Category Archives: Performing

Posted on

Why Stress Relief Is So Important (& 5 Ways to Do It)

I recently came across a wonderful article from the site powerofpositivity.com that I wanted to share with you. There are many valuable principles and skills for you within it. (I have also included links to more tips you can use) I hope that you find it valuable!

Stress is an inevitable part of life. Your day may be great, and the sun is shining bright, but the next minute you could have a significant crisis turn your world upside down. You cannot control the circumstances around you. Thankfully, you do have the power to control your response to them.

You’ve probably heard a million times that stress kills. There have been many studies done that prove that stress is harmful to your overall well-being.

Being in a constant state of distress can affect your well-being. You must have stress-relieving tools that you use to keep your angst under control.

When you become stressed, the cortisol levels in your body elevate. The negative stimuli activate the “fight or flight” response internally, which can cause uncomfortable effects. When you are under significant stress and anxiety, you may experience the following:

•Racing Heartbeat
•Sweating
•Shaking or Chills
•Nervousness
•Feeling of Impending Doom or Death
•Panic Attacks
•Feeling Faint
•Irrational Fears
•Dizziness

Stress that is not managed correctly can lead to a stroke, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a plethora of other conditions. It can negatively impact your life to where you cannot drive, work a job, or even leave your home. Finding coping skills to help with stress relief is imperative.

Quick Tips for Stress Relief

In most cases, you cannot stop your entire day just because you feel anxiety or stress. However, incorporating calming techniques that can bring your levels of angst under control is advisable. Here are some of the most used methods that work well.

Posted on

Is it Time to Change Your Story?

Knowing what you want goes hand in hand with knowing who you are. In fact, it is impossible to become an outrageous achiever in any area unless you possess an effective and powerful answer to both questions.

canstockphoto12269207

In the past I have discussed the importance of discovering what you really desire in your life and then committing to a specific plan of action to get you there.

What could possibly stand in your way?

Well, look in the mirror and you will see your biggest enemy staring right back at you, telling you their story about why life is so tough, or how they have always failed, or how they are just not enough to become more successful.

The story you hear implies that maybe you don’t have what it takes to achieve your dreams.

On and on the story goes. A story many years in the making!

I can hear it now,

“Ladies and gentleman, here is the Story of a person who desired to become successful, who yearned and dreamed of accomplishing amazing things! Yet, a sad Story of never having enough money, or ideas or opportunities, of someone raised by critical parents and who lacked the confidence to overcome obstacles.”

Does this sound at all like your Story?

Posted on

Virtual Reality, the Amygdala and Anxiety (Part 2)

I did it.

I walked off the plank and floated down, down, down until a sea of bright white light enveloped me.

As I shared in my last Post (Part 1), I had let my anxiety and fear of “falling” into the abyss keep me from completing my son’s Virtual Reality game. Mentally ‘knowing’ that it was just a game and that I wasn’t actually walking off a real plank to my death wasn’t enough for me to override and manage my anxiety.

I had quit as a result of the physical feeling of terror and of thinking “What if…?”

I know that many of you reading this have found yourself in a similar situation (maybe not walking off a plank 20 stories high!) but, rather, a situation in which you believed that to continue would be dangerous, almost as if you were stepping off into the unknown.

Your ‘plank’ might have been a presentation that you must give, or an audition or interview that matters to you or simply a step forward in your life that feels scary and which you talk yourself out of.

This week, however, I re-visited my fear and played the game again.

I put on the VR headset, felt myself moving higher and higher on the virtual elevator until the doors opened wide and I was staring at the wooden plank high above the ground.

And yes, the birds were still flying around me as before!

Only this time, instead of letting fear make my choice, I implemented the following 3 steps in order to face my fear and move myself forward:

Posted on

Virtual Reality, the Amygdala and Anxiety (Part 1)

Have you ever found yourself afraid to try something new, to step out in front of a crowd, or to risk going into the unknown? I am sure that you remember the anxiety that developed and the steps you took to avoid feeling scared?

Well, I recently was scared, and it didn’t make any rational sense whatsoever.

