Create a post of your responses to the following to work toward more peak performance experiences.
- Describe how you want to experience your next performance. Imagine walking on stage: How do you want to feel physically? What kinds of thoughts do you want to be having? What emotions do you want to experience?
- How would you like to come across to your audience? What image do you want to convey through your stage entrances, exits, and bows?
- Have you recently videotaped a performance and later watched it with a mentor to discuss your stage presence? If not, when might you be able to do this?
- How do you experience performance anxiety? Describe your specific symptoms:
- physical
- thought patterns (self-talk)
- feelings
- Of the interventions described for handling anxiety in this chapter, which do you plan to work on?
- Have you ever experienced discomfort during or after practice? What have you done as a result of feeling this discomfort?
- How often do you take breaks during practice sessions? How long are these breaks? What do you do during these breaks?
- To help ensure a lifetime of healthy music making, what else (beyond taking breaks) can you do to help safeguard your performance health?