yoga to calm the mind

Today I had an audition for a popular, awesome Madison band that wants to make music their life's work. They are phenomenal, have a great set-up, and they had really great energy. But because I haven't auditioned for anything for quite some time, I was pretty nervous, and the familiar singing butterflies started forming in their familiar stomach-home. In times past, I would just try to take some time before auditioning to compose myself, and usually I'd just deal with the nerves. But now that I have moreso adopted a regular yoga/meditation routine, I feel better equipped with the right tools to combat that stage anxiety. Even though I wanted to spend every last minute preparing and practicing, about an hour and a half before the audition I started getting nervous, and I knew I had to do something. So I popped in Rodney Yee (LOVE HIM!) 20 minute power yoga, and this helped me beyond belief. I then followed up the yoga session with a short meditation, visualizing myself succeeding, reciting relevant affirmations. This seems so simple, and to be honest even to this day I doubted if such a practice could make any difference in situations of anxiety (interviews, auditions, first dates). And...IT DID! Hugely. I also am a fan of Bach's Flower Remedies (http://www.bachflower.com/), and so I took a couple droplets of a few of the remedies prior to the audition, for self-confidence. The remedies are supposed to balance your vibrations essentially. Even if they were a placebo effect, I don't care, it worked! In my car right before the audition, I did another short breathing exercise, and I hardly experienced any nerves during the audition. It helped to have people with awesome energy around, but nonetheless, I am so surprised! This is not a normal occurrence. Another example of how meditation and yoga can save your life :-).