exactly what we are dealing with; it’s the brain. More specifically it is the sympathetic nervous system. In regards to stage fright, it works like this: When a performer is experiencing feelings of anxiety, they are most likely giving over control to an imaginary enemy. Often times this imaginary enemy may be their own subconscious belief that they will not be able to perform to the satisfaction of anyone – especially themselves. But wait; there is a good guy in this situation – the parasympathetic nervous system. In this situation, your goal should be to educate your students on how to enable and utilize this ‘good guy’ in an otherwise stressful situation. The Importance of Breath:As you teach your students how to be in a ‘zone’ of performance, breathing is topic that absolutely should come up. Consistent breath is what ties together the mind and the body. Without it, your students will not be able sustain high levels of performance. When attention is given to breath, performers will become anchored in the moment; both physically and mentally.
So, that’s the breathing part of the situation. Now let’s talk about slaying the stage fright monster prior to arriving at a competition site. As stated earlier, some of the overwhelming nerves may be associated with an individual’s lack of confidence in their ability. Considering this, instructors should combat this perception by making sure they establish a strong mind set in the rehearsal process.
Really this is one of those areas that we teach in color guard from the perspective of the performance; however, its value transcends our sport and has real life application and significance. How awesome is it that we teach not only color guard skills, but we also have the opportunity to positively impact a life! Until next week….Just Breathe. Special Thanks to Contributor and Advisory Board Member Chris Casteel who serves as the education coordinator for the Winter Guard Association of Southern California (WGASC) and as an adjudicator for the WGASC. We also thank WGASC for allowing us to repost this article which was originally posted on the WGASC website January 2009.
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 January 2009 ) |
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