What can I do to stop my mild stage anxiety

Firstly well done for having the courage to reach out with your question. It isn’t always easy to ask for help - panic and anxiety in social situations can be debilitating, it can feel so overwhelming and makes it had to cope. It takes self-awareness to identify that there is something that needs to be addressed and to recognise that there are steps that can be taken to move forward through them. Well done for taking that first step.  

What I have picked up in your question is that there are separate points to address, one relating to public speaking in larger numbers for example a class presentation, and also the situation when finding it difficult to just talk to people.  

 

I would suggest that initially we look at these things individually, and then break them down to what you can control and what you can start to manage.  Anxiety and stress are a many layered thing and there are so many different types that play off of one another and give fuel to other areas of concern. Often, when I approach anxiety with the members that I work with, I first try to take a look at what exactly triggers the anxiety. Is there a catalyst? Is it predictable? Is there no obvious trigger and is the anxiety more of a constant? Then, we work on how the anxiety actually manifests. 

You mentioned the feeling of panic and that your body shakes in a class presentation - does this start before the presentation and if so how long prior.  It feels that this is a physically demonstration of anxiety. There are some really good breathing techniques that you may find useful. The aim of the breathing is to focus the mind on the breath, this encourages it away from focusing on negative thoughts connected with the feeling of panic. Breathing will take practice but it is well worth the effort and can give you back some control which is something that will be useful in all sorts of situations. 

 

Imagine a square or even look at a square in the room you are in - this can be a window, a book, a picture etc. as you look across the top horizontal breath in and count 4, hold this breath for a count of 4 whilst you follow the vertical of the square, now trace your eye across the bottom horizontal and breath out for a count of 4, and then hold for another 4 until you have returned to the starting point. You can also draw a square on paper whilst breathing. I would suggest a few rounds of this breath work initially just during the day when there is no panic to gentle build up to doing this before a presentation. 

 

There is also the opportunity to visualise yourself giving your talk/presentation so that your mind can 'walk through' and then see that all ends well and that there is not a specific reason for the panic. 

 

This is a starting point and there are additional strategies to help with panic and with practice and showing up for yourself this is something you can address. Looking forward to hearing from you Snowbaby. Warmth Kay