Normalising Nerves
Often, when the time comes around for certain events that can cause a lot of stress such as exam time or new job interviews, we can develop a lot of nervous energy. I remember vividly before big examinations in school when some peers would be visibly nervous - sometimes pacing, shaking, stumbling over their words and having to take deep breaths. It’s natural to feel like that in those situations.
Even the most fearless experience nerves at some point in their life. Understanding how to combat our nervousness, and the science behind it, can be a great tool to learn early on in life so that we feel confident in scary situations.
The science behind the butterflies
If you’ve ever been really nervous before, perhaps in the waiting room before an interview or waiting to meet a potential love interest for a date, you’ll have felt the sensations of nausea and ‘fluttering’ more widely known as ‘butterflies’ in your stomach. Of course, science can explain a lot about our fluttery stomachs and why we feel butterflies.
According to Bradley Elliot, a lecturer in Physiology at the University of Westminster:
“The autonomic nervous system (ANS) can be split into two roughly equal branches — the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, or…the “fight-or-flight” and the “rest-and-digest” branches…
So what’s this got to do with butterflies? One of the major roles of the ANS is to prepare you for what it thinks is about to happen. This gives an evolutionary advantage since if you see a sabre-toothed tiger about to pounce, you don’t want your valuable oxygen-filled blood to be busy with your last meal. Ideally, you would want this blood to be temporarily redirected to muscles in your legs so that you can run away slightly faster.
So, your “fight-or-flight” sympathetic system kicks in and becomes dominant over parasympathetic activity. This also causes a release of adrenaline, which both increases your heart rate (to pump more blood and faster), releases huge amounts of glucose from the liver, and shunts blood away from the gut. The blood is redirected toward the muscles in the arms and legs which makes them ready to either defend you or run away faster — the “fight-or-flight” that you’ll probably be familiar with.
…The blood vessels specifically in this region [the gut] constrict, reducing blood flow through the gut which in turn produces the oddly characteristic “butterflies” feeling in the pit of your stomach.”
To read Dr Elliot’s full article, click here.
Healthy vs unhealthy nerves
Having a healthy nervous system can be just as important as maintaining good mental or physical health. A lot of what keeps our nervous system healthy is related to our general health, for example, drinking lots of water, getting lots of sleep, and making sure your body gets the nutrients it needs. In terms of our anxiety and the nerves that come with heightened pressure such as exams, it’s important to identify the difference between what is healthy and what is unhealthy.
Butterflies in your stomach, sweaty palms, self-doubt - all of these are totally normal symptoms of nerves. If you care about what you’re doing and how well you perform, it’s likely you’ll experience all of these. When your nerves begin to physically affect you, for example, causing vomiting, increased heart rate, dry mouth, muscle tension and rapid breathing, that’s when your nerves equate to unhealthy anxiety and we need to learn to combat them.
Regardless of whether you are experiencing a real or perceived threat – unhealthy anxiety occurs when it is affecting your day-to-day life. If anxiety is interfering with your ability to emotionally connect with family and friends, to focus at work or school, to attend social functions, or to eat and sleep - then it is unhealthy!
How to harness the power of healthy nerves
At Speaking Works we begin work early on learning to grasp the distinction between healthy and unhealthy nerves. We have a vast collection of tools and tips to help target performance anxiety that we teach all of our students. Some of which include:
Breathe, breathe, breathe
Breath is so important. Take deep, meaningful breaths to help slow down your heart rate and steady your breathing.
Affirm yourself
You are ready. You have rehearsed. You are prepared. Affirm yourself always, and in doing so, notice your self-confidence growing.
Visualise success
Visualise yourself leaving the exam hall, or the job interview, positively. You can do it, and you will do it to the best of your ability. Visualise your own success and ground your breathing in that visualisation.
Feel your feet
Wiggle your toes within your shoes. Feel where the soles of your feet are in contact with your shoes. Ground yourself from your head all the way to the earth at your feet. Allow that grounding of yourself to lower your anxiety and bring you back to ground level.
There are many ways to tackle nerves. At Speaking Works, we begin first by normalising nerves as everyone will feel nervous at some point in their lives! From there, we can start to tackle our nerves. It’s a personal journey, something that works for one person may not work for another.
Come along to Jude’s monthly speaking workshop to test your healthy nerves, or sign up your child to Speaking Works Young Voices to begin developing their defences early: