Why do my Tics disappear when I'm on stage or playing an instrument?

I've heard numerous reports of Adults and Teenagers expressing how their tics completely disappear when they're:

• playing a musical instrument
• on stage singing
• when performing in front of the camera 
• doing their hobby or a sport and what they love

For Example,

So why is this?

There are 2 concepts I'd like to introduce you too, the 'flow state' and 'attention'.

Flow State & Tics

Firstly, because when we're doing what we love and we're present with a task in hand, the mind doesn't have space to 'get in the way'. We are totally absorbed at the moment with the thing that we love and the mind or body doesn't need to express itself through a Tic.

On Wikipedia, Flow is described as:

"In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time."

I love this because it highlights how at some moments in life we may NOT be in flow... and these moments can be when our Tic is at our worst. 

Yet, in other moments of our life when we're fully absorbed in the beauty of the moment and doing what we love, the Tic will disappear. 

I'm confident that many of you who are reading this can relate.

Attention & Tics

The second concept is attention...

Given that we've been ridiculed or shamed or judged again and again throughout our life, we learn that 'being seen' and being the 'centre of attention' is a scary thing. 

So as we go through life worrying whether someone will see, this can often make us anxious and thus shy away from attention. 

YET, if we do learn to step into our power and do what we love, confidently, in front of other people - that extra energy can fill us up so beautifully that we find a balance in our mental and emotional inner world.

Instead of living in a default state of anxiety where our arousal is high and we don't feel confident, all of a sudden we DO feel confident and we're being seen by other people.

This is the ultimate state - fully in the moment, alive, free, confident and present.

If we learn to act like this in every moment throughout our day, we learn to live LIFE as flow. Instead of just the odd glimpses of flow. 

And then we slowly but surely heal the condition. 

I responded with a few comments to the post that I shared above:

So be more aware of the emotional state you're in with each moment, and begin noticing when you're more or less present. And if you reach flow - look back and congratulate yourself. This feels good.

Good luck on your healing journey! 

d