When it all comes down to it,

At the innermost core

We are our own hearts.

Not the ones pulsing blood like the beat of the ocean

Or salty-sick tears to mimic emotion,

But a bright, shining moonstone of a heart,

Plucked from the sky and infused with our qualities,

All of our dreams, personality

Fears and realities

All pulled together from mutual disparity

Into the real us, something of clarity

All tucked away at

The core

Our core

.....

(Iron Butterfly, 2012)

Posture and Anxiety

Posture and anxiety are intimately connected. Our posture reveals our level of anxiety and the level of anxiety 

determines our posture. We can fake our way into looking confident, however the quality of our performance will suffer. 

The quality of our connection to our feet plays a great role in allowing us to feel calm and centered. The feet are our primary connection with the ground and to a great extent determine our feelings of being supported. If we lack this connection we are always tempted to pull ourselves up with willpower or energy, working against the pull of gravity, rather than with it.

Exercise: Stand upright and push your feet slightly into the ground, as if you wanted to lift off. The ground will respond with a resistance, that invites your legs to wake up and engage. Equally it signals to the pelvic diaphragm to engage. 

Try out several different intensities of pushing into the ground and settle for an alive feeling of being connected to the floor via you legs and pelvic diaphragm. The next step would be to established this positive feedback loop before you sing and maintain that slight push (i.e. connection) while you perform or sing.