Objective 4: Learn and try three basic stress management skills for alleviating performance anxiety.                                       

   ♪♫ Three Basic Stress Management Skills

              I. Relaxation

              II. Mental imagery

              III. Cognitive restructuring

 

           I. Relaxation

               1. Begin by taking a deep, relaxing breath.

               2. Allow your eyes to slowly close.

               3. Allow yourself to "let go" of excess muscle tension.

               4. Contemplate a pleasant, relaxing image.

 

           II. Mental Rehearsal and Imagery

               ▪  Forming images in their minds of the performance and how they want to perform.

               ▪ Importance of positive mental images before a performance.

               < Some helpful suggestions for mental rehearsal and imagery by P. W. Buffington >

               1. Stress accuracy in mental as well as actual practice.

               2. Along with imagining yourself performing, build in some positive images that emphasize your capabilities and skills.

               3. Cultivate and attitude that puts problems and difficulties in perspective, without denying their reality.

               4. Learn to focus your imagery on performing itself, so that you can eventually screen out less-relevant factors.

               5. Make your mental rehearsals correspond as closely as possible to the circumstances of the performance.

               6. Give the practice and refinement of mental rehearsal a chance to develop its effect.

 

           III. Cognitive Restructuring

               1. Self-monitoring.

               2. Gathering information related to these thoughts and attitudes.

               3. Analyzing the data you have obtained and determining how well it fits with how you view yourself.

               4. Making changes in dysfunctional attitudes so that they fit more closely with the information that has been collected.

 

                  Cognitive restructuring provides an understanding of how thoughts which can be observed through "self-monitoring,"

                  can affect feelings, and may, moreover, reflect underlying beliefs that may have to change as you become increasingly

                  comfortable in performing.

 

             

 

 

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