The following is a guest-post that was written for my friend and vocal coach’s newsletter. Thank you Ruth Levy of Total Singer Support. I hope you enjoy!
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When Ruth asked me to share my story with her community I was beyond thrilled. I know that many of you share the same debilitating stage fright and performance anxiety that I did for my entire life and I’m happy to report that there is a way out! I hope that this guest-post provides you with the encouragement you need to breakthrough and let your voice be heard, once and for all.
A little bit about me
I grew up in Northern NJ with two brothers, both of whom are musicians. After college I worked in corporate fundraising and strategic management, jobs I excelled in and hated. I dated only musicians until finally one of them dumped me saying, “Why don’t you stop dating artists and just be one already since that’s what you really want…you’ll be miserable until you do”. It was a good point! Two years ago I gingerly started writing music and singing; I had never been so happy! That said, I practiced in my apartment really quietly so that the neighbors wouldn’t hear me. If I had had a closet big enough to fit in I literally would have played my music in there. I had found a passion and was absolutely terrified that anyone might find out about it (if you’ve read “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron you’ll note I had MAJOR imposter syndrome).
In addition to becoming an aspiring musician, I became a Hypnotist…wait, keep reading! Just kidding
While hypnosis got a bad rap for about 200-years (because of misinterpretation in the media and targeted slandering campaigns from groups who didn’t want people to know they could heal themselves) I’m sure you’ve noticed that it is now increasing in popularity by leaps and bounds. Many people now know that the term “hypnosis” comes from the Greek word hypnos which means sleep. It doesn’t mean voodoo or magic or mind-control, it means just means sleep.
If it were magic or mind-control, I can promise you there would be a lot of people wanting to learn how to do it and I’d be making A LOT more money
I became a hypnotherapist because I smoked a pack a day for 10 years and after one hypnosis session I never had or WANTED a cigarette again. I thought, this is incredibly powerful and more people need to know about it. So, here I am, letting you know more about it…
A little bit about Hypnosis
Hypnosis is a gentle, natural process, and you actually go in and out of hypnosis many times every day.* A hypnotherapy session is just like a personalized, guided meditation with a very specific goal in mind. It also happens to be the most effective way to reprogram your subconscious mind with the thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors you want to have. **
A few key things to know about hypnosis:
- In a deeply relaxed state you are more open to suggestions because your conscious mind (the Bouncer that keeps out all new ideas), is not highly alert and active. ***
- All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. I don’t “cure” anyone, I guide session were my clients heal themselves.
- 95% of the work I do is actually to de-hypnotize people from the junk they’ve absorbed from the media, advertising, family members and friends, etc. Your essence is perfect, whole, and complete in everyway. Rather than putting ideas into your subconscious, we actually remove the negative messaging that was absorbed by your psyche, which then allows your true essence to shine through even more brightly!
I spend all day de-hypnotizing people and my wonderful clients have all met or are currently meeting their goals; every single one of them. They loose weight, quit smoking, overcome anxiety, become more creative, overcome fears and phobias, enlarge certain areas of their body and shrink others, heal themselves, find love, make more money, get better jobs, etc. **** Interestingly enough, one of the most common topics with my corporate clients is overcoming fear of public speaking! THE most common topic for my musician and actor clients is performance anxiety! Again, every single one of my clients has had great success.
So, you may ask, if your hypnosis sessions help all these other people with stage fright, why did you live with it for so long if you’re an aspiring musician?!
The answer is relatively simple:
Hypnosis is most effective when you WANT it to work. I was so afraid of singing in public that I was terrified of what would happen once I was no longer afraid of singing in public! Would I be a big hit and my friends and family would hate me because I’d have so much money and fame that they wouldn’t know me anymore and I’d eventually die alone?! Or would I have the courage to put myself out there every night and flop ridiculously hard only to crawl back into bed with horrible reviews running through my mind?! These were mostly subconscious crazy thoughts but I had done enough digging to know they were there. I’ve used hypnosis in my life in every other area with amazing success, but the one thing in my life I wanted most I was too afraid to fix. Incidentally, this fear of failure and/or fear of success is extremely common and is a root issue for almost every client I have worked with.
I had used hypnosis in my life in every other area with amazing success, but the one thing in my life I wanted most I was too afraid to fix.
What Changed?
On February 4th Ruth asked me to sing at one of her new client workshops. I said yes because:
A. I love Ruth and I was honored she asked me,
B. I came to TSS to work on Stage Fright so it would be ridiculous from a financial perspective not to do it,
C. I would be in a room full of women just like me, which I felt could potentially be slightly less scary than an open mic.
Prior to the workshop I was with a friend on 34th and 5th Ave and I WALKED to the rehearsal space where the workshop was taking place on 71st and Broadway (it was bitter cold out on February 4th). I thought these freezing two miles may lessen my nerves; not at all. I was shaking for the entire workshop (and not from the cold). After getting to know the other women and doing a few exercises, it was my turn to sing. I got up, sang “At Last” with my eyes closed, made it through the song, everyone clapped, and then I burst into tears.
I left feeling empowered that I didn’t make an excuse and cancel on Ruth (like I had secretly wanted to), happy that I made it through the song, and absolutely ridiculous for crying. If I couldn’t get through singing in an environment that was incredibly loving and supportive, how was I ever going to sing anywhere else?
My frustration with myself grew that night and then something snapped; my fear of never getting over stage fright suddenly became stronger than my fear of success/failure. I immediately contacted my own hypnotist and said, “It’s time to kick this thing to the curb once and for all”. My hypnotist also happens to be an opera singer at the Met so needless to say he was THRILLED.
Two weeks later, on February 18th, I performed with a rock band I had met three days prior in front of a completely packed house at Arlene’s Grocery. I had had two hypnosis sessions for stage fright prior to this experience…and I wasn’t nervous at all! Ruth had graciously traveled down to the LES to see the gig and I think she was pretty shocked to see how happy and excited I was right before going on stage. I believe this is why Ruth asked me to write this guest-post, because she saw first-hand the before and after effects of hypnosis.
The Chicken or the Egg
Do you wait until you’re brave enough to sing in public or do you become brave by singing in public a lot? The latter probably
seems like the faster route to most of us, but not if you’re like I was and you avoid singing in public like the plague for your entire life! With hypnosis you reprogram your mind to think and feel EXCITEMENT about performance rather than panic and fear. Hypnosis isn’t magic, but the effects sure does feel like it sometimes
Thanks for reading,
Katherine Grace Smith
** The American Health Magazine conducted a study and found the following results:
93% recovery after 6 sessions – Hypnotherapy
72% recovery after 22 sessions – Behavior Therapy
38% recovery after 600 sessions – Psychoanalysis
The best part about enrolling in a hypnosis certification or CEU course is that YOUR life will radically improve! You will spend all week healing yourself as you learn how to facilitate healing in others. 
