I've been singing in choirs since I was a kid (40 years +) and a few years ago, I almost fainted during a performance. It's happened 3 times in 3 years and now I'm afraid of performing anymore. Understanding that it's coming from anxiety has helped and I forced myself to make it through my last performance by constantly moving while singing but I almost lost it at the end of the concert. As the panic starts to build - knowing that I'm stuck in place - and the heart starts to beat faster, I experienced what I can only explain as a sudden feeling of my body "releasing" or "sinking" from my head down to my toes. The last time this happened I continued to force myself to stay on stage and although I made it, it scared the heck out of me. The first 2 times I experienced this, I left the stage immediately after the song in occured in.
I have a really hard time understanding this anxiety as I've been doing this all of my life and I really enjoy performing. My fear now simply comes from the fear of these past experiences. Having a stool or a railing next to me for support helps a lot but that's not always possible.
What is this "releasing" feeling and has anyone else experienced these performance issues?
Thanks