Nervous, stage fright?!?

Question:

Nervous, stage fright?!?

Tomorow, I have a piano recital. Like I want to stop being nervous BUT I've been to like 10 recitals and guess what? it never stops. I cant picture people in underwear or whatever, so dont tell me that. I had a bad experince where one performance Is at up there and I forgot the WHOLE SONG BAch. This time Im playing sonata (somewhat hard) WHAT SHOULD I DO?!

Im giving the best answer to whoever have the most ways, best ideas, and something that works. PLEASE HELP.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Yeah, I used to get really bad stage fright too. Here's how I got through it.

First, you have to diagnose your symptoms. Are you experiencing mental stage fright (foggy brain, forgetful, blurry vision) or physical (cramps, trembling, sweats, nausea, butterflies, hives)?

If it's physical, then you need to work on your body. Stretch--BIG!--for many minutes. Go ahead and yawn if desired (and trust me, you'll desire!). Drink enough water but not too much. Shake vigorously on purpose. If you have a body part that's shaking/cramping, tense it and then release it (this worked very well for my trembly hands prior to a flute recital). For overall physical relaxation, lie in a comfy place and tense-release all major muscle groups, starting with feet and working up to neck, face and tongue.

If it's mental, you need to do visualization. There are a lot of "mind trip" or "creative visualization" recordings and books out there if you look hard. The key is to imagine something vividly, in detail, involving as many senses as possible. One that's often effective is visualizing a personal "safe place"--this would be anyplace in the world where you could be all alone and feeling perfectly relaxed and safe. A couple of times daily, take a few minutes to imagine that you're there--lying relaxed, and visualize everything you'd be seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting. That regular imagination will relax you generally--another thing you can do it, when in performance, if you get nervous, find a moment to close eyes and briefly imagine that safe place--it will calm your mind even if you're only there a split-second.