There are some yoga poses that are for me a reliable indicator of performance anxiety.
These are any that require balance on one foot.
When I do these at home, I can balance for long periods of time with no problem.
When I'm in a class with other people, I have a lot of trouble getting into equilibrium and staying that way. I'm never conscious of any audience effect in yoga classes-- but what else could cause this difference?
One thing I've learned that helps when I'm wobbly. The Sanskrit word for it is drishtee, roughly translated as "point of focus." That means find a spot to fasten your gaze on and don't look to the left or right.
When I do that, pretty soon I'm maintaining balance. The same principle applies to working on a novel: just focus on the work at hand.
(The photos are at Rancho La Puerta where I've been teaching: the sculpture in front of one of the yoga studios, the one of me taken on the grounds just after I finished with my last class. This is a good example of how we unconsciously reproduce what we see or visualize. I passed that sculpture every day, but didn't realize I had copied the pose, and even dressed the part.)
