Performance Anxiety in Your Body: Why You Feel Physically Nervous And How to Release It (Ep. 23)

Performance Pep Talk · Jul 15, 2026 · 7m

Feeling physically nervous before a performance is one of the most annoying things a performer can experience. All that work only to be sabotaged by your body. Sound familiar?

In this episode of Performance Pep Talk, Sophie breaks down exactly why performance anxiety shows up so intensely in the body, why telling yourself to calm down rarely works, and what you can actually do about it right before you walk into the room.

Drawing on neuroscience research on the fight or flight response, amygdala activation, and nervous system regulation, we walk through the specific tension sites that affect…