Stress, you, and performing in The Zone

Stress is a word which is thrown about a lot, especially in our modern, western society.

What is stress exactly?

How does everyday stress affect your mind and body in performing situations?

And most importantly, what can you do RIGHT NOW to lower your stress levels?

Stress. What is it exactly?

Here’s a definition from thefreedictionary.com

Stress: A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.

Did you get that last part?

“…increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.”

These are some of the main symptoms of, you guessed it, both the negative manifestation of performance arousal (performance anxiety) and an extreme positive version of performance anxiety (extreme excitement).

Now, think about this for a second. You’re sitting in a parked car, with the engine running, and out of gear. The engine is idling at a comfortable 800 r.p.m.

You rest your foot gently on the gas pedal, and the engine revs up a little, to 2000 r.p.m., and sounds pretty normal.

But what happens if you keep applying pressure to the gas? Let’s see…

…up at 3000 r.p.m – you hear the engine working a little harder, but it’s still ok…

…4000 r.p.m. – the engine starts to sound a bit strained, but it can handle it

…5000 r.p.m. now it starts to sound uncomfortable

…6000 r.p.m. the engine starts to strain as the r.p.m. needle approaches redline

…7000 r.p.m. it’s really struggling now, coping, but almost screaming under the STRESS

…8000 r.p.m. well, IF your poor engine can sustain 8000 r.p.m., it probably wont be able to for very long.

…9000 r.p.m. (don’t try this at home folks!!!)

So what’s about to happen? The ENGINE is about to OVERHEAT, and eventually BREAK DOWN. Either some small component will fail, and the engine will grind to a halt. Or, more dramatically, the engine might blow a head gasket, or just simply EXPLODE!

And why? Too much STRESS!

So back to you.

Let’s say that on your average day, your body and mind are cruising along at 2000 r.p.m.

When you get to a performance situation, your body and mind raise the revs, up to say 4000 r.p.m. You feel a gentle strain, but nothing you can’t cope with. In fact, just as many car engines, you seem to work best at this level. You have a great performance.

BUT…what happens if you have a day where there are several external and/or internal stresses on you, such as financial worries, running for public transport, getting stuck in an elevator, a late accompanist or team members, an argument with your spouse etc. Your residual stress level might be already up at 4000 r.p.m. – and that’s even before you begin getting ready for your performance!  And yep, you did the math, during your performance, your r.p.m. might be up as high as 6000 or more!  Making you feel, you guessed it, tense, nervous, increasing your heart rate, amount of perspiration, etc!

And that is ASSUMING you began the day idling down there at 800 r.p.m. What happens if the stress of yesterday stays with you? You don’t begin the day at 800r.p.m. – you’re already up at 2000r.p.m. when you get out of bed!

But then, what happens if some of the residual stress from several days, weeks, months, or even years stays with you? You might begin the day at 3000, 4000, or even 5000r.p.m – the danger being here, is that even small stressful events can have a big impact on your stress level. Bigger stressful events, like auditions and competitions, can push you way up into the redline area of 6000, 7000, 8000 r.p.m. and beyond!

And this is FAR from ideal if you want to be performing in The Zone!

Well, enough about all that car talk, let’s get to some suggestions for lowering the stress you experience during the day, as well as residual stress built up over longer periods of time:

• Sleep – get to bed before midnight, and sleep 8 hours. Some people seem to function better on 7 hours sleep, whereas others need 9. This is very individual, and can vary a lot depending on a multitude of factors, including your age
• Exercise – make sure you move your body at least 30 minutes per day! Yes, I am talking about the “E” word here (exercise! )  A gentle walk as soon as you wake up in the morning can make a difference. Power walks, jogging, or regularly working out at a gym or playing sports  can be a great help!
• Diet – don’t put junk in your engine! Imagine a high-performance sports car (back to cars again, but just for a second). What happens if you put dirty cooking oil in the petrol tank of a car? It coughs, splutters, and breaks down! What happens if you put dirty cooking oil from fried foods, ready meals, and other takeaway or fast ‘foods’ in your engine! You cough, splutter, and break down too! And your ability to deal with stress and stressful situations gets worse!
• Meditate, practise yoga, qi gong, tai chi, or take up another soft-style martial art. The mind and body learns to work together as one when doing these activities, allowing your r.p.m. to drop right down, helping to keep your body and mind stress-free
• Laugh! As mentioned in the chapters Laughing Yoga and Learn to Laugh at Yourself, in the book Performing in The Zone, laughing has a whole host of medical benefits, including stress reduction.

Reduce your stress levels, and you can improve your chances of getting to The Zone in your field of performance, as well as increase the quality of your entire life

Disclaimer: The information given here is in now way intended to replace specialist medical advice from a health professional. Should you suspect that you have a health problem you should visit a health professional immediately)