One of the areas where I have witnessed hypnotherapy working very powerfully is helping people to overcome performance anxiety. This can be related to exams, both written and spoken, as well as job interviews, work presentations, sporting competitions and also musical/stage performances.

It was interesting to speak to my son about this recently when he was back from university for a short trip. As a jazz musician and student at Birmingham Conservatoire, he is immersed in a highly-charged musical world where everyone around him has already achieved a certain level of excellence.   So the pressure, as you can imagine, is immense. I have learnt that jazz musicians can be particularly hard on themselves, as they have to be at one and the same time master of their craft, but also somehow get into that ‘zone’ where their creativity can flow freely. It’s that unique combination of discipline and ‘letting go’ which is such a challenge. If they get the balance right, then it can be sublime.  As my son explained to me, someone who plays music simply for fun CAN relax and let themselves go. However, for him, it’s so important, its his life and means absolutely everything, so one can understand how this balance can be hard to achieve. He has told me that sometimes he just says to himself ‘it’s only music’, and then he allows himself to relax.

Hypnotherapy is an excellent way of calming the mind before a performance of any kind and in addition visualising how you would like things to go – as vividly as you can – in order to, in effect, give a preview of how the performance is actually going to be, can be extremely powerful. Sports people are particularly good at this, the golfer visualising where exactly he wants the ball to go, the footballer about to take a penalty and actually seeing the ball in the corner of the net, the runner seeing himself crossing the line first. These simple techniques do work – and when used in conjunction with hypnosis – can have the most amazing consequences.

Do get in touch if you feel that hypnosis could help you to overcome performance anxiety – I can be contacted on 01449 780352 or 07817158429. Alternatively, you can email me on wendy@wendychalk.co.uk.

Best wishes,
Wendy x