Excitement vs anxiety

I can feel the adrenaline surging through my body. It’s going up and down my body, to the tips of my fingers.

I’ve decided there are two choices:

• View the adrenaline as nerves and a panic attack waiting to happen once I start playing

• View the adrenaline as excitement.

Did you know that physiologically, both excitement and anxiety present very similarly? Both produce a racing heart, queasy stomach, sweaty palms and nerves. Right now, my physical signs are the same as if I’m waiting for someone to walk through the door for a big surprise. In that case, it wouldn’t be anxiety making me feel that way, but excitement.

The difference between these symptoms being ‘good’ and ‘bad’ all comes back to the way I look at them. Yesterday, I decided to turn any feelings of nerves into feelings of excitement. It might sound crazy, but it worked.

Right now, I need to kick that mindset back in big time. Because I’m about to head in for music practice and there is a lot of excitement in my body!

I also need to remember the golden rule when it comes to stress and panic: breathe. Breathing interrupts neuro pathways and resets what your mind can focus on. It’s such a simple thing to do, but is the first thing we stop doing calmly when we’re nervous. Yet breathing has been proven scientifically that it is an exceptionally effective method at calming our minds and bodies.

So when it comes down to it, I’ve only got two things to focus on this morning: being excited and breathing.