A few nights ago, my son and his wife stayed over in our home. It is always such a pleasure to have them visit. This time, in addition to coming over, he brought his new “toy”, an Oculus Virtual Reality Headset.

This VR Headset is advertised with these words, “Stop watching games and step into them. Whether you’re dodging obstacles or slashing through enemy hordes, you’ve never been this close to the action.”

Boy, were they right.

As someone who prides himself on being in control and providing Anxiety Coaching to others so that they can learn not to allow fear to make their choices, I decided that I would go for it. “Give me a scary one” I said – and my son obliged.

On went the headset.

Immediately, I was transported to a world where I could look all around me at amazing sights and sounds. This is fun I thought, all the while remembering I was in our living room and really not in a cartoon-like city of trees and birds chirping away.

It was fun until…

He told me to press a button on my hand grip. I did, because I remembered that no matter what I saw, I KNEW it was not real and, thus, could not shake or hurt me.

I switched the scene and found myself inside of a very real looking elevator. No problem, I’ve got this I thought.

And then, the elevator doors opened.

Posted on

Mindful Distraction for Staying Present

Last week, as I graded a Paper from one of the students that I teach in my University course, I was reminded of a technique that is available for us to use during times of change, anxiety or stress.

It can be so easy to focus on the thing that is creating the anxiety. Whether it is an upcoming presentation we have to give, performing in a pressured situation or feeling overwhelmed in general, how do we catch our breath and slowdown in order to stay in the present?

The following skill, called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, will help you focus yourself in the present in order for you to get through tough or stressful situations while creating a feeling of managing the situation.

It is a way of creating ‘Mindful Distraction.’

This technique is a calming skill that takes you through your five senses in order to remind you of staying in the present. The goal is to use your senses to focus on the moment and avoid the overthinking that can get in the way of what matters to you.

To begin, first take a slow, deep focused breath.

Next, look for:

5 THINGS that you can see (can be something in your office- like the desk lamp, a water cup, your feet; or something outside the window- such as kids playing, the tree branches in the wind, etc.)

4 THINGS you can touch- things you can physically feel- your own arm, the back of your chair, your dog (or cat!)

3 THINGS you can hear- it could be the a/c blowing through the vent, voices in the background from the TV, cars outside

2 THINGS you can smell- sometimes it is a cup of coffee, hand lotion on the desk, the smell of your dog

1 THING you can taste- it may be a sip of water, coffee, an energy drink, leftovers from your lunch

Now, take another slow, deep focused breath.

Focusing on your senses will help you be more mindful and will take you out of the pressure and overload that you are feeling while putting you back in the present.

Apply this simple technique and enjoy the ability to slow down and redirect your focus!

Posted on

Persistence, Perseverance & the Pandemic

If there EVER was a time that the principles of Persistence and Perseverance were needed, it is during the current Pandemic. Regardless of your personal thoughts on what in the world is actually going on, we are all in this together.

I have heard what we are going through called ‘the New Normal,’ ‘the Now Normal’ and the ‘Will we ever be Normal?’

So many that I talk to in my coaching practice feel stuck and describe being ‘on hold,’ waiting for things to return to how it was. Yet, while many are watching and waiting, others are taking charge of their lives, businesses and creativity.

I wonder if this sounds like you?

Maybe you find yourself saying, “If only I was back at my office” or “If only the kids were back on campus” or even “If only I didn’t feel as though my life is dependent on things out of my control.”

So, we sit and wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Waiting for the right time, for more strength or to feel fully motivated to move forward with our dreams and goals.

It has been said that the difference between a truly successful (and productive) person and others is not a lack of strength, nor a lack of knowledge, but, rather, a lack of will.

I wonder, do you persevere when times get challenging?

Perseverance and persistence involve making a commitment to your dream or goal, not on a one-time basis, but daily, hourly and continually. It does not wait until everything is right, or ‘normal’ or back on track. It takes charge of whatever is under your control at the moment.

Right now. Not later.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence… Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge

I have learned, in my 40 years of coaching successful business persons, performers and high achievers, that there are 3 main obstacles to perseverance when times are challenging: