“It’s in my chest. It’s stone the size of a fist.”
What can this “stone’ be? Most likely, this is fear, which appeared when Jane was only learning to play.
Anyway, she was now an experienced player!
Jane eagerly agreed, that the knowledge she had accumulated over these years of training, should be given more space so that it could spread over her body, and she had to let that “stone’ melt. She observed these two processes. Her knowledge spread, and the stone turned into streams of warmth that filled the body too: first, her hands, and then the rest of the body. A spot left by the stone quickly disappeared as well.
Then I asked her: “Could it be that there was some moment during the training when you got scared and felt lost?”
“Yes, there was such an episode.
“Where are the sensations connected with this experience?”
Jane discovered a black cloud in her stomach. This is how many people often describe the consequences of fright if they focus their internal vision on it. Soon, everything cleared up inside. Jane became even more relaxed and calm. Now, she imagined how, during the coming competition, she would easily, as a pro, show everything she had learnt while training.
Another aspect that required attention during our session with Jane was the sensation of some heavy burden on her shoulders, which was bothering her. It felt like bricks. Many people express their heightened sense of responsibility this way.
“Whose load is that? Is it yours or somebody else?” I ask her.
“It’s mine!” Jane says.
This is the pressure, which she experiences, but it is in her best interest to find the way to deal with it, even though it might seem like an unpleasant feeling. She observes how her body absorbs this heaviness. Jane throws back her shoulders and stands straight. Now, she even looks a bit more mature.
All this work took us about 20 minutes.
Since then, Jane has been playing with more confidence and freedom8.
Such sessions have been conducted with sportsmen of different training levels. Even the high-rank professionals need to work through their sensations to spread their experience on their body, to relieve the tensions and consequences of psychological traumas received during the training or competitions. Even after one session, the sportsmen acquire better mental strength. This is the key ingredient that leads to success.
It is always great to find out that two or three months later, these people have considerably improved their results and become champions.
Something similar should be done to our linguistic competence: we need to strengthen it, melt the tension associated with the learning process, and get rid of fears.
Fright is a variant of information trauma that may lead to a phobia. Getting rid of fear and tension is a necessary step to overcome a linguistic barrier.
Student-time traumas
It also happens that a person suffers not only some tensions, but also traumas inflicted during the learning process. A teacher, who is too strict, or jokes of the classmates can “contribute’ to such complex.
A barn lock
I often think of a story told by one sensitive young woman9 who was so afraid of one strict teacher that every time before a class with him, she would get diarrhoea. She had to come to university hours before this class, and she would always ask her relatives or friends to give her a lift there in order to avoid any possible catastrophe in public transport. Even after the graduation, her fear of making a mistake remained so strong that she compared it to a barn lock on her forehead. This “barn lock’ kept blocking her mind years after the university. After some time she got married to a diplomatic officer and spent a considerable amount of time abroad. This means that she had plenty of opportunities to learn and speak a foreign language. However, she never managed to do so. This paralysing anxiety concerning her possible mistakes in her speech was what we focused on during our session.
An unpleasant quality of a complex is that it cannot go away by itself, and you need to work on its dissolution. You have to make a conscious decision in order to unblock a complex.
Background tensions and traumas remotely connected with the learning process
When stressed, a person burdened with unsolved problems and worries finds it more difficult to absorb new information, just like a computer with old software and viruses tends to overheat. Those traumas and tensions, which are not related directly to the learning process, take a lion share of our efforts, steal our attention, and create obstacles on the way to learn something new.
Dumb-stricken because of fright
It sometimes happens that, at a moment of acute stress reaction, a person cannot think straight and feels lost and dumb-stricken. “I just stood there mute with fright, and I couldn’t say a word,” – says one of such “victims’ having come to his senses. There are more serious speech impairments, which may manifest themselves in the freezing syndrome. These symptoms are called “mutism’ and “catalepsy.” They can be explained by the fact, that in extreme situations our body switches to the old survival mode: one either runs or falls, or hides (freezes). In the case of catalepsy, we observe the latter variant: one stop moving because, this way, one pretends to appear invisible.
Speech, as an invention from the point of view of evolution, does not form right away, and that is why it is so sensitive to any disturbing influence. Like a delicate orchid that can be cultivated in a greenhouse, human speech is a very sensitive instrument. The state of calm and healthy, but not excessive revival, is the basis of good speech.
Nerve cells can regenerate!
Formation of new nerve cells during the learning process, travelling, or any other refreshing events is called “neoneurogenesis.” Stress prevents the process of formation: stress hormones affect the brain in such a way that new nerve cells necessary for memorizing new information and for the overall development of a person do not generate and, more than that, the existing mature nerve cells die10. This process was revealed in several various scientific researches.
It is very important to keep calm and remain stress-resistant, and if there are any tensions, they should be dealt with as soon as possible! A very easy but a very efficient test will help you figure out what state you are in and if you need to work on reducing your stress level.
Test “A constructive drawing of a person’
You will need a small piece of paper and a pen or pencil to do this test.
Fig. 4. Geometric figures used in “A constructive drawing of a person.”
“Draw a person made of rectangles, circles, and triangles. The overall number of elements should be 10. Define the age of the person you have drawn.” Shapes can be of any size. Rectangles, ovals, and triangles of prolate forms are also allowed. Within the total number of 10, each figure can be used as often as you choose, and you can also omit using some of the shapes. The only restriction is the overall number and the fact that there should be only one person in the drawing. You need to do this test right now without thinking it over. You will hardly need more than a minute to complete it11.
A brief way to interpret the drawing is the following: it is your