Dear EFT Community,
Professional Performance Coach, Sean Grey, reveals how he helped a professional musician who was suffering with stage fright for twenty years use EFT to conquer her performance anxiety and end her need for beta blockers.
– EFTUniverse
By Sean Grey
My client “Jane” is violinist with the BBC National Orchestra. When she contacted me, she had been suffering with stage fright for well over twenty years.
When rehearsing or playing in a concert, the muscles in her hand would become so tight that she feared dropping the bow. Knowing there was a slow piece of music coming up she would dread seeing her hands shake. Playing solo with the focus of attention being on her would send her heart pounding. Jane also relied on beta blockers to get her through her performances.
Jane had tried many therapies over the years but nothing seemed to help.
In our first session, in a bid to discover the source of the problem, I asked her to tell me about the emotional challenges of working as a professional musician. Apart from the dread of playing, often the orchestra she played in would have various discussions, although she wanted to contribute, the thought of speaking and people looking at her would cause Jane to panic, she would blush and her heart would start to race. She was worried her contribution wouldn’t be funny enough, or interesting and the whole experience became daunting.
She had no idea were these feelings came from, her strongest negative emotion was frustration at not knowing why she felt this way, which scaled a SUD Level of Intensity of 10 out of 10.
We used the EFT set-up phrase:
“Even though I am frustrated at not knowing why I feel this way, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
We tapped through the reminder phrase:
“I am frustrated at not knowing why I feel this way.”
I asked Jane to state the SUD Level of her frustration and anything else that came up. Her SUD Level number had dropped to a 5 and she said she remembered a time when she was in high school in an English lesson. The teacher had asked her to stand up and read a story she had written. When she finished reading her story, the teacher said ‘that’s rubbish’ and asked Jane to sit down.
I asked Jane how it made her feel now thinking back to that time. “Humiliated and angry with the teacher,” She revealed this was a SUD Level of 10 out of 10 for her.
We tapped:
“Even though I felt humiliated and angry with the teacher, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
We tapped through the reminder phrase:
“Humiliated and angry with the teacher.”
Her SUD Level dropped to an 8
We then introduced ‘still’:
“Even though I still felt humiliated and angry with the teacher, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
We tapped through the reminder phrase:
“Still humiliated and angry with the teacher.”
Her SUD Level number dropped to a 4 out of 10 and Jane said she felt calmer. She related that she no longer felt humiliated or angry, but sad that the incident had such a negative effect on her life.
We tapped:
“Even though I am sad that teacher spoil my life, I want to be free of those feelings they’re not helping. What if I allow myself to realize that what happened is in the past? I was only young and the teacher should have known better.”
Reminder phrases:
“I am sad that teacher spoil my life,”
“I want to be free of those feelings,”
“They’re not helping,”
“What if I allow myself to realize that what happened is in the past?”
“I was only young and the teacher should have known better.”
Asking Jane to think back to that time in the classroom, the number had dropped to. She no longer felt sad and felt ready to move on in her life. Jane realized she had wasted enough time worrying about what others may think and it was time to break free.
We tapped on:
“I choose to be open to the possibility that when I am in the orchestra and I want ask a question, I will be calm, relaxed, focus on just saying what I feel. I realize I have wasted enough energy worrying what others may think and it is time to break free.”
At Jane’s next work meeting with the orchestra, she was amazed to find she raised three issues with no problem at all. She also found it helped her play technically challenging pieces of music which previously would have been insurmountable. She also felt calmer and more relaxed when she played.
After 3 more EFT sessions she was able to risk coming off beta blockers.
Jane said, “It felt liberating, finally I could walk on stage full of joyful anticipation and trusting that it would be okay.”
Later Jane was interviewed by the BBC. They were interested in how musicians cope with the emotional pressure of playing. Being interviewed live on television in front of an audience of millions, was of course a remarkable turnaround in the life of a talented musician, who prior to using EFT had been fearful of asking a question in front of her colleagues.
She is a great example of how EFT can liberate a performer, help them enjoy themselves and play to a level they never dreamed possible.
