Marika wrote:
>My legs start trembling whenever I'm singing in front of an audience -
or if I imagine I'd be singing there.
>I will be singing in a concert next Thusday so I have to find some kind of
solution as soon as possible.
> The worst part is that my concentration and support suffer because my legs
have a life on their own!
I had a similar problem with a hand that liked to shake on its own. I
found that the more I thought about it and worried about it, the worse it
got. Once I changed my mind -- literally -- it just wasn't an issue
anymore, either physically or mentally.
I have a couple of suggestions. First, try to get the leg-shaky thing in
perspective. It may not be noticeable from the audience, and even if it
is, it's no big deal. I don't mean to say it's not important to you --
it's clear that it is -- but by widening your attention to include other
aspects of your experience, you will be less bothered by it. And it may
disappear altogether when it is not your focus. The thing about it is that
you sort of have to trick yourself -- as long as it's this important to
you, you will be looking for it -- and whether it happens or not, your
focus will be on your legs and not your artistic goals. But if you can let
it be less of an issue, you'll feel better about your performing AND you
legs will be less involved in a negative way.
Second, ask yourself why it's happening. Does the leg trembling mean
anything? Is it giving you something that you need? If so, can you find
another way to give yourself this thing? It sounds a little hokey to think
of things this way but sometimes by separating ourselves from the internal
distraction and viewing it as its own entity, we can learn more about its
purpose.
Third, try a physical remedy like putting your weight deeper onto your feet
every time you feel the trembling begin.
Fourth, try giving yourself permission to tremble just as much as you want.
In your next rehearsal, tremble until you think the walls will fall down
around you. Be a human earthquake! Get it all out. Then say to your
body, "Thanks. I guess I don't need that trembling as much as I thought.
Next time I'll try it without the trembling."
Fifth, strengthen your acting choices so they fill up your mind so much
that you can't be distracted by a physical tic.
Finally, even if you don't totally conquer the trembling thing for
Thursday, there's always another performance on which you can experiment.
We're all in process all the time, trying thing in hopes of reaching our
communicative goals. Nobody ever perfects this art, because our bodies and
our souls are always changing.
Keep up the good work!
Naomi Gurt Lind
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