Postures to Improve Performance and Release Anxiety

*Influenced and informed by the work of Amy Cuddy, psychologist and author of Presence

Performance is a unique experience of vulnerability, which can invoke anxiety in many people. Anxiety can hit before, during and after the performance, and we are often at a loss of what to do to help ourselves through this difficult experience. Research is revealing that we can create our own reality by holding certain postures to reduce anxiety, and create confidence, which is a sweet antidote to this anxiety that arises in performance settings. When we think about it, all of us are performers. When we are a musician, actress, or athlete, the title of “performer” is more obvious, but there are so many other types of performances in this life: officiating a wedding, going into a new social situation, giving a presentation at work, meeting your partner’s family, trying a new hobby for the first time. It can feel like a performance whenever we extend ourselves past our comfort zone in a public place. This idea of leaning into the true body/mind connection in relation to our emotional world can be useful to everyone. 

Holding a Posture for Two Minutes Can Completely Shift Your Mood 

Research related to presence and success by Amy Cuddy, author and professor at Harvard business school, shows that physical postures can influence how others perceive us. Constriction of the body, i.e. shoulders slumped, avoiding eye contact, arms crossed, communicates powerlessness and nervousness, making others perceive you as less confident, or as Cuddy puts it, “less powerful.” Postures that create openness in the body, i.e. shoulders back, chest forward, gaze up, show confidence and strength and “power.” So, when we are approaching a performance, tuning up our instrument to step on the stage, we can shift our emotional state by utilizing “power poses.” Not only do these postures affect how others perceive us, they affect how we perceive ourselves and feel, emotionally and physically. Constricted postures can increase cortisol (stress hormone) and decrease testosterone (associated with confidence, while “power poses” have been shown to do the exact opposite. The research has consistently measured the effects of holding the postures for 2-3 minutes at a time. 

Fake it till you “Become” It While Honoring Your Creative Blocks

There is body-mind feedback loop happening when we take these postures to counter the curled up restricted state of anxiety. A pill bug curls up in a tiny ball when threatened, and we tend to do the same when we feel a threat. While the pill bug may really be in serious danger, we need to evaluate whether the danger around us is actually present. In many cases of performance anxiety, our sympathetic nervous system is overloaded with the pressure of performing, signaling panic when we are actually safe. In no way am I suggesting that we do these power poses and we are magically healed. We still need to do the rooted work that frees us from the beliefs that perpetuate our anxiety. These postures are aids to the work we do to process the traumas and upsets that cause performance anxiety. We are retraining our brain and body after we realize that we are safe and not being threatened anymore, just as a pill bug uncurls from its tight protective ball. 

Postures to Change our State; Power Poses

Note: If there is ANY pain in these postures, come out immediately and seek help from a yoga teacher or other expert in the body movement field. You can also look up these postures for a visual guide

• Cobra Pose: Lie on your belly with your hands on the ground next to your ribs. Press down with hands, and lift chest into a backbend, listening to your body and your comfort zone

• Arms Raised high in a “V” to about 60 degrees

• Goddess pose: Stand in a wide leg position with knees bent in a squat, Goal post arms with fingers spread wide in open-hearted position

• Superwoman/man: Stand with legs wider than hip-width distance, hands on hips, chest open, shoulders rolled back, and gaze at the horizon, bonus if you smile

These postures have the potential to change your perception from anxious and insecure to confident and assertive. As we work with performance anxiety therapy, we move through the memories and life-depleting internalized beliefs. During this process, we integrate these power postures and other confidence-boosting tools, to step into the brightest versions of ourselves. You have creative magic to bring, and strengthening your personal power will help you to perform in integrity with your soul purpose.