Fruits, Veggies, Nakedness, and Being on Stage
Are you afraid to stand up in front of an audience and give a presentation? Most people are, including some professional speakers. There you are, unguarded, vulnerable, and relying on your memory and your personality to move the audience to think in a new way, act in a new way, and hopefully not throw rotten fruits and veggies at you!
There’s a word for the fear of public speaking – glossophobia. Nearly half of adults are affected by it, at least a little bit. Why it’s so common isn’t known yet, except researchers postulate that it could be rooted in the primal fear of being seen by predators. You never know who might be lurking in that audience, just waiting to pounce!
In reality, audience members want speakers to succeed. They’re on your side, not against you, so instead of imagining everyone as naked, try imagining they’re all your very best friend, that person you could say anything to and they would still love you. Use your imagination to...
How to Breathe Away Stress
Did you know that the way you breathe might be making you anxious? When I pant it cools me down – when humans pant, their brain thinks something is wrong. When humans are stressed they take shallow, fast breaths and that tells the primitive part of their brain that it’s time to fire up the fight or flight engine. The brain fires up the chemical factory, flooding the body with stress hormones, causing more fear and anxiety. Pay attention to how you breathe and when you find yourself just breathing into the top of your lungs, take two minutes to breathe long, slow, deep breaths that poke your belly way out. It’ll put the primitive part of your brain out of your misery.
I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!
