Non-duality and performance anxiety

[Meeksauce]

As an aspiring classical musician struggling with performance anxiety, are there ways that the integration of non-duality can ease anxiety and tension when performing for others?

Even with the understanding that there are no others or self as well as reality being imaginary, it still seems as though there is conditioning to freak out in high-pressure situations. Obviously the “high-pressureness” of the situation is created in the mind, but nonetheless anytime I perform for a large crowd there is always shakiness and brain fog. Even with the knowing that all fears are illusory, they still appear and screw things up! As soon as I’m about to play, no matter what centering or meditation practice I did that morning, the survival mechanisms always kick in full force.

Is managing this inner conflict purely a matter of accepting what IS and learning how to perform with these emotions in the body, and not try to get rid of them? Or is there a workaround so the anxiety and shakiness can be eliminated altogether?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

 

[Raze]

https://www.calm.com/app/program/AvvyAXGchV

https://www.shinzen.org/dealing-with-anxiety-part-i/

[Carl-Richard]

I've performed music on stage before, and I guess I would go the acceptance route: accept the fact that you are going to be anxious and that it's not necessarily a bad thing (it sharpens your senses etc.).

Acceptance as an attitude is a much more stable strategy than affirming some non-dual belief, because the non-dual belief is just a belief, and it's not certain that this belief will gain conscious traction when you bring it up in the moment (that you will embody it).

The most certain thing is that you'll be anxious, and affirming it just for the fact that it's the most certain outcome is beneficial in itself, because anxiety feeds on uncertainty.