relaxation

In the previous article I presented an exercise for reconnecting with the natural, tension-free voice.  Of course the voice and the body can not be separated from each other – tension in the body will always cause tension in the voice.  So freeing the voice is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic unless you also free the body.

Imagine you've got a painful muscle spasm in your right shoulder.  Can you feel how that would affect your voice, for singing or speaking?  How about a crick in your neck?  Perhaps you've been there - you just can't sing or speak with a free and resonant tone if your body is full of tension.

[caption id="attachment_558" align="alignright" width="201" caption="Even if you don't have to do this..."][/caption]

But even if you're a mime (perhaps especially if you're a mime!) tension in your body will have a negative impact on your performance, because you just can't be expressive if your body is not relaxed and supple.  If you're one of those people who just can't be expressive, check yourself - I bet you're literally "up tight."  You would have a lot to gain by loosening up a bit!

I mean, imagine you're an actor playing a "hero" or something, and you walk on stage trying to hide a backache, or a twinge in your sciatic nerve.  There's no way you can be convincing.  And no matter what you're trying to play, discomfort in the body will take up precious mind share, distracting you from your internal story and your lines.

So let's fix it, shall we?  I believe the solution has two parts: long-term and short-term.

Long Term Fitness for Performers

I'm not going to harp on this, because this series of articles is really about what to do in the last 30 minutes before you hit the stage, but in the long term you simply need to stay healthy.  If you were a carpenter, you would keep your saw blades sharp.  As a performer, your tool kit is your body, and you need to keep it in good shape - strong, flexible and supple.  And this means (and I apologize here to the dedicated couch potatoes) physical exercise.

As it happens I've been doing p90x lately (turn your sound off if you click on that link).  It's got all the major exercise types in it, including various cardio and strength modules, and I've realized that if I only got to do one thing to keep myself in good performance shape, it would be yoga.  Yoga is not for sissies, at least not the yoga I'm doing.  It's the most demanding module in the whole course!  And it works on all the most important stuff for performers: breathing, strength and (obviously) flexibility.

If you can't do Yoga or you don't want to for some reason, substitute the activities of your choice as long as they leave you in the right physical shape.  I bet swimming is a good choice, coupled with a stretching routine.

Ditching tension in the last 30 minutes

Living life, for most people, is a bit stressful.  Very few stage performers spend their days getting massages and sipping cool water on an idyllic tropical beach.  There are bills to pay.  There are disagreements with your loved ones.  There is trouble in your day job.  If you live in a city, even getting to the venue will probably involve a bit of road rage, so preparation for stage is all about shedding the tension that has accumulated in your body over the past while, so that you're as relaxed and ready as you can be when you hit the boards.  (And the healthier you are in general, the easier it will be to get rid of the tension of the day - see above.)

I like to start with general relaxation.  Lie down on your back if you can.  Perhaps on a couch in the green room, or on a carpeted floor.  Kick obnoxious people out of the space if possible.  Close your eyes and breathe deeply a few times, noticing the tension drain from your major muscles.  Tense and relax all your muscles as you breathe, starting with your toes and feet, and working your way up through the whole body all the way up to your neck, your face, and even your scalp.  This is a pretty standard relaxation routine, and it's pretty quick - about 5 minutes.

Next stretch out your spine a bit.  Stand up, take a deep breath and exhale as you do a slow "swan dive," bending until you are hanging your head down, your hands hanging loose down by your feet (or even on the floor if you're flexible).  Breathe deeply a few times.  Feel your spine lengthen.  Now bend your knees and start to roll up slowly like a rag doll, letting each vertebra in your back straighten up separately, from your sacrum right up to your neck.  Stand tall.  You should feel very aligned.

By now you will be aware of any pockets of tension that remain.  Stretch them out.  Typical places that might need extra work are the hips, the belly, the shoulders and the neck.  This is not meant to be a book on stretching, so if you want some specific stretches to use, go ahead and ask me and I'll find you some.

Cheating

Sometimes you won't have an hour or even 15 minutes before you go on stage.  But you will still want to get as relaxed as you can in the few minutes that you have.  Besides just staying fit and eliminating stress from your life (wouldn't that be nice?), I believe there's potential for accelerating the process of getting into your ideal performance state by using "anchors."  A good example of an anchor is the sound of a bell, if you're one of Pavlov's dogs - with our without food, it put them into a physical and mental state called "I want to eat now!"  Of course that was a conditioned response, and Pavlov did it be associating the sound of the bell with food.

You can do the same thing for yourself - get into your ideal performance state the "long way", and then introduce your "bell" whatever it will be.  We're delving into NLP here, and this post is already too long, so I'll make this the subject of a future article.

So we've dealt with the voice and the body.  Next in the series - getting into the right state of mind.

Many performers have learned to manage their stage fright issues with relaxation techniques.  This is especially useful if your big problem is how you feel before you go on stage, but some people also report that a relaxed body and mind beforehand will carry over to the performance as well.

Try some muscle relaxation.  One standard method is to lie down on your back in a quiet place, and tense and relax each muscle in your body.  Start with the toes, and move up, tensing each muscle group for a count of ten, and then relaxing it.  Breathe deeply.  Work your way up to your shoulders, neck, and face muscles.  This should get your body and mind completely relaxed, and at the very least it will take your mind off your imminent stage performance for a while.

Meditation can also be a great help.  It takes practice, but you can learn to empty your mind and find peace, even right before the big show.  I’m no expert on this topic, but a quick google search should turn up hundreds of useful books.

Many veterans of the stage report that they experience peak anxiety just before they go on stage, and then get more calm and focused when they actually perform.  You might find that as your gain experience on the stage, you develop this habit as well.