how can I calm my nerves when I go to piano lessons without taking meds. ITS SERIOUSLY BAD.?

I don’t know why…well I do… but it doesn’t make sense logically.. BUT i have an anxiety attack every time I go to piano lesson.
My fingers start shaking and I play horribly. It sucks, since piano takes total concentration. It makes me want to shoot myself because when I am at home, I can play a piece perfectly, and when I go to lesson it takes me back to square one! UGHH!

Natural solution: taking a vitamin B complex. You stipulated that you do not want to take medication, and this is NOT medication. But you can buy vitamin B supplements in the form of capsule pills, or tablets at the pharmacy. Vitamin B is very important in maintaining a healthy nervous system, and will help to relax you. It may say right on the bottle that vitamin B *helps* to reduce stress and anxiety.

There are no side effects, other than the desired ability to remain calm. But, your urine may become green or florescent yellow, and this is only your body expelling any extra B vitamins that are not needed – not to worry.

But I can sympathize, because I’m a finger style guitar player and I can play beautifully by myself, but in front of people I screw up a lot. I have noticed that in front of people I unconsciously start to breath more shallow, or stop breathing at all. This definitely impacts your performance. Make sure to consciously breath normally so your brain gets lots of oxygen! As well, try changing your mind set. Start thinking about piano lessons as something fun to do, instead of something serious. If you go in just wanting to have fun with it, you’ll feel less pressure to perform well. If you feel less pressure to perform well, you will perform well! Why, you ask? When our stress response is turned on, the amygdala – a structure in the brain that is part of the limbic system – turns on. The stress response is build in by nature to save your life in a dangerous situation! But humans are a funny bunch. Our stress response can turn on at piano lessons, while reading about a situation in a book, or while driving. Because the stress response is meant to save your life, other areas of your brain like your prefrontal cortex, and parietal areas are inhibited to some degree. The point of the stress-response is to act fast, save yourself now. Ever watch the Discovery Channel and see an antelope drinking at a water hole, and a crocodile jump out trying to get a meal? The antelope without even thinking prances off in a split second! He hasn’t thought about anything, his stress response made him do it automatically. The key to performing well is to turn off your stress response. Vitamin B will help, like I said; but also, taking a different approach and thinking of piano lessons as something for fun and pleasure, instead of something to be taken very seriously. You may think of piano lessons as something to be taken seriously, and it might be very important to you to perform well. But if you can trick your brain into thinking that piano lessons is not a high-stress situation, that stress response is not as likely to kick in!

I hope this has helped! Best of luck.

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