How to Manage Performance Anxiety as a Guitarist

Even the best performers sometimes struggle with performance anxiety. Being a good guitarist doesn’t come with the skills and confidence to perform in front of a large crowd. You may be a pro at the guitar, but performance anxiety may make you appear like a newbie. If you struggle with performance anxiety, here are some tips to help you manage this problem:

Use CBD products

According to CBDNorth, CBD products have been known to help with anxiety. CBD has a way of calming the nerves as it works with the body’s endocannabinoid system. Using medical CBD-related products like CBD edibles, gummies, oil, or even a drink can greatly help you deal with performance anxiety. CBD also helps relieve pains in joints after hours of rehearsing with your guitar. Nowadays, many performers rely on CBD products to overcome stage fright and improve their performance. Using CBD makes you more active and creative, which increases your chance of performing extremely well. However, you’d need to consult a doctor before consuming any CBD products.

Avoid negative thoughts

One of the biggest causes of performance anxiety is the fear of failure. Thoughts like “what if I don’t play well? What if the crowd doesn’t appreciate my sound” and so on are common triggers to performance anxiety. A step to managing performance anxiety is to rid yourself of all negative thoughts before getting on the stage. Rather than fill your mind with negative thoughts, practice positive affirmations. Focus on your skills and let your mind feed on how good you are as a guitarist. That way, your mind relaxes, and it becomes easier to perform

Practice meditation

Meditation is one of the best-known ways to achieve calmness. You can meditate 10 – 15 minutes before your performance as a guitarist. You can calm your nerves, reduce mental stress and prepare yourself for your performance through meditation. After taking your CBD products, meditating for some time makes you feel extremely relaxed and confident enough to perform without any form of nervousness.

Pay attention to your diet

Before performing, you need to pay attention to what you eat right before performing and even days before. Your diet plays a significant role in how well you’d be able to perform. Playing the guitar for hours can be pretty exhausting. You’ll need a diet rich in protein, vegetables, and vitamins. A diet containing many fruits, whole grains, and vegetables may help you feel lighter yet energized and improve your mood and stress in preparation for your performance.

Give a great performance

Having performance anxiety is a normal occurrence. Letting it ruin your performance is not acceptable. Once you get on stage, try as much as possible to first drown out the voices and cameras all around you. Perform as you would if you were all alone, and you’d discover that you’ll become relaxed over time. Once you’re relaxed, it’ll become easier to connect with the crowd and give a stellar performance